Floral Denim Jean Jacket

I fell in love with this gorgeous floral stretch denim the minute I set eyes on it on the Lincraft Website. I already had the perfect pattern...Style Arc's Stacie Jean Jacket in the pattern stash.

Gorgeous Floral Stretch Denim from Lincraft.

I have already made this jacket in a plain denim blogged about here. The only changes I made to this jacket were to lengthen the sleeves.

I agonised over laying out the pattern on the fabric. I ended up tracing extra copies of all the pattern pieces so that I could cut the jacket out on a single layer and better visualise how the pattern was going to look once all the panels were joined.

Laying out the pattern on a single layer of fabric.

I think I spent more time laying out the pattern than it took to sew up the jacket.

Front open

Back open

The size 12 was a perfect fit and after lengthening the sleeves by 5cm they are the perfect length too.

Front buttoned up

Back buttoned up

I did the top stitching with a green thread that matched the greens in the floral pattern. This time I just used a single needle to top stitch (on the last jacket I used a twin needle) and slightly lengthened the stitch.

Top stitching detail on pocket flap

I was a little disappointed with how the top stitching turned out along the seams. I was using the width of my presser foot as a guide. This was just a couple of millimetres too wide and the stitches didn't always catch the seam allowance underneath. This made the top stitching look a little wonky in places. The weave of this fabric is quite loose and it made unpicking very difficult. The stitches just sank right into the fabric and I was worried that I would cut a hole in it. After unpicking two whole rows of top stitching down the centre fronts (that took forever), I thought I had better leave "well enough" alone.

Collar and front facing.

The first time I made this jacket, I had trouble with attaching the collar. It only seemed long enough to reach from the inside edge of the facing on each side. This time I staystitched the neck edge to avoid any stretching out of the fabric and I was able to attach the collar at the centre point of each front facing, which is how it should be, I think.

Button, buttonholes and front panel pattern matching (woops, see the mistake)

After all my exhaustive efforts with the cutting out of the jacket, I have made a very silly mistake. The pattern matches beautifully across the front centre panels now, but what happens when the jacket is buttoned up?   #%*$

Love the fold back cuff.

Overall, I really pleased with my new jacket. It's fairly light weight so I may have to wait for next spring to wear it.

Happy Sewing

Jean's Jacket

Yes, I made myself a Jean Jacket (how appropriate seeing that my name is Jean).

 Not just any old Jean Jacket...this is the Stacie Jean Jacket from Style Arc.

STACIE JEAN JACKET: Great Jean Jacket sitting on the high hip with flattering shaping through the body. The sleeve features a deep hem so can be worn turned up for a casual look.

I cut a straight size 12 with no alterations (based on my measurements and Style Arc's sizing chart). Fabric used was a medium weight denim 97% cotton and 3% spandex, so it had a little bit of stretch. It was an unusual purple colour on one side and a navy blue on the reverse side. I purchased this fabric from my local Bargain Box Fabrics.

Front buttoned up

Back view

I love the flattering shape of this Jean Jacket. It is not square and boxy at all, like a lot of Jean Jackets are.

The pattern instructions are fairly minimal and a beginner sewist may struggle with them. They are more like a list of construction steps. They do include a detailed diagram for all the top stitching...and there is a lot of top stitching on this jacket. The pattern is very well drafted and all the pieces go together perfectly.

Front pocket flap

I just used normal Gutermann 100% polyester thread in a hot pink, for the top stitching which I sewed with a twin needle. This contrasted nicely with the purple fabric. I spent an awful lot of time changing thread and needles on my machine during construction...alternating between top stitching and normal stitching. This was quite a labourious process and certainly added a lot of time to the sewing of this jacket. In hind sight, I could have saved a lot of time if I had set up my other machine as well, and used one for top stitching and one for regular stitching (however, I had recently purchased my new Bernina B 350 and the novelty had not worn off yet, so I wanted to use it for everything). 

More top stitching - waistband and centre back seam detail.

Collar Detail

I'm not sure if I joined the collar correctly to the neckline. I thought the front edge of the collar should have started about half way across the front band. I wondered if maybe I had stretched the neckline during construction, because the collar did not seam long enough. Then I studied the line drawing of the jacket and it appears that I have joined the collar as intended. However the point between the front band and where the collar joins, seams to be a weak spot so I did add a few tiny hand stitches to join the collar to the front band for a bit of added strength. 

The pattern does not call for the use of interfacing, at all which I thought was a bit strange. I followed the pattern directions, and did not interface the collar or the front bands and waist bands. The jacket feels fine without being interfaced, probably because the fabric I used was quite sturdy.

Sleeve and cuff.

The sleeve cuff is created easily. The hem of the sleeve is quite deep so this can be turned up to form a cuff.

Although the size 12 fitted me quite well without any pattern alterations, I will make a couple of changes for the next one. The sleeves were barely long enough for me (I must have monkey arms). This is actually a problem I have with buying RTW shirts...the sleeves are always too short on me. So I will be adding probably another 5 cm to the sleeve length. Also, the length of the jacket was much shorter on me compared to the line drawing, so I may add some length here next time too...and yes there will definitely be a next time. I would love one of these jackets in every colour of the rainbow.

I have already worn my Style Arc Stacie Jean Jacket several times and I can see it is going to be a favourite item in my wardrobe.

Just before I finish I thought I would share a photo of my loyal little sewing buddy who is never far from my side when I am sewing and who was a keen observer during my photo shoot this morning.

Ollie

Happy Sewing