Burda Jacket... almost finished
Ok, the pictures aren’t even that cute. It’s not totally finished… not sure at this point that it will be, except for bloodymindedness and so I have something to wear during Self-Stitched September if (when) it gets too cold for my jean jacket. Note the hands on the hips in the first photo, creating the illusion of fit. Note how it’s pulled around to improve the rear fit in the second photo; this makes the front look super-doofy.
So, what are my issues?
Well, partly it’s fit. I never did get the shoulders *really* figured out. If I take them in, it’s too narrow in the
Burda jacket, back(ish) view
shoulders. If I let them out, there’s that bump that you see in the photo. And somehow when I put in the lining, the whole thing shrank (go figure :P) so that it doesn’t even overlap nicely in the front (without pulling at the shoulders). Instead of the lone visible button at the top and two hidden ones lower, I might just put in a low button, since that’s the only part that closes nicely.
And partly it’s my fabric. The jacket was designed for faux-leather, and my wool is MUCH thicker than that. I think this thickness is the main problem with the collar, which is sort of heavy and ugly without anything being obviously wrong with it. I think someone with perfect tailoring skillz could have made a nice fitted jacket out of this wool, but I suspect that someone of my calibre should’ve stuck with something a little more basic. D’you think a sleeve-head or a shoulderpad would help?
On the up-side, the sleeve length is dead-on. And it’s super, duper warm.
Kasia skirt pattern
And, just to show that I’m truly a sucker for punishment, I printed out and assembled the Kasia skirt pattern for my next project! I’m going to grade it out from a size 36 at the hip to a size 38 at the waist and hope that gives me enough ease… I measured the pieces and according my calculations the finished size of the 36″ waistband should be 28″, which is technically the size of my waist but wouldn’t be comfortable at all. But one size up should be adequate.
Just for the record, I haven’t worn an item of clothing with a waistband at my waist, except for one Christmas skirt that fits like a dream, since I was a teenager.
Oh, and here’s a picture of the jacket before I put the sleeves on, inside-out to show all the
Interfacing
interfacing. This was all as directed by the pattern, but maybe it wasn’t such a good idea on my thick, thick wool. You can also see very clearly that rogue shoulder-seam.
Tanit-Isis Sews 
HI
Just found your blog from the sewing tag. I love the stuff you make! Everyday and funky. I have been meaning to try and make jeans for ages and just keep chickening out! Yours look like an amazing fit! Have you had to do heaps of attempt to get them fitting that well ? And please tell me what is self-stitched september??
Thanks
Andy
Hi, Andy! Self-Stitched September is the creation of the blogger Zoe of So, Zo. The idea is to go a month wearing all (or in my case, at least one item of) self-made clothing every day. There’s a flickr group for sharing outfits and discussion, too. (I should really put the link in my sidebar actually)
As to the jeans, I haven’t made a lot of fitting changes other than taking in the outer seam to tighten the fit (stretch denim is very forgiving that way), but I have made a lot of stylistic changes. Most of them are described in my different posts here (check the tag “jeans”) but there might be a few more details at my Pattern Review
Thanks for the compliment—your stuff looks really neat, too! 🙂
The jacket looks pretty good for your first go at the pattern to me hun (for what it’s worth from me who’s never sewn a jacket LOL)!
P.S. Woop-woop, you’re doing the skirt, have you seen that The CupCake Goddess is doing a pencil-skirt sew along, she’s gonna include tips/tutorials on stuff like kick-pleats which would make a pencil skirt easier to walk in 🙂
Pencil Skirt Sew Along & A Gazillion Ways to Build a Better Pencil Skirt
Pencil Skirt Lesson #1 – the Fitting
Yup, that (plus your encouragement 😉 ) is motivating me. However I don’t have any fabric for a muslin, so I’m going to be foolish and cut the fashion fabric right off and trust to Burda. Pray for me!
Are there no old bedsheets hiding in a corner at home? 😉 If not maybe cut slightly wider seam allowances (1″/25cm) and machine baste using the longest stitch a contrasting colour thread all along the seamlines on the pieces (before assembling) then you can see how much you need to let it in/out when you baste the pieces together – without having to guess at how much to add-in/out it LOL! You never know – if it turns out a good fit you may end up making more :D!
Not that I’m prepared to sacrifice for muslins… although there is one flannel sheet I keep planning to use to underline something that needs added warmth. Sadly I’ve finally used pretty much all of the old black duvet cover that I was using for such things…
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