Simplicity 4129 - military-style jacket

(it still needs a good pressing...it looks great on me, not so much on the dressform - I'll try to get a picture of me wearing it soon)

Pattern: Simplicity 4129, View D
Fabric: Tan faux suede-type fabric, chocolate brown Ambiance lining
Other: 10 antiqued gold buttons

This pattern is apparently no longer available even as an OOP from Simplicity's website. It comes in sizes 6-22, I made size 20 based on my high bust measurement and widened to a 22 at the hip.

Alterations:
- 1/2" FBA
- Lowered bust point 2"
- Lenghtened body by 1-3/4"
- Lengthened sleeves by 1-1/2"
- Raised armhole by 1/2"

Details:
As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I wanted a military-style jacket and after seeing EricaB's version I decided to use the combination of the Simplicity pattern and the faux suede that I had in my stash. I found 10 antique gold buttons that went well with the fabric (the only gold buttons that Joann's had 10 of!) and some chocolate brown lining and I was off! I was doubly inspired by this Dolce and Gabbana jacket and really wanted to incorporate some of the other design elements into my jacket. The problem was that I wasn't able to find enough buttons in the right sizes to really accomplish this, so I ended up just making it based off the pattern.

The instructions were marginal. This is definitely not a pattern for beginners - the jacket itself isn't especially difficult, but the instructions are not very user-friendly. They have you jump around from view to view and then leave out certain necessary steps such as inserting the sleeve and when to attach the buttons! Although if you are intuitive enough to know that at some point you need to insert the sleeve before you attach the lining, you'll be fine. Ann from Gorgeous Things has mentioned before her disappointment in Threads patterns not having enough notes from the editors of the magazine and I have to say I was especially disappointed at the quality of the instructions for this particular pattern considering it is a Threads design.

The pattern calls for interfacing the front and front facing. I decided to only interface the facing because my fabric was thick enough that it didn't need the extra stiffness - even with a thin interfacing. I used knit fusible ala Tany to just give it a little bit of soft shaping. Because it's a more casual style, I didn't want it to be TOO structured. It also calls to only line the peplum. If I were to make this again, I would add more structure to the peplum and cuffs by using a stiffer interfacing. It is definitely wearable and I love it, just something I would recommend to anyone wanting to make this.

The fabric was a bear to sew and I had a heck of a time taming it, despite using a Teflon foot, roller foot and even-feed foot. Pretty much nothing made it cooperate the way I had hoped. In the end everything worked out and what few puckers I couldn't get rid of are all hidden by the lining anyway. The pattern calls to bag the lining and because the fabric was so difficult I only machine stitched the fronts to the facings and then hand-stitched everything else. Personally, I like hand stitching and this way I get the control I wanted.

Would I make it again? Probably not. I think a girl only needs one of these in her wardrobe unless she is really into the military style. I toyed with making a slightly different style in a navy microfiber I have in my stash and using silver buttons, but I think I'll save that for another project.

All in all, a winner - you can read my review here.

military jacket part 2 - some progress

I've made pretty good progress so far on the jacket. I don't have a picture right now, as my sewing room is being occupied by one of my best friends who is visiting from Phoenix. Because of this, I haven't done any work on it since Wednesday morning. Right now, I have the outer shell and lining both assembled and ready to attach. It looks great on my dress form with the denim skirt.

What is left to be done:
- Attach sleeve cuffs to sleeves. I also decided to forego sleeve bands because I thought it would make the jacket a little busier than I had wanted.

- Set in sleeves on outer shell. I had originally postponed this because I wanted to make sure I could find smaller matching buttons for epaulets (which are not yet cut out and sewn). As it turns out, the smallest buttons in the design I chose are the 7/8" buttons that I bought...and I bought them all. I asked when they would get more in, and nobody knew and would not order them for me. This means epaulets and pockets are also both out, since they just won't look right without buttons.

- Attach the peplum to the outer shell. Again, I was waiting on buttons to determine whether or not I would have pockets. Since pockets are out, peplum can be attached as-is.

- Attach the buttons to the front. The way this is designed, it looks like the buttons secure the front detail (I don't know what it's called off the top of my head). Right now, it's attached to the front piece at the center front, but hangs free everywhere else. I need to do this before the lining is completed.

- Insert shoulder pads. I usually don't need, nor do I like, shoulder pads. I tried on the muslin with and without shoulder pads, and the 1/4" shoulder pads look better. I'm also playing around with sleeve heads, but it might be too bulky - we'll see how it works out.

- Attach the lining to the outer shell. The instructions call to bag the lining, but I am going to attach the lining mostly by hand. I will machine-stitch the facing to the front, and then take it from there. Even with a roller foot and an even-feed foot, this fabric tends to shift and pucker and I'm afraid that bagging the lining will result in unwanted puckers and shifts.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, I haven't been able to work on it since Wednesday morning. My friend leaves this afternoon and I'll probably be able to work on it tomorrow (Sunday) and then my father-in-law comes to visit for a few days. I also start back at work on Monday, so it might not be finished until next weekend. I was really hoping to have had it finished so I could wear it to work on Monday, but things don't always work out the way we plan.

military-style jacket part 1 - the muslin(s)

I have spent the past 3 days working on muslins for Simplicity 4129. I originally fell in love with this Dolce and Gabbana jacket, but of course could never justify the price - even if it is $2200 cheaper on overstock.com. When I saw Erica B's version I was re-inspired and then realized I had a pattern in my stash that I could use to emulate the D&G version...enter Simplicity 4129 (which is apparently out of print and not available on Simplicity's website - I searched for it). I'm making view D (the green one in the upper-right corner of the photo) with some modifications.



I decided to use some fabric from my stash, a caramel colored sueded poly blend (it doesn't photograph very well in my dimly-lit dining room). It looks and feels just like suede, but it's more forgiving to work with than true synthetic suede (it eases better and doesn't show needle and pin marks like a true synthetic suede would). I decided to not get too crazy in the lining and settled on a chocolate brown Ambiance and then I found some antiqued gold buttons.

Because I didn't want to cut into my fabric without knowing this would fit perfectly, I decided to make a muslin. Three muslins later I am FINALLY ready to cut out the base jacket pieces. I plan on adding pockets to the peplum, possibly pouch pockets like the D&G version, but I haven't decided exactly what I want to add yet. This pattern has been a bear to get to fit properly. I went with my high bust measurement and decided on a size 20 for the first muslin.

Muslin 1: Basic fit was OK. The only alterations I made for this first muslin was lengthening the jacket body by 1 3/4" at the waistline. The bust line and hip area were snug and while the sleeves fit well, the movement was horrible. On to make some additional modifications for the next muslin.

Muslin 2: I did a 1/2" FBA, which only partially fixed the bustline. From the waistline, I widened all pieces to size 22 for extra hip room. For the sleeves, I originally questioned whether the sleeves were really too tight which might account for my movement issues. Not the problem - in fact, altering the sleeves made the sleeves worse!! Off to muslin #3.

Muslin 3: Wearing the second muslin and studying it in the mirror, I realized that my sleeve issue was because the armhole was too low. For muslin #3, I lowered the armhole by 1/2" (an alteration I NEVER have to make), using the method in Fast Fit - except because of the princess seams I decided to make my alteration at the dots on the sleeve cap rather than just above the notches...this way I didn't have to deal with making an alteration to the side pieces. I also needed to figure out what was wrong with the bust area. After looking through my Fast Fit book I decided to check my bust point against the bust point on the pattern - I needed to lower it by 2". I also lengthened the sleeve by 1 1/2" after adding the sleeve cuff. All of these modifications FINALLY made the muslin fit well...

I'm going to cut out the fabric and lining tonight.