The pattern is found at:
http://www.showstudio.com/projects/ddl_yamamoto/download.html
I taped the pattern together on Wednesday 3/8/08. I cut out the pattern and fabric on Thursday, sewed a bit on Friday night, all day Saturday (it rained ALL DAY), and I finished on Sunday (yesterday! 3/9/08) around 4pm and staged a fast photo shoot in the dying light. I am wearing it today and I can’t believe I bought the fabric last Thursday.
Construction Notes:
- I bought 2.5 yards of grey heavy double knit wool (60” wide) for $18/ yard at Mood, NYC. I discovered that the pattern actually uses about 1.25 yards. Oh well.
- I lined this jacket, mostly because I had the silk satin already and I don’t have a serger so a lining is a nicer finish.
- If I had a serger, I wouldn’t have lined this jacket since the double knit looks the same on both sides. (My vintage Sears Kenmore has great stretch stitch functions, so I don’t have problems sewing knits.) If I had known for sure that I was going to line this, I might have picked a lighter weight single knit… just sayin.
- Lining the jacket renders the smaller striped area on the back pattern pointless… it serves as a facing/hem for an unlined version. I have no idea what the striped areas on the short ends of the front piece are for since they are completely enclosed.
- I definitely recommend stay stitching the corners of the back piece that become the armpit and the middle flap (noted on the patterns by the stars) on both shell fabric and lining since they need to be clipped for optimum mobility. (By ”middle flap” I refer to the striped section opposite the dart.)
- I did not cut/sew a dart in the lining... I did it as an inverted box pleat.
- I cut ½” off the sleeve hems of the lining, and seamed them to the knit sleeve hems. This keeps the lining shorter and thus inside the sleeve.
- Since I lined the jacket, I did not “sandwich” the back in between the folded edges of the front…. Rather, I seamed one edge of the front piece to the Back (pressed seam OPEN), and then seamed the other edge of the front to the back lining piece (press seam CLOSED).
- I trimmed all seam allowances aggressively to combat the bulkiness, and I zig-zag stitched the remaining seam allowances together to hold it all in place (not the sleeve SAs).
- I was extremely disciplined about steam pressing every seam as I was working.
- At this point the jacket was all constructed (inside out) except for the “middle flap,” which I used to turn the jacket right side out. I slip stitched the middle flap closed and added the metal snap.
And that is basically it. Even though I was figuring it out as I did it, it was pretty simple.
It does help to have some intermediate experience with sewing and constructing, but nothing out of the ordinary.
I had some helpful tips from
squirrellypoo.
A note on size: I am 5’10” with a 39.5” chest. I find this jacket to be a bit snug. Do-able, but the snap likes to pop open. Now that I have made it once, I think it would be very easy to adjust this pattern to be larger. For anyone my size wanting to try this, I would recommend making a mock up in a cheap fabric to check the size. Then, it’s simply a matter of deciding how much and where. Just slash & spread horizontally and/or vertically on the pattern pieces, being careful to do make the same changes for the corresponding seams on both front & back.
To see more finished pics and construction details check out my flickr set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wzrdreams/sets/72157604089867284/
