Valerie made this lovely transitional weather outfit a little while ago, and we think it is just the perfect combination for the unpredictable spring temps we have been having lately. Keep reading to learn more about how she hacked these two patterns to make them work better for her fabric and style!
Maker: Valerie
Patterns Used:
Cropped Jacket from The Assembly Line (available at the shop)
Haxby Skirt from Sew Over It (PDF only)
Shown with the Orage top from Deer & Doe (PDF only).
(Don’t forget about our PDF pattern printing services!)
Fabric Used:
RK stretch denim (jacket) – available at the shop
Cotton lawn (skirt) – available at the shop
Bamboo cotton jersey (top) – available at the shop
Did you make a muslin?
I did make a muslin of the jacket, because I usually have to make full bust adjustments or adjustments for narrow shoulders, but with the shape of this jacket it was hard to guess what would happen.
The muslin revealed a very voluminous back and a front that was too small around my bust. The shoulders fit beautifully though!
Did you make any alterations to the pattern?
For the skirt, the changes were more about style.
- I added a lining instead of a facing, only because my fashion fabric was sort of sheer. I used cambridge lawn in ivory for the lining, and cut it out using the straight skirt pieces, skipping the godets, and using the facing pattern pieces only to cut a lightweight fusible interfacing (Bosal 300).
- I used the leftover lawn to make bias binding to hem the skirt, which helps define the fullness, and helps weigh down the hem so the godets hang nicely.
For the jacket, the changes I made were for fit purposes.
- Instead of a full bust adjustment, I added 1” in length to the center front, diminishing to zero at the side seams.
- I also extended the hem band by 1” on both sides; this gave me 2 more inches in the center front by reducing the amount of gathers in the front.
- I removed about 3” from the center back of the jacket to further reduce volume in the back. The diagonal line you see below takes the excess out without changing the fit at the shoulders.
The pattern includes a center front zipper closure, which I left out because I knew I’d never wear it zipped up. I also extended the interior facings on the jacket, because short facings are a pet peeve of mine!
Did you learn any new techniques/skills?
Sewing the godets on the skirt was new to me, but it wasn’t difficult so much as just time consuming. You really have to be very careful with your seam allowance so that the points of the godets and the skirt panel seams come together properly.
Matching the check on the skirt took much longer! The angle of the photo is a little off, but I matched the checks by marking the seam allowance at the dots on the pattern, and then picking one check to match across each seam. It was lucky that the checks on this fabric match the seam allowance almost exactly!
Do you have any tips for construction?
The instructions for the jacket are a little muddled when it comes to sewing the facing in place, but I pinned everything before stitching to make sure it flipped out correctly.
I also found it worth it to shape the collar using a tailor’s ham and a hot iron before sewing it into the jacket. The pattern does include a line where the collar should flip, but they only tell you to mark it so you can press the fold in place; it was helpful to me to actually sew in a basting stitch along the undercollar along that line to help accurately mark the fold, and to help it stay in place.
What did you like about the pattern/fabric?
Both of these garments would look great in a lot of different types of fabric!
What did you dislike about the pattern/fabric?
I love sewing with denim, but putting the in gathers was a trial. With stiffer fabric like denim, it’s definitely worth it to sew in multiple lines of basting stitches, and to anchor the thread tails around pins so you don’t lose your gathers while you are trying to sew.
Would you make it again?
This skirt would look amazing in Brussels Washer Linen or in European Laundered Linen, and will probably end up on my summer sewing queue for sure!
The jacket came together quickly after I made the changes to the pattern, so I can definitely see myself making a lightweight summer version in something like Jetsetter Twill or Waterford Linen.
Stitch Samples is a blog series that gives you a closer look at the samples made by members of our shop gang.
