Janine Sews

Vogue 1568 Ponte Tunic

14 September, 20229 January, 2023by Janine Sews4 Comments

This project is part of my focus on Wardrobe Basics for Autumn 2022. I have a real dearth of basic garments in solid colours and so set about sewing things that will be reliable pieces for wearing to work or going out. These aren’t going to be trendy pieces but rather garments that can be worn over and over again and made interesting with the addition of scarves, jewellery, or interesting toppers.

You can learn more about these projects on my YouTube channel – Janine Sews – and the link to the video featuring this tunic is here.

The first garment is a tunic using Vogue 1568, a “Today’s Fit” pattern by Sandra Betzina from 2017.

The photos on the pattern envelope don’t do it justice. Think more JJill (like the tunic to the right) and less organza or netting. By the way, I used to wear a lot of JJill when I lived/worked in the U.S.A. I always liked the very clean lines that were more about comfortable elegance and less athleisure or coastal granny,

I looked at this pattern a dozen times before deciding to give it a try. Why the hesitation? It’s lined. Lined knit. I specifically wanted a tunic with either a V-neck or slash opening and after looking at other options, I decided to sew this since the line drawings represented what I wanted. I selected View B which is a pullover tunic with a V-neck and slits in the side.

Fabric

For this pattern I used a lovely mid-weight rayon Ponte de Roma that I purchased from Olga’s Fabric Lane here in Calgary. I bought enough to make a set of coordinates – top, pants and skirt. Those reviews will come at some point in the not-too-distant future.

The lining was purchased from Fabricland West. And it was almost a perfect match to the fashion fabric. The lining is sitting on top of the cut fabric in the top of the photo on the left.

Adjustments

There are no finished garment measurements on the tissue (although the instruction sheets refer to their existence) so I took a look at the few pattern reviews posted on websites and blogs and decided to go with what I normally sew. In the instructions it is stated that the shoulders are narrow which helped me to make the decision on sizing. I did, however do an FBA. Had there been finished garment measurements I would have definitely chosen a smaller size. In retrospect, had I taken the words ‘loose fitting’ seriously in the instructions, I would have had a clue 😅

The Process

Sewing a lined knit garment was quite a challenge! And the sewing steps did not make it any easier. For this garment, you sew the shoulder seams of the fashion fabric, then the shoulder seams of the lining, then the neckline. Then flip it wrong sides together and treat the fashion fabric and knit fabrics as one after basting them together with the machine. Ever tried basting knit to knit? It’s an exercise in patience!

Next steps are to sew the darts, side seams and sleeves. Because you treat the fashion fabric and lining as one, the seams for the bust darts and side seams are visible inside the garment, not hidden in between the lining and fashion fabric. Fortunately, my fabric and lining weren’t overly bulky but I was not enamoured with this treatment. If I’m going to take the time to line a garment, I hope to have a beautifully finished interior.

Once the garment was pretty much completed I realised that it fit well through the shoulders and chest but was too big and boxy from the bust down. As noted on the instructions, the shoulders are narrow so the sleeve cap sits nicely on my relatively narrow shoulders. Unfortunately, I wasn’t happy with the fit around the waist and hips. There was a two-hour long episode of unpicking followed by taking off about 3″ of diameter below the bust.

What Do I Love

The neckline finish. Going forward, a lined v-neck will be my first choice for both knits and wovens. (I’ve found a woven pattern that uses a lining instead of a facing and will be posting that review soon!)
The lining adds a rich quality to the garment so that it hangs beautifully and makes the top look more handmade and less homemade.
The general shape. This mimics what you would find in quality RTW.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?

Thumbs Up – definitely. I’ll use this again with two changes: cut the right size, and have the lining end just below the bust so there won’t be as much fiddling about with basting knit to knit and also to hide the bust darts within the lining.

I wouldn’t recommend this for a beginner because of the whole knit fabric and knit lining thing unless the beginner is willing to just take their time and enjoy the process.

Edit on September 30, 2022: I wore this top plus the pants made of the same fabric on an overnight flight to the U.K. and the fabric looked as good when I landed as it did in the morning. This Ponte would be wonderful for a travel wardrobe. I like it so much that I just bought another piece in plum 💜

Sewing

Keeping Track of Sewing Resources

16 January, 2022by Janine Sews10 Comments

Does anyone else feel overwhelmed by the sewing resources they’ve collected? Books, magazines, tv shows, blogs, vlogs, webpages … it’s impossible to keep track!

When we moved last summer I ditched (not to the landfill – all were donated!) about a hundred magazines plus a couple of boxes of books and instructional info from sewing events. My reasoning was that most of the things I referred to were online – so why take up real estate with a bookcase full of stuff I never used!

The top shelf is the entirety of my hard-copy sewing library. The bottom shelf is mostly books I use for work.

But I’ve found that I waste a lot of time searching through pages bookmarked on three different computers, or searching for post-its that are inevitably stuffed into a drawer or stuck to a pattern envelope. I was losing valuable time looking for the same information over and over. Compounding the search time was my bad habit of going down rabbit holes – so what would start with an intention to spend a couple of minutes quickly looking at a tutorial would wind up as at least 45-minutes online staring at a screen with my mouth open.

For my own benefit, I decided to record everything in one place – here in my blog. I’ve added a page – My Sewing Resource List – and that’s where I’ll record links to resources that I want to keep track of. Specifically, I’m noting tutorials, guides, informational blogs, and retail stores. This is going to be a living document so it will be updated as I find new resources. If you have resources that you love, please share with me – especially tutorials and learning guides. The retail list includes stores where I spend my money … 🛍

I’m also starting to keep track of free patterns and will be adding to that list. I’ll note if I have used the pattern and my results. If a pattern is a dud, I’ll definitely make a note!

Click on the links on the bar above ⬆to access either of these lists. And let me know if this is helpful to you!

Indie Patterns, Sewing, Vogue

Three Pieces for my new wardrobe

10 November, 2021by Janine Sews9 Comments

This post is shared in conjunction with Fabric Mart Fabric’s Fabricista blog.

Until March 10, 2020, I worked in an office five days a week. And although my employer had a casual dress code, there was still a work ‘uniform’ which for me was a dress, trousers or skirt, a ‘business-appropriate’ top, and a jacket or sweater. And shoes with heels! The working world has changed and maybe I won’t be in an office again all week – it could be that I’ll be in an office a couple of days a week and working from the home computer on other days. That doesn’t mean that I want to live in yoga pants and a t-shirt, I enjoy being ‘presentable.’

My wardrobe has to adapt to this change plus be prepared for a new climate! This summer, we moved from the United States to my hometown of Calgary, Canada. Other than our brief stay in Pennsylvania, we’ve been in the southern U.S. states (where 10C/50F is considered ‘cold’) since 2002 which means that I need a lot of stuff for ccccccold weather.

I spent some time perusing Fabric Mart Fabric’s website and found some great fabrics that spurred my creativity!

Piece 1: Dress/Jumper

The base item is a Lodo Dress from True Bias patterns. For this dress, I chose a pretty royal blue Ponte knit from Fabric Mart’s website. Ponte is one of my favourite fabrics to sew and wear in cooler weather! I like that it has enough stretch for movement (like doing a quick vacuum between Zoom calls) and is comfortable for sitting at a desk all day. And it can be sewn on a regular sewing machine, serger or cover stitch. So versatile!

The Lodo dress is a classic that I’ve made before in the above-knee length. This time I went for the longer mid-calf length because I think it’s likely to be more wearable in a place where boots are the footwear of choice for five months of the year. The longer length is also more comfortable for me when sitting at a desk (no worrying about a skirt riding up 😉. While a lot of people wear the Lodo as a standalone dress, I like to wear it as a jumper/pinafore over a top and opaque tights.

Piece 2: Top

I’m so excited about this garment! When I saw this “English Canine Print” jersey on the Fabric Mart website, I had to have it. (Shhh – don’t tell the cats that I’m wearing something that features dogs!) It’s quirky enough to be interesting but not so out there that it looks like a novelty. It’s a stretch cotton jersey and is neither too lightweight or too heavy – perfect for a top that skims the body. The pattern I used is the Maven Patterns Somerset T. This boat-neck t-shirt can be made with different sleeve styles and I selected Bishops Sleeves with a deep cuff. Big statement sleeves continue to be in stores and on the runway but let’s face it – runway designers aren’t planning for those of us who need to wear coats. I love this long cuff because it keeps the sleeves where they are supposed to be, instead of half way up my forearms!

The knit was easy to sew. I sewed most of the seams on the serger, and then topstitched the boatneck and hem with the cover stitch.

This fabric is perfect for this pattern, although it would also work well with a bamboo or lighter fabric. I’m planning to make more – maybe next time I’ll use a contrast fabric for the cuff, or a sheer fabric for the sleeves for holiday evenings out.

Piece 3: Jacket

The final piece is a cosy, fleece jacket that can be worn as a cardigan or jacket, depending on the weather. The fleece I chose has “Prussian Blue/Vivid Auburn” horizontal stripes, and it looks as good on the inside as it does on the outside, which was important for the pattern I chose. Vogue 8676 (out of print) is a Marcie Tilton pattern designed for fleece and boiled wool. All of the edges are left raw – so on the collar and cuffs you can see both the wrong and right sides. This fleece worked really well as there is a slight difference in the print on the right side and wrong side. Because of the design of the fabric, the collar edges look really interesting – almost like trim was added. The collar doesn’t have a button. I keep it closed with a stick pin that I borrowed from my mom’s jewellery box. You don’t really need to close the collar but when the north wind blows …Fleece is easy to work with. This particular fabric is medium weight and my machine didn’t struggle with the many layers on edges. I used a ballpoint needle and as mentioned, the edges are left unfinished so a serger or cover stitch isn’t needed to make a nice looking jacket.

And … The Outfit

I selected all of these fabrics online without using swatches and the colours work together just as I expected! On the top there are blue highlights on the Union Jack and River Thames and those match the Royal Blue dress, and the blue/auburn stripes on the jacket coordinate well with everything.

For labels, these Kylie and the Machine ones really add a professional touch. Does anyone remember when we didn’t add labels? Or we just wrote on a piece of twill tape with a special pen? (Dating myself, clearly.)

These three pieces will get a great deal of wear in the colder months. I especially like that all are so versatile and can transition from meetings in an office to hanging out at home – with a stop at a restaurant in between.

If you’re interested in seeing more of the garments and information on how I sewed them, please visit my YouTube channel.

Thanks for visiting!

Butterick, Indie Patterns, kwik sew, Sewing

Fore!

12 May, 20216 May, 2021by Janine Sews15 Comments

This blog post was originally published on Fabric Mart Fabric’s Fabricista blog on May 12, 2021. I’ve included a bit of extra info and more photos here.

Last year I decided to take up golf again after playing only a handful of times over the past two decades. When I think back to what we were wore for golf when I was playing in the 90s it was basically regular street clothes – 100% cotton pants and knit or woven tops with practically no stretch. Times have changed! Golf wear is now truly athletic wear and those constricting fabrics have been replaced by technical fabrics. But RTW golf clothes are expensive, in boring colors, and the sizing isn’t always inclusive. Time to make my own.

I spent some time going through my patterns and found that I had everything I needed to make a full outfit comprised of a top, jacket, skirt, and little shorts to be worn under the skirt.

Fabrics

If you sew you know that it can be quite difficult to find technical fabric for athletic wear. A couple of months ago I discovered that Fabric Mart has an entire section of fabric suitable for athletic wear! My jacket and top patterns both have side panels/princess seams so I picked out two fabrics that would look good together.

French Wine Pink Polyester/Lycra Techno Knit is a beefy athletic wear fabric in gorgeous cherry pink. There is plenty of stretch and it’s suitable for a top, jacket, leggings or even a dress.

Powder White Nylon/Lycra Tricot Activewear Knit is lighter in weight than the Techno Knit. It drapes nicely and is almost opaque. This fabric feels like many of my summer RTW athletic tops. It would be excellent for tops and lightweight jackets, and depending on your style, for leggings or skirts.

When I received my activewear fabrics from Fabric Mart, I discovered in my stash a piece of Stretch Bengaline (purchased from Fabric Mart/Julie’s Picks last summer) and it had that same cherry pink in the print. Best of all, the bengaline has almost 50% stretch along the length of the fabric. There’s lots of bending in golf so stretch is good! I now had everything I needed for my golf wardrobe.

Patterns

I selected four patterns:

Top: Butterick 6494 – close-fitting top with raglan sleeves, front and back princess seams and a small stand collar. The pattern has long sleeves, so I cut them short to make the top suitable for summery weather. (In 2017, I made this top in French terry .)

Shorts: Kwik Sew 4044 – elastic waist capris cut to short length.

Jacket: Kwik Sew 3452 (out of print) – quarter-zip jacket with raglan sleeves, side panels and stand up collar.

Skirt: Pamela’s Patterns Magic Pencil Skirt – elastic waist skirt modified to A-line with side slits and pockets. (I wrote about this pattern in 2019 in this post.)

I was a bit concerned about the sizing of both the top and the jacket. I had made the top before so knew that it fit but wanted to ensure that any pandemic-related spread was covered so cut generous seam allowances along the side seams. For the jacket, I read several reviews that said it was ‘close-fitting’ and even the pattern envelope notes that. The seam allowances for the jacket are just 1/4″ so I doubled those and cut 1/2″ seam allowances everywhere except at the shoulders, neck and hem. As it turned out, I didn’t need the added ease on either piece. Both are generously sized. In fact, I took off all of the excess on the front of the top. It’s easier to take away than add.

The top, jacket and shorts were all cut at the same time. All three of these patterns are easy to sew and a beginner could make them with a bit of understanding of how to sew knits. The neck opening on the top is a bit fussy but not horribly so.

For the jacket and the top, I basted the side seams together to check for fit and then used my serger to stitch the seams. There is a bit of hand sewing on the collars for both of these garments.

The jacket has excellent instructions for adding a zipper. I was a bit concerned about sewing a zipper onto stretch fabric but I needn’t have been. The pink Techno Knit is very stable. As always, every project has to have one UGH moment and this one involved the zipper. I bought a decorative zipper pull, had difficulty taking off the original pull and broke it off. So I had to unpick the zipper – topstitching and all. Through all of that, the fabric didn’t stretch and I was careful enough that there were no pulls. Like all of my mistakes, this one counts as practice. 🙄😏

The shorts are a super-fast make: left piece, right piece, elastic. I first traced the pattern onto tracing paper and checked the fit before cutting the fabric. I am still learning about sewing bottoms with legs (i.e., not skirts) and I found that this is a good pattern to play with because there are so few pieces so adjustments to the crotch seams are visually easier to work with. Even with this step the shorts were finished in record time.

The only piece that required design adjustments was the skirt. You don’t usually think of a pencil skirt for golf, however I have sewn this pattern a couple of times and felt confident that it was a great place to start. A note that the bengaline stretched along the length of the fabric. I was careful to layout the pattern so the stretch would be around the width of my body. The fabric print is random so this worked out just fine.

To make the skirt suitable for golf I made a few simple adjustments:

Created an A-line shape by adding 3″ on each side seam at the hem, then drew a line tapering out from the hip to the hem.
When stitching down the side seam I stopped 4 1/2″ from the lower edge to allow for side slits. The hem is 1 ½” which means the slits open 3”.
The seam allowances on the side slits were then turned under and topstitched, and the skirt was hemmed as usual.
Two pockets were added: On the upper right side there is a small 4” square pocket big enough for tees, a ball repair tool and ball marker. On the left side a larger pleated pocket holds at least a couple of golf balls.

And just like that I have a great new golf outfit 🙂

I wore this outfit to play 18 holes while walking and pushing a cart and this outfit is definitely comfortable. It was coolish when we tee’d off (55F/12C) and by the time we came off the 18th green it was sunny and quite warm (80F/26C). The fabric wasn’t sweaty or uncomfortable, it’s designed to be worn outside when you’re moving around in all kinds of weather.

The athletic knit fabrics were much easier to work with than I expected. I am now on the hunt for more patterns for golf clothes. If only it was as easy to improve my golf game as it is to sew the clothes!

P.S. I talk a bit about this project on my YouTube Channel, Janine Sews.

Tips:

If you cut more than one pattern at the same time, use Painter’s tape to mark the pieces so you don’t get them mixed up. I also use Painter’s tape to mark the wrong side of the fabric when necessary.
A fresh rotary cutter blade makes for beautiful clean cuts on athletic knits.
Use a fresh needle in your machine. I used a ballpoint needle for all parts of the project.
If you have a serger, use it!
If you do not have a serger, these fabrics can be sewn with a narrow zig zag (I use a .5mm wide x 1.6mm long stitch)
When working with unfamiliar fabrics, test all seams and stitches on scraps before sewing. While it’s possible to pick out stitches on knit fabrics, there is always the risk of causing a pull.

Indie Patterns, Sewing

Cashmerette Harrison Shirt

2 April, 20213 April, 2021by Janine Sews9 Comments

Like many people with curves, I struggle to find button-down shirts that work for my body. If the placket doesn’t gape then it’s a shapeless sack. If it has any shape then the placket gapes.

My last experience with Cashmerette convinced me that I need to take a closer look at their patterns so I decided to give the Harrison shirt a try.

“Finally, the answer to your prayers: a fitted button-down shirt that doesn’t gape over curves! The Harrison Shirt is designed with double princess seams for a uniquely curve-friendly fit and all the features of a classic shirt, including a two-piece collar, yoke, and placket, separate button bands, and buttoned cuffs. “

Sewing Bee

I was thrilled to make it to round 3 of the Pattern Review 2021 Sewing Bee and this shirt was my entry. The challenge was to make a garment in a print fabric and have the fabric pattern match across seamlines – to make it look ‘seamless.’ This pattern was not the best choice for this challenge because the double princess seams over the bust are basically impossible to pattern match (or I don’t yet have those skills). Ultimately, I went with this pattern because I wanted this shirt in my wardrobe and I have vowed to only spend time sewing things I will actually wear on a regular basis.

Fabric

The fabric I used is “Cotton Viscose Fabric Cashmere Blue Ivy Gingham’ from JoAnn. Fabric content is 60% cotton/40% viscose. It’s very soft and drapes really nicely. It also stretches just a bit on the cross grain. That wee bit of stretching meant a lot of pin basting, machine basting, hand basting and some Wonder Tape to align the fabric print over seams.

Toile

Before cutting into my fabric I did a quick toile. YES! I DID! I marked the grain lines and everything!

When I entered my measurements into Cashmerette’s website it was suggested that I sew a 14 G/H with a 2″ FBA, 18 waist and 16 hip. For the toile I went the lazy route and cut a straight 18. The thought of an FBA just was so unappealing. After messing around a bit with the toile, I settled on a 16 G/H with slight grading to an 18 for the waist and hip. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have more room over the hips if I’m going to always wear this over jeans or trousers.

Sleeve sizing: The sleeves don’t have a lot of ease below the elbows. My arms are not inordinately large – they are average sized. I would suggest anyone making this measure the sleeve width before cutting the fabric. Next time I use this pattern I will add 1/2″ ease between the elbow and the cuff.

Pattern Matching

Honestly, I don’t have much experience matching patterns. I knew that everyone else in this round of the Sewing Bee would be doing far more complicated projects (one entrant made a lined jacket, lined skirt, blouse and scarf in a WEEK – and it’s perfection) so I decided to focus on doing a very good job of practicing pattern matching on a relatively simple garment instead of trying to compete with those who sew at an advanced level. My goal was to match the main horizontal line around the bodice. There were a total of 11 seams to match around the bodice, then I also worked to have the sleeves match at the same point. The horizontal line I chose was at my waist.

First, I penciled in all of the seam allowances on the pattern pieces so I could fold them back and see where seams would intersect. I used Frixion pens to mark the fabric design. A couple of pieces were impossible to match because there were no markings (the sleeve plackets). There were also no markings on the sleeves so I did not cut those until after the bodice was completely assembled and then I marked the pattern tissue and cut.

One thing I have learned this year is the value of careful pressing and a good ham

I had one piece in the back that I was never able to align properly so it’s totally wacky at the yoke BUT it matches on the horizontal at the middle!

Sewing

Once everything is cut out and interfaced, this is a very straightforward pattern. Things that seemed complicated, like doing the button band, would be easy if it was not for the print.

Many times the pattern match was off by just a few threads.

Only one section was very confusing and that was the two piece sleeve placket. In the end, the pieces went in well and it’s very nice looking but I think the instructions could be a bit clearer (or perhaps more detailed).

Never got the plackets to match the sleeves!

The methods to attach the cuffs and button bands are very good. For the button bands, the shirt is hemmed first, then the button band is added. So if your finished hem is not precisely 3/4″, you can make the button band the length you need. The collar goes on next and, again, things fit together really nicely. It probably helped that I was being so careful to matching everything but if that’s what attention gets you then I guess I should be sew without distractions more often!

For the buttons, I used Prym self-covered button kits. I used 1/2″ covered buttons and matched the fabric to the button placket as best I could. Lesson learned: the shank portion has to be aligned perfectly with your fabric print if you want to easily match button to button band. I knew I should have bought more button kits than I needed!

Think I will need to replace that button that will not line up straight!

Conclusion

For the first time since about the year 2000, I have a button down shirt that fits well! I give a lot of credit to the crew at Cashmerette for designing a great pattern.

In looking at the gallery contest entries for the Sewing Bee I know that I won’t be moving forward and that’s okay because I am really excited to put this shirt into rotation in my wardrobe.

Sewing as an activity in my life right now …

In the last couple of months I have had a lot of success with my sewing. It’s a stupid and clichéd understatement to say that this is a ‘stressful time.’ Although I am ‘okay’, there is massive uncertainty and I would be lying if I said that there aren’t worries that keep pushing their way to the front of my mind.

One of my ways of dealing with stress is to be very present and focus on the task at hand. My earliest memory of this coping mechanism is of when I was 6 and I bonked my head very hard on a porcelain water fountain. While I waited in the classroom for a parent to pick me up, I worked on a colouring book. I recall focusing VERY hard on staying within the lines – and that kept me from freaking out over the massive goose egg that was growing on my forehead. These days I am focusing very hard on whatever it is I’m doing. It’s helping me to get through this time until we get the all clear, and also helping my sewing!

Take care.

Indie Patterns, Sewing

Jacket Express with Recycled Denim

21 March, 2021by Janine Sews16 Comments

A couple of years ago I bought the Craftsy class on industry sewing secrets (“Sew Better Sew Faster“) taught by Janet Pray. The class came with the Jacket Express pattern from Islander Sewing Systems. I didn’t watch the class and just filed the pattern away.

My Bespoke PJs got me into Round 2 of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee. This week the challenge was to make an adult garment using ONLY recycled denim. I needed a pattern for a garment that I would actually wear on a regular basis AND said pattern needed to be comprised of many small piece. Jacket Express met the bill on the latter, and I could make a few changes to the design.

I convinced my husband to give up a couple of pairs of jeans but everything else came from the local Goodwill where I managed to find a calf-length denim dress, a pair of ladies jeans in stretch black denim and a pair of men’s jeans in size 48. The denim below is what I started with. I didn’t use the garments that are marked with red X’s.

For about an eighth of a second I considered spending time picking out the leg seams but I had enough denim so why bother. Then I set about laying out the pattern pieces so the colours would look okay. The black jeans provided just enough for the front and back side panels, the inside panel of the sleeves and the cuffs. Black is slimming, right? 🤣

To make this wearable for me I first decided that I didn’t want the rounded collar. There’s a facing all the way around the garment so I simply drafted a piece of facing for the back neck. Then I skipped the breast pocket flaps because they would scream ‘1980s jean jacket.’ My denim was pretty heavy weight so I also left off the welt pockets as they would add bulk. This was going to be a jacket made of denim, not a jean jacket. Once all the pieces were cut I interfaced everything and it was …

Time to Sew

Although I had access to the Craftsy class (4 hours!) the instruction booklet is excellent so I didn’t bother with watching the video. I’ve attended a couple of Janet Pray’s classes at sewing events so am familiar with how to place the hands and hold the fabric so you take advantage of the feed dogs.

I put a denim needle in my machine, threaded the serger so the thread colours would work with my denim and set to work, following along with each step. The instructions are in the order needed to give a professional finish while still constructing with some speed. There is a LOT of jumping back and forth between stitching a seam on the machine, then over to the serger, then the iron, then back to the machine which now needs topstitch thread, stitching two rows and changing back to poly thread … But the results were really good right from the start so I just kept following along. All of the steps made sense, especially since there’s so much top stitching.

There was only one point when I watched the video and that was for the cuffs. The instructions in the pattern booklet were a bit of a head scratcher and since my project was completed, I’ve read several reviews that said the same thing. I managed to get them done right without any hand stitching. Actually, the only hand stitching in the whole project was slipstitching the back facing over the yoke and sewing on the shank buttons. Gotta love that!

One thing I wish I had done was use my cover stitch machine. Since I hadn’t used the pattern before I wasn’t sure if that would fit in and it definitely would. In a few cases you’re instructed to stitch just a single line of topstitching but in most cases it is two lines.

A surprise that I hadn’t considered was an interesting geometric design that appeared when I left off the breast pocket flap. The pocket is sewn to the interior of the garment (I used pockets from a pair of jeans) and then a facing is added. This meant that there was an opening that was highlighted nicely by the colour blocking.

This wasn’t supposed to look like a standard jean jacket so I added straps at the waist – you know, the kind that you can tighten up when you’re smaller and loosen up when your waist expands? I just unpicked two jeans waistbands and stitched them at the side panels. I like the look and at some point I can add another button hole to cinch the waist in a bit. 😉

Part of this contest is always going above and beyond so I considered different embellishments. My initial thought was bleach painting but the black denim just turned copper. Then I thought about machine stitching a row of leaves and adding rhinestones for flowers. In the end, I skipped all of the bling stuff because I don’t think I’d wear the jacket if it was flowery or too feminine.

One thing I’ve learned over the past few years is that I prefer simple garments without a lot of embellishment, especially for things like jackets that I’ll wear frequently. A wild print is fun for a dress or a top but all that colour and print has to be balanced with clean shapes. For this, I decided that less is more.

Several sewists I follow on Instagram have embroidered phrases and thoughts inside their garments so instead of putting a design on the outside, I used the lettering feature on my Brother PS500 and stitched a quote on the inside of the hem facing. For everyone this has been a really hard year and I wanted something quiet that would reinforce my optimism every time I put on the jacket.

Even if I knew the world would fall to pieces tomorrow, I would still plant my apple tree.
Martin Luther

Once that was done and all of the necessary topstitching completed, I added the buttonholes and buttons and was done!

For the purposes of the contest, this was completed in almost exactly six days (Sunday noon through Saturday noon). Other than thrifted denim, I used interfacing, thread and buttons. (The buttons were from a big bag that I got at FabricMart in November.)

Summary

This is one of my better projects. It doesn’t feel like a jean jacket. And the interior looks good enough that I would throw it over a chair in a public place and not be worried about raw seams.

The basic construction of the jacket was far easier than I expected. The instructions are so good that I think a beginner could tackle this project. You need to be pretty present when doing the topstitching and the seam allowances aren’t large (1/4″ or 3/8″) so there isn’t much room for error.

Would I use this pattern again? Yes! Next time I would add a few inches to the length but this might be awfully nice in brocade or velvet. Hmmmm …