Finished denim jacket - a success!

Here is my finished denim jacket – I am VERY happy with it. To recap, I made this jacket as a trial run for the silk dupion jacket I’ll be wearing to the wedding (which is only three weeks away now so eek!).

The pattern is M5477, using the sleeves and back tab from view C and the collar from views A and B (a notched collar just suits me better). The fabric is an enzyme denim which is navy in one direction and dark olive in the other. It’s not a twill like a normal denim but is more like a close weave linen. Fortunately I pre-washed the fabric even though I’ll probably dry clean the jacket because it shed A LOT of dye and still turned my fingers black while I was sewing it! The lining is a black polyester lining that has become my favourite lining at the moment, all I know is it comes from Japan. It has a beautiful close weave and is not at all clammy to wear.

The things I love about the jacket are: the neat fit at the waist, which is achieved by the side front and side back pieces being cut on the bias; the overall shape is really flattering to my figure type and has a retro feel that really appeals to me; and it was really easy to put together – always a bonus. Note that the pattern states these sleeves are long - they are not. The finished length is about 5cm above my wristbone (given that I have quite short arms they could be even shorter on more willowy figures). I like this length, and they are illustrated this way, but if you want a full sleeve, you'll need to lengthen.

What I will do differently next time: I’ll interface the top collar as well as the under collar (I would normally do this but I wanted the follow the instructions to the letter to see what happened) and I’ll interface the full front piece as well as the side front and back panels just under the arms as I’d like it to look a little more stable in these areas. But that’s it, a size 12 fit me really well without major alterations (I took a slightly narrow seam allowance in the lower sides to accommodate my hips).

The next version will be made from gold silk dupion, underlined with silk organza and lined in silk habutae. I’ll use sew in rather than fusible interfacing. Better get started on the pad stitching now!