Pattern Description:
Wardrobe pattern includes princess seam jacket, sleeveless princess seam shift dress/top, and pants. I made the jacket, which has a two-piece sleeve and a rounded, standless collar (I don't know the technical name for this).
Pattern Sizing:
8-24. My envelope had 8-14. I cut a 10 at the shoulders and bust, 14 at the waist, and graded out to a 16 at the hips. I also did a full bicep adjustment using the the pattern lines/instructions.
Fabric Used:
A nylon jacquard from Fabric Mart, $3/yd, dyed purple. It is lined with a polyester satin from the G Street Fabrics' $2.97/yd table and the last little bit of silk/rayon satin from the Fabric.com Vera Wang blowout several years ago at $1.99/yd.
Total cost, including pattern and notions: around $16
Time to Make:
I was under a bit of deadline pressure, but easily finished this (minus the hem) in two sewing days. Total time, including hand hem: around 12 hours.
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like the princess seams and the extensive fitting instructions, with fitting lines printed on the pattern.
My one gripe about this pattern is that the pocket placement is very low. I mean, I'm short, but I don't know that I'm *that* short (I forgot to ask my mom how she felt about it--she is a couple inches taller than me). Check whether the placement will work for you before you make it.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once
you were done sewing with it?
Yes. I added a frog closure.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
I didn't use them, but they seemed fine. The fitting instructions were very good.
Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
-Full bicep alteration
-Swayback Adjustment
-The jacket isn't designed with a closure. I thought I had made it with an overlap so I could put buttons on, but due to the lack of measurements that was not the case. We bought a frog closure from Joann in white. I figured I'd dip it into dye and hopefully it would take a little color. Well, it turns out those frogs are extremely
dyeable! I wasn't crazy about the super dark purple as compared with the pastel purple of the jacket, but my mom said she liked it so I sewed it on and that was that.
Otherwise, I just sewed it as drafted.
Conclusion
One of the things I really like about the draft is that it has nice shaping through the back. Too often, center back seams are straight, when nobody is straight in the back!
The pattern is drafted with a two-piece sleeve naturally curves toward the front, to follow the anatomical shape of the arm, which is another nice detail.
My mom really appreciated this jacket, her Christmas present, and I think it looks really nice on her.
All photos are here and the blog post is here
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Lovely. :) Just such a nice present for your Mom. :)
1/24/13 12:09 PM
Great looking jacket! I was going to say that your Mom looks just like Helen Mirren ;-)
1/24/13 6:17 PM
What a great gift for $16.00!
1/25/13 9:02 AM
Fabulous jacket for your mom, you do such nice sewing nicegirl and so thoughtful. Your family dog is so darn cute with his toys :)
1/25/13 9:58 AM
Really nice looking jacket! Also, nice job on cutting in Helen's picture over your mom's.
1/27/13 9:20 AM