Army style jacket, with detachable (faux) fur-lined hood

I mentioned some time ago my new army/military style jacket; finished way back in March, well, here it is!
When we were in Tokyo I saw all ages and both sexes, everywhere, sporting big khaki army type jackets.  All with military details, lots of pockets, cinched in waist belts and sometimes with fur-lined hoods, and I just fell in love with them and decided I just had to have my own.  They just looked so big and comfy and cosy looking, and the girls (and boys) wearing them looked so warm not to mention so so so too-cooool-for-school; casually and bulkily stylish...  I'm sure a lot of the ones I saw were real army jackets, possibly from army disposal stores or secondhand stores, but naturally with my DIY aesthetic I was always going to try to make my own... :D
Of course what I wasn't taking into account was that it doesn't really get all that cold here and especially for the hoodie part of it!  I expect I will wear it without the hood for most of the time... but it was still fun to have a go at making a furry hood, and it just might come in handy for some mornings, and if we ever go down to the country.

Details:

Jacket; Burdastyle 05-2010-127 with my own modifications, khaki ripstop cotton and grey marle fleece lining

Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive green corduroy, to see this little skirt styled in 6 different ways go here

Top and tights; Metalicus

Socks, handknit by me, details here

Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

Dressmaking details; if you want to know...
I used Burdastyle 05/2010, pattern 127 as a starting point, and as usual made a few modifications to get the army-style I envisioned, but as the bones of the jacket are essentially the same I think I can dare to write a review for this pattern??  I used ripstop cotton in khaki, a wonderful fabric both tough and hardwearing and so so so perfect for an army style jacket!  I have also made this and this from the exact same fabric, so I guess it is obvious I love it...!  I'd better not buy any more, hmmm?  The lining is a pale grey marle fleece, and the faux fur is... well, faux fur.  I think from memory, it was labelled silver fox.  All the materials are from Spotlight.
The modifications I made:
Lengthened the jacket by oooh, roughly 7cm? and also slightly enlarged (length-wise) and slightly lowered the lower front pockets.  I chose to enlarge these because I thought the original smaller ones would not have the right proportions on the lengthened jacket...
I drafted a completely different collar, a sorta slightly curved rectangle, because I wanted more of a wide standup collar than the little fold-down one in the pattern...

My sleeves are not vented or cuffed, and have a tab with snap closure, for more of a military-looking effect.
I did not incorporate buttons and buttonholes at the front as stipulated in the pattern, but instead inserted an open-ended zip, again inspired by the styling of army jackets I've seen around
My jacket is fully lined, with grey fleece (for warmth, and also to enhance that bulky look an army jacket is supposed to have)  as it turns out it is very warm!  I did not hem the lining, but enclosed the flat raw edges inside the sleeve and lower hems of the jacket.  The fleece was partly leftover from this project, I had to buy a bit more.

I added a tab at the lower edge, and another tab at the neck edge; both features I mentally noted from the army jackets I saw in Tokyo.  These both have snap closure.

I made a detachable, (faux) fur-edged hood.  For this, I used a modified version of the hood from KwikSew 3667, with the lower edge cut flatter and a bit narrower to fit in with the neckline of my jacket.  It is also lined with fleece, and has buttonholes sewn in the bottom edge, which correspond with the buttons that I sewed inside the collar edge.  I realise the fur-edged hood is probably kinda silly in this climate, but I think it looks kinda cool, and it just may come in useful one day?

My review of this pattern, if you're interested...


Pattern Description:
Unstructured long-sleeved jacket; with two piece sleeves with vents and buttoned cuffs, front buttons and buttonband, epaulettes, four flapped patch pockets at the front, belt loops at waist level for the self-fabric belt and a short, buttoned collar.
Pattern Sizing:
36-44.  I made a 38
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
In essence, yes.  I made a few modifications.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
Yes.  I did some steps differently and in a different order, to accommodate my modifications...
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I like everything about this pattern!  The basic bones of the pattern are great; being unstructured it is therefore very easy to fit, to put together and also easy to incorporate your own alterations.  The fun is in adding your own details.
Fabric Used:
Ripstop cotton, and fully lined with cotton/polyester fleece.  A strip of faux fur (silver fox) to edge the hood
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Lengthened the jacket by about 7cm? and also slightly enlarged (length-wise) and slightly lowered the lower front pockets.  I chose to enlarge these not because I thought they were too small but because I thought the originals would not have the right proportions once I had lengthened the jacket...
Drafted a different, slightly curved rectangular collar, because I wanted a higher standup collar than the little fold down one in the pattern
Inserted tabs with snap closure in the top and bottom of the front edges
Instead of the front buttonband and buttons, extended the front opening edges slightly so I could insert an open-ended zip
Fully lined the jacket in a polyester cotton fleece
Added a hood, also fully lined with fleece, and edged in faux fur.  This has 4 buttonholes on the lower edge, and attaches to 4 buttons sewn around the neckline, inside of the collar
Left off the sleeve vent and cuffs, instead inserted tabs with snap closure inside the lower end of the sleeve seam, sewed the sleeves closed to the end and hemmed over the raw edges of the lining.  The lower hem of the jacket also encloses the raw edge of the jacket lining inside
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I would definitely recommend this to others!  I might sew it again, if I need another jacket like this.
Conclusion:
This pattern was one of the first to catch my eye in this magazine, and I always had a mind to make it.  After visiting Tokyo, and being totally inspired by the cool cool army/military style jackets I saw worn over there, I realised this was the perfect pattern I could adapt quite easily to get that style of jacket.  And I'm totally happy with how it turned out; even if the hood is not super appropriate for our climate I still love it, and am very pleased with the smart styling and warmth of the jacket even sans hood.  The waist belt is a nice finishing touch, although I am very glad I lengthened the jacket as I think the belt would have looked a bit funny on the shorter length.

Tim's shirt/jacket

Here is the shirt/jacket thingy that I made for Tim for a birthday gift... it is very similar to Sam's here, but using a grey/beige, thin but warm, corduroy and a (leftover) contrasting dark blue/grey cotton linen for the lining of each of the collar stand, yoke, welt pockets and pocket flaps. 
I used the same ol' Burda 7767 that is now my standby go-to men's button-up shirt pattern, almost lost count of the number of times I've used it now  (just went back and checked... 14 times!)  Hehe, Myrna suggested I do an overview of different ways in which I've used the same pattern to get different garments, and I think this pattern might be a prime candidate, along with my all-time favourite Vogue 7303... but not until I've given this shirt/jacket thing its very own post here...
Variations to the pattern; 
well, apart from the obvious customised fitting to Tim's measurements modifications I implemented the following:
1.  lengthened the fronts and back by about 6-7cm, to get a more coat or jacket like effect and curved the hemline up to each of the side seams to get that shirt-tail effect both front and back...
2. added two breast pockets with curved flaps
3. added two of those double pockets at hip height... pockets that are separately a welt pocket and are also a patch pocket (you can tell, I was pretty thrilled with how these turned out on Sam's jacket and Tim thought they were tres cool as well, so I just had to put them on his too!)  my tutorial for doing these double pockets is here.
4. used snaps throughout in lieu of buttons.  
Little anecdote; I had nearly finished this jacket - bar putting the snaps in, and by this time Tim knew very well that I was making this for him (well, I do make them something for each of their birthdays.... he was expecting it) and he wanted to wear it out to a friend's place that night.  Of course the snaps seems like the easy quick bit and I'm like, oh hang on, shouldn't take more than twenty minutes.  Like, well over an hour later....  hehe, SO putting in snaps does take a fair bit of time, if you are trying to be careful about placement that is and not just flying along recklessly... but he did get to wear it out, even if he was (fashionably) late!
In an unthinking moment, I selected contrasting thread to topstitch, that matched the tobacco brown snaps exactly.  Bad idea!  I adore corduroy and have used it countless times, but looking back I have always selected matching topstitching thread.  In hindsight I can see the wisdom of that (even though it was ignorant wisdom...); corduroy by its very nature does not take super well to military-precisioned topstitching, all those furry velvety little ridges, bless them, are an enemy to the topstitching perfectionist.  Moral of the story; always, but always go with matching topstitching thread on corduroy, unless uneven lines are not going to send you spare.  The good news is that Tim, being an easy-going bloke, is OK with it.  It is just something to bother me whenever I have occasion to, say, hang it up on the line and get to see those slightly-darker-therefore-blindingly-obvious wonky lines all over again (grrr...)

At left; contrasting lining: at right; the double welt/patch pockets at hip level, complete with hideous topstitching

Because of the intensity that was me-made June, it may appear I haven't done much sewing in the last month... actually I have still been sewing and have produced some new things.  For some reason I felt I didn't want to do postings of any new stuff during that month, so I have kept some things back.  Well, OK I did reveal some new things, a little grey top, and the new scarf... oh, OK then.  There was a smattering of minor-league new stuff, hehe.  And some old stuff that was discovered in my winter sort-out.  But, back to the subject, I do have some new creations to reveal.  Just have to muster some enthusiasm to get back in front of the camera again... you understand.

A Chanel-style jacket

Going through my winter clothes yesterday I came across a few numbers that I hadn't posted here yet.  Including this jacket.  It's really beyond me why I haven't photographed and written about this before since I was, and am very proud of it.  I think it falls into that sad category of being too good to wear.  You know, very expensive fabric, poured my heart 'n soul into making it and all...  adds up to "too scared to wear it in case something terrible happens to it".  I know, tosh right?  One should wear one's clothes.  I do believe that, even if I sometimes have trouble practising what I preach...
I made it about ... oh, three or four years ago?  (not sure now  :D ) Mum and I had been to Melbourne together and visited a few fabric stores including Astratex, and I bought this beautiful pure wool woven fabric, knowing I wanted to make a Chanel style jacket out of it.  I also bought the fabric for this skirt from the same place, yes it is a store packed with truly lovely and luxurious, if pricey fabrics.  Fabrics for garments you want to last a lifetime...
I used Vogue 7975, view C, although without the pockets.  I had bought plenty of the fabric, but once I had lined up and matched up those distinctive woolly lines in the weave to cut out my pieces there wasn't even enough left for pockets!  And besides, the fabric is bulky, and furthermore the look of it is so busy and intense with the woven details I really decided pockets would be overkill for this jacket.
It is lined with a very thin and floaty grey silk, mostly hand-stitched in place, and all edges finished with a rather Renaissance, wide and intricately twisted, black braid from Fabulous Fabrics.  This is entirely hand-stitched in place and mitred around each corner.  There is no jacket closure.
It is a lush jacket, is it not?  The fabric is veeery over-the-top and extravagant, a more luxurious look than I am used to wearing much.  The year I first made it I was wearing it with jeans to tone down the whole opulence of it, but for today to show it off for the first time here I wanted to dress it up just a leettle bit more.  But still with the plainest of garments; a white shirt and my black Karl Lagerfeld skirt.  Since he is the creative designer of Chanel it seemed fitting, n'est ce pas?
And, when I joined Burdastyle I kinda half-vowed to myself I wouldn't post my old projects there.  But I am so newly chuffed with this one I think I might just break my own rule, just this once.... :)


Details:
Jacket; Vogue 7975 view C, thickly spun and woven pure wool, lined with silk and edged with braid
Shirt; Burda 8497, white cotton, details here
Skirt; Burdastyle magazine 10/2010, 136 with modifications, of black suiting, details and my review of this pattern here
Tights; Kolotex
Shoes; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes

Sam's shirt/jacket

So I finished off the pockets on Sam's birthday shirt/jacket last night, and did take those few snaps of the pockets to show here because I was so happy at how they turned out, but the light was not great for taking a photo of Sam modelling the whole thing.  So now it is, and I have.
It is made out of thin navy blue non-stretchy corduroy, using the old favourite Burda 7767 with a few modifications... the addition of two breast pockets with arrow head flaps, and the double welt/patch pockets I showed you yesterday.  And a curved hemline.  And I used brown snaps instead of buttons.  The collar facing, yoke facing, flap facings and welt pocket lining are all in a contrasting cotton, woven in a tiny plaid design of beige and black.
So here's the thing...  I don't know if it qualifies as a shirt or a jacket, or both.
It is made using a shirt pattern, and can be happily worn buttoned (snapped?) up and on its own... thus earning itself a "shirt" label.  
But also; being made of sturdy corduroy fabric, and also wearable unbuttoned and open over other shirts with his hands shoved in the pockets, it comes off as kinda jacket-style... thus attaining "jacket" status.
A hybrid.  
There must be a name to properly describe garments like this without having to resort to the hyphenated.

my tutorial for doing those combination welt/patch pockets just below

Bracelet-sleeve jacket in raspberry

I finished my jacket for Sherry's RTW Tailoring sew-along!  Finally...
Hehe, I wouldn't blame poor Sherry for giving up on me in disgust, what with my intermittent effort thanks to pattern indecision, as well as the interruption of hiking trips and charity balls, both of which required some intervening sewing effort from me, but here is my RTW jacket, finally finished.  Of course eagle eyed readers will notice immediately that this is a completely different jacket from my original good intentions (snort).  No really, I still do intend to get onto that pattern and that fabric properly.  One day...
Now did I employ the couture techniques learnt from the wonderful Vogue 8333 in the making of this simple little thing?  (pause for effect..)  no.
I basically followed this pattern, and just made a few adjustments for fitting considerations.  Namely, took some width off those grid-iron shoulders, and removed considerable width from the top half of those weight-lifter-worthy sleeves.  
The thing I'm fairly proud of is that I only had about 1.3m of this raspberry-red hessian silk in my stash, enough for a good length skirt.  Not really enough for a jacket!  Thus the choice of this pattern, a simply proportioned cropped jacket with bracelet length sleeves.  And even so, my sleeves are about 5cm shorter than specified in the pattern, and I barely squeaked the pattern pieces out of my length of fabric.  And I had to leave off the pockets (sigh, I do love pockets...)

If you look at the front facings inside the jacket, you will see more evidence of my lack of fabric, see that triangular patched in bit?  It looks the same on each of the facings, and was necessary because I really didn't have enough fabric.  Usually I hate that sort of messy piecing together of bits to get a pattern piece out of the available fabric, but every now and again it has to be done, in emergencies.  This was an emergency.  I even traipsed out to the fabric shop to get a bit extra of the same fabric... you guessed it, it had sold out and the colour was discontinued.  That will teach me, for hanging on to fabric for years before using it...  Thankfully the patch is completely unseen when I am wearing the jacket, or I wouldn't have considered it.

The pattern incorporates a very interesting sleeve design, a design I've not come across before.  They are two pieced sleeves, but not the usual kind.  Instead, they have an under-sleeve seam, hitting right at the lowest point of the armscye, and a top of sleeve seam, running along the top of each arm.  The top shaping of the sleeve cap is enhanced by two darts.
Also, the coat has side pieces, with no side seams; resulting in princess-like seams on the front and the back.  So that under-sleeve seam doesn't meet up with a side seam.  A unique design in my experience.  

The jacket is completely lined with raspberry coloured acetate lining. 
I chose not to block-fuse the entire jacket.  This is because I like my jackets to be soft and comfy, like a cardigan.  I used fusible interfacing on the front facings, the collar and on the hem allowances of the jacket and sleeves.
However, patched-together facing pieces aside, I do love my new jacket.  It is a colour I love, in a comfortable easy to wear style that I love.  I'm sure it will be appearing a few times here, come Me-Made June.


Details:
Jacket; Vogue 2894 with some fitting modifications, raspberry hessian silk
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive green corduroy, to see this skirt styled in 6 different ways go here
Scarf; made by me, a re-fashioned Tshirt, see here
Top and tights; Metalicus
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes

And if you are interested, below is the review of this pattern I submitted to Pattern Review...


Pattern Description:
Loose-fitting fully interfaced, lined jacket with collar, patch pockets and three-quarter length sleeves.  Pleated skirt, 2" below waistline with yoke, side pocket opening and below mid-knee length.  I have made the skirt as well but this review is just for the jacket.
Pattern Sizing:
8-10-12, I used size 8.  I would usually fit a size 10, but the 8 is still quite a loose-fitting jacket on me.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you had finished sewing it?
yes
Were the instructions easy to follow?
very easy
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
The sizing runs quite big.  Even though I went down a size, the shoulders were still very grid iron on me, and the sleeves themselves so puffy as to make me look like a weight-lifter on my day off.
But after removing fabric off each of these areas I'm very happy with the boxy yet streamlined shape of the jacket.
I like that it didn't require much fabric.  I only had 1.3m, from which I just managed to squeeze out the pattern pieces.  Admittedly, I had to make a small patch on the front facings, but I still managed to get out my jacket!
The design is quite unusual, which I really like.  The sleeves are two-pieced, but not in the usual way.  Instead there is an underarm seam, joining up with the lowest point of the arm-scye, and a top of sleeve seam, meeting up with the shoulder seam.  The sleeve cap is shaped with two darts.  I've never come across this sleeve design before.
The body of the jacket has side pieces, meaning there are princess like seams on the front and back of the jacket, but no side seams.  Meaning that under-sleeve seam doesn't meet up with a matching side seam... interesting.
Fabric Used:
Silk hessian
Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
Because of the grid-iron shoulders, I took off about 4cm off the width of the shoulders, and graded in the arm-scye and top of the torso area accordingly.  The sleeves are also very roomy.  I took in about 2.5cm from the width of the top of the sleeves.  I sadly had to leave off the patch pockets, and my sleeves are about 5cm shorter than the pattern, thanks to lack of fabric...
I chose not to fully interface the jacket, as I like my jackets to be soft.  I used fusible interfacing on the front facings, the collar, and on the jacket and sleeve hem allowances.
Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Definitely I will sew this cute little jacket again!
Conclusion:
Great little pattern with some unusual design features, and very very easy!

Introducing Mum...

I will say straight out this amazingly beautiful ensemble is not made by me but by my Mum here.  I had to put a picture of it here, because I couldn't resist; Mum will never ever get herself a blog and this outfit is too creative, clever, immaculately made and finished, and lovely in itself not to share.
My parents have been staying with us recently, and when Mum came downstairs one morning in this ensemble on her way to attend Grandparent's Day with my Dad and Sam, I literally stopped in my tracks.  Then raced to get my camera, simultaneously begging Mum to let me post her outfit on the blog.  She graciously agreed.
(Of course I would not be human if a little bit of me thought it might not be a good idea, posting Mum's creations here on the blog.  After all, they will just serve to highlight how my skills are but 1% of Mum's.  But let's not be petty now...)
The jacket:  Mum bought these tweed fabrics, sold as small patches or "salesman's samples" from a shop called Peppertree in NSW which she visited as part of the Australian Sewing Guild convention last year.  She pieced the different sized pieces together in an attractive random patchwork pattern... and anyone who has attempted patchworking will know that randomly shaped rectangular and square patches are not easily put together.  There are also one or two patches harvested from my Dad's old tweed sports coat that has finally bitten the dust after many years of good service (a Re-fashion!).  The pattern for the jacket is a Vogue pattern by Donna Karan, (pattern number to be provided when Mum looks it up and tells me)  Please note the perfectly constructed welt buttonhole, made from tweed too.  And I have to especially point out, see the piece of mustard/dark green houndstooth-y looking fabric, on the right, or buttonhole opening side of the front, just under and by the lapel?  Mum knitted that bit in fair isle, to tone in with the other tweeds.  On a seamstress' note, she wanted it mentioned that the knitted section required extra underlining and stabilising, as of course knitted fabric is not as sturdy as woven tweed.  
The jacket is fully lined in dark grey acetate lining.
Mum made the skirt too, from charcoal jersey knit.  I think she might have made the pattern for that herself.
Thank you Mum, for this bar-setting self-sewn moment!
Later edit: Jacket: Vogue 8605, shortened; Skirt: Vogue 2911

Vogue 8333, a wearable muslin

I have finally finished my muslin of Vogue 8333, a bit late for the RTW jacket sew-along, but meh.  It's done.  I will wear this thing.  I like it with the sleeves folded up like this, and I like the oversized nacre buttons I found for it.  I think it will be even better after a few more washes, to nicely wrinkle it up and settle in those seams, and I am toying vaguely with the idea of dyeing it... what do you think?
Something I've noticed, and you can see it in the picture, the right side lapel has a slight tendency to sit up higher than its roll line, in spite of  (or because of?) the hand-stitched bridles within.  Do you think I should I be worried about this?

I really wanted to make this muslin wearable since wasting fabric, even calico, goes against like just about everything to do with consumerism and using planetary resources that I believe in.  It is finished (sorta ridiculously) to couture standards...  well, I needed to have a go at all the couture techniques that are introduced in this wonderful pattern...
With a few exceptions; I forgo-ed pad-stitching the collar (I figured I'd already practised that one sufficiently pad-stitching the lapels) and just whacked in some iron-on interfacing.  No one will notice that.  I've learnt the thing about couture... done properly, no one should be able to tell couture apart from RTW, without taking the whole thing apart.  
Couture is in the inner details.  
The only reason one might notice a difference between the two at a casual glance is of course if one's hand-stitching is so badly uneven that it stands out on the outer like a sore thumb... but I pride myself on having pretty good hand-stitching if I say so myself.  Another couture exception in this garment is that I machine-stitched the buttonholes.  Will save the hand-finished buttonholes, with properly waxed and pressed silk thread as specified, for the real deal.  Finally, this garment is not underlined, unlike my "real" jacket will be.
Irene warned me that the torso of this pattern ran narrow, and I did check this carefully during the bodice construction bit.  But I am kind of narrow in the torso already, and actually found it to fit me fine.  I might shave a teensy bit off the bust curves but I don't think very much.  One part I had to drastically adjust was the sleeve cap... here is the jacket with the sleeves as per the pattern set in.

See how horribly poof-y and gathered at the top they are?  Even my youngest son, who is remarkably uninterested in details, and clothing details especially, noticed and kindly pointed it out to me unbidden, in case I hadn't noticed the hideousness myself already (I had).
I then reduced the height of the sleeve cap by a good 1.5cm in my muslin (as in top photo).  A bit better, no?
However will I need to adjust this detail in my wool/silk jacket? possibly not, since wool has shrink-ability going for it allowing one to shrink the sleeve cap into the armscye, whereas of course calico has absolutely zero shrink-ability.  Leading naturally to one of my pet peeves with the whole muslin charade in the first place, the difference in material properties; also titled "why the only useful muslin is one made in the exact same fabric as your garment" rant that I am not going to go into here, wishing to spare everyone a massive post.


Details:
Jacket; Vogue 8333, calico
Camisole (under, barely seen); Country Road
Skirt; skirt "m" from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like by Natsuko Hiraiwa, linen/cotton mix, details here
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs shoes (will be so depressed when these die...)