Because I can
It has been a while again since the last time when I wrote about that red coat. So, this time and because summer is almost gone (who said sad?), today I’m here to tell a little story about a jacket.
If you follow my adventures on my IG stories, you probably saw already some details about this piece, including tacking, invisible seams or even the label on it!
A colourful, bright, 80s jacket.
The clash in my wardrobe. Where everything is black, red, tartan and abstract patterns… here it is. A patterned colourful and bright short jacket that I still don’t know what I’m wearing with.
To be honest, I don’t even know if I’ll feel so brave to wear it outside. But I have to admit that I still love it. I actually do.
Why did I make it then?
Because I can.
Sometimes, to go back on track, we just need to do something… unexpected. This jacket is not the kind of thing I would be normally wearing. And after some months of basically just mending stuff for others and not making any real project……. yeah! this has been a dream.
Alexander Henry is love!
And we all know it. That’s why I fell in love with this fabric the first time I saw it.
Because of all the sewing-drama included in the pattern, a friend of mine thought it was the perfect birthday present. If sewing is the thing you love the most (like I do!), Sewing Sorrows is also about you. You’ll perfectly understand that tear because the fabric you need is out of stock, the fabric shop is closed or… those thoughts about fabrics when you are far from home and your sewing machine.
The print looks beautiful and the quality of the fabric is nice. Nothing really special, but a good 100% cotton after all.
I got for the lining a mix of red and silver woven threads that looked like a weird pink. Not super happy with the colour itself, but when I put it close to the cotton one… whoah! It was perfect! Bright, colorful and different!
18 pieces all together
Making the pattern is a hate-love job. I love it, I love to be able to do my own patterns. I love to design and decide what I want and try to make it real. But I hate the chaos I produce for doing it.
For this short jacket I cut 18 pieces (or that was the number last time I counted them!). Not all different, but similar, so mistakes are easy to make and you can end cutting the wrong fabric, the wrong pattern or the wrong amount.
I know it is not the most usual of the shapes but I wanted to make some interesting pattern: A big collar, draped and different; Some puffy sleeves.
I struggled a bit to get the right shape for the collar. I made some tests with other fabrics and also paper, but not a real toile. Sometimes, I think I hate them and I never use them because of that. But the real thing is I never did them when I studied, so I never got used to.
Afortunately, the collar went right at the first and it didn’t need any adjustment. Just the back did, cause I changed my mind about a detail on it during the process. I always do.
For the puffy sleeves, I used an extra white tulle inside, so they keep the shape a bit. That’s the trick!
This piece is a bit of a try to find some inspiration. To stop being afraid to start again, to find new ideas and projects and overall, following that dream. That one that makes everything else fit, worthy or sufferable.
I guess that was all. I hope you like the jacket and this post. Feel free to leave a comment and thank you for reading!
Berenice
xx