Short Cropped Jacket

Remember this cropped jacket from the Cotton Friends book that I got from the library?

Here it is!

front view

back view

I cut mine S size and it is still big on me.  I took it to my office and everyone tried the jacket on. Seems like it is able to fit quite a lot of body with S to L size! If you have keen eyes, you would have notice that my jacket don't have any buttons. My colleague has graciously helped me to try on the jacket and give me lots of advice on the position for the buttons.

The instruction diagram is very clear and you should be able to follow through. I was taking my time since I decided to line the jacket. The fabric is from Michael Miller Tweedle Dee Tile. I have lined the jacket with a soft flannel from Amy Butler collection to give it some shape and also makes it warmer for me to wear in office.  I didn't know how to bag a jacket so I just cut the same front and back bodice as the lining. The neck facing and collar are cut from the main outer fabric since it is visible on the outside. I didn't line the sleeve since I'm not sure if the arm sync is wide enough for the thick flannel.  I'm also worried that it will make the sleeve stiff and hard to put on.

Because I've lined the jacket with the thick flannel, it is very warm but at the same time, the pleats at the back wouldn't stay down! In the end, I just tack the middle of the pleat down. I've also make the pleat for the flannel but sew in down a little further than the outer piece. I can't omit the pleats totally as I need to hem both outer and lining pieces and they have to be of same length. Or should I have modify the pattern for lining to omit the pleats but add the width to the lining hem? Sigh..live and learn.

And because I line the jacket, all my seams are conceal so I didn't have to treat the seams.  Yay! The instruction called for using hong kong seams for the side seams [ie. bind the seams with bias tapes].  So, the inside is quite neat even without lining.  The diagram describing the attaching of collar to front facing and jacket is quite clear. I baste the outer and lining pieces together at the neckline so I treat them as one piece when I attach the collar and hand sew the collar to the lining.

First time attaching the sleeves for jacket.  If you notice the sleeves for jacket, the seams are actually off centre and they don't match up with your bodice side seams.  First I determine the front and back sleeve and pin the sleeve head first, aligning them to the shoulder seams of the bodice. Then, I find the marking on the back arm sync and pin to the sleeve seam line at the back. Then, I pin the rest of the sleeve to the arm sync and sew carefully. The seams for the sleeves are then bind with bias tapes to keep it neat.

I had second mind to just omit the buttons or go with one button at the collar but my friends were against it saying the 4 buttons were better.  The buttons on the patterns were actually not functional. They are closed with snaps.  I was happy to find 4 nice brown buttons at textile centre and sew them on the jacket. I decided to make the 2 of the buttons functional since my automated buttonhole option on my machine is quite fuss free. The other 2 are just for decoration.

The jacket is really easy to put on and I would highly recommend it, especially if you don't intend to line it. Next up, I'll show you a skirt that I've sewn from the same book.