10-2008-131 - Black & white silk cropped jacket w/ leather details

I've loved this jacket since the issue came out over 3 years ago. You may remember I attempted it before, but chose the wrong fabric. This time around I used a very nice silk suiting from Fabricmartfabrics.com in a smaller scale geometric print.

Now you can see the details of the design. I love the separate collar and lapels and the fact that the collar has a collar stand which makes is stand up crisply. I used black leather for the underarm piping and back triangles since I had it on hand and find it takes to ironing really well. This pattern includes some tabs and buckles on the back sides - which I made as well - but later removed because they were too much.

I wanted my sleeves to look like the example and had to trim 2 inches from their bottoms before sewing the cuff in place. These look a little wrinkled but I have since gone back and starched them. This pattern calls for only the hems of the cuffs to be interfaced which I tried but didn't like. The bottoms were nice and crisp but the tops would collapse when I bent my arm. So I completely left off the interfacing but, if I had it to do over again, I would interface the whole cuff.

Haha - here I am mimicking the magazine pose: 

Raglan sleeves aren't my favorite because they make me look really broad-shouldered. I did put in raglan shoulder pads but later removed them to avoid the football player silhouette. There was quite a bit of top-stitching on this jacket which is always fun for me. You can see the welt pocket opening in this picture. It is a very small pocket and might hold a lipstick.

The back has a small vent detail with leather triangles securing the top and bottom.

Here is a nice close-up of the collar area:

Shoulder close-up:

The full lining was done in Ambiance:

Now, I made a straight size 38 because that is what I had traced from the first attempt. This is a VERY loose fitting jacket. I think they have it pulled back on their example picture because mine is so much looser then their jackets normally fit me. Here is their example:

This is the first time I have experienced garment manipulation from Burda and hopefully it is just a fluke. I was more then a little unhappy with the largeness of this jacket. Of course I could have done a muslin, so I've nobody to blame but myself for being lazy. It's growing one me - and I do like it - but it's not what I had in my mind's eye.

I'll be making a few things for Rachel next from an Oliver + S pattern. Also, the February issue of Burda is another good one that I just placed an order for. Perhaps I should just renew since they have gotten so good lately...