Snowflake Outfit: The Jacket

  And now it's time for my favorite piece of the whole ensemble... the jacket!

  I started this jacket with a hooded sweater pattern- Jalie 3355 to be exact- in one size up from Booper's measurements. And then I started modifying it. I:
1. Cropped it to waist length.
2. Extended the front to create lapels.
3. Added a collar.
4. Lengthened the sleeves so I could leave the ribbed cuffs off.
5. Added a waistband and peplum.
6. Changed the hood to have a center piece and a front band.
7. Drafted facings and a lining.

  Then, because I'm not completely crazy (yet), I made a quick muslin in some green fleece that I had on my shelf, bought last year for a project I ended up missing the deadline for. For the most part, I was happy with my changes, but I re-did the collar several times before I was satisfied!

  The fabric is a white sweatshirt fleece from a flawed bargain lot from Girl Charlee early last year. I was expecting regular knits and was pretty surprised to end up with onion skin, sweatshirt fleece, and baby hacci sweater knit! I should definitely have read the description more carefully! But this fabric at least came in handy. =)

  I cut doubles of my bodice pieces and sleeves for extra warmth and so the quilting would have more depth to it. I layered the pieces wrong-sides together and basted them with quilt basting spray. Then it was quilting time! I used my Silhouette to cut several sizes of a basic snowflake from sticker paper, stuck them to my pieces, and sewed around them. I used my regular foot and just stopped and pivoted a lot, because the vintage machine I'm using throws fits when I try to free-motion. After the snowflakes, I drew random swirly lines all over the pieces in washable marker and quilted those the same way.

  I also cut two peplums, but sewed around the bottom and front edges right sides together before turning, basting, and quilting.

  I left the waistband, hood, collars, and facings un-quilted for a little bit of contrast. I interfaced the upper collar and the waistband with lightweight interfacing. After quilting, I sewed the jacket in what I assume is the normal order. ;-) For the most part it went beautifully! But I had tons of trouble with one of the facings where the collar and lapel meet... I'd line everything up perfectly and pin all over, sew, and remove it from the machine to find that it was an entire centimeter off! Three times! I finally hand-sewed it with a back-stitch, which worked well.

  I did my first-ever bound buttonhole... it looked pretty decent before I washed the whole jacket (which I had to do to get the marker out), but washing it made parts of it crooked and it wouldn't press straight again. =(

  I used swimsuit lining fabric to line the jacket... I'm not sure how well it will hold up but I can replace it if it doesn't last, and it has the slipperiness I was looking for.

  I didn't add ease like you normally would for a jacket lining because this fabric is quite a lot stretchier than the exterior fabric, especially after all that quilting. I actually should have shortened the sleeve lining a little bit more, as it stretches past the hem when Booper puts it on.

  Before lining it though, I added one side of three KAM snaps to the neckline edge of the upper collar, so I'd have something to attach the hood to that would be hidden from the outside,

  The hood is a completely separate piece, with sweatshirt fleece on the outside, swimsuit lining on the inside, and curly white faux-fur (found at Hobby Lobby rather last-minute) as a border.

  I added the other pieces of the three snaps along the bottom edge of the hood, as well as one whole snap hiding in the two corners of the faux fur.

  With the hood from the back:

  And without:

  And the front without the hood:

  I wanted Booper to be able to wear the jacket closed if we ever encounter colder weather, so I added a loop of elastic cord to one lapel when I was sewing the facing in, and sewed a small button under the edge of the collar.

  It looks like this when done up:

  She says it feels too tight when worn this way though, so I'd widen the neckline (and alter the collar to match) if I were to do this again.

  I really, really love how this jacket turned out! I'm pretty happy that I drafted a notched collar, made a bound buttonhole, and bagged a lining- all for the first time! =)

  I'd love to make a properly tailored jacket at some point, but I have a lot of other things in the queue right now, so it won't be soon.

  My favorite part of the jacket though? All that quilting. So worth the hours!

  One more post and then we are done with the snowflake outfit!

Thanks for stopping by,