This is the last of the 4 Jacksons I made at the same time a year ago. I do have more planned, though, so I hope you’re not sick of this pattern yet!
I don’t know if I have much more to say about this pattern to be honest. It’s the same as all of the other versions, size 10 with no cuffs and hem bands, with a straightened hem.
The fabric was from Fabric Godmother and is reversible. I decided to go for the spotty side, because I didn’t want to make 2 striped tops at the same time (alongside the first Jackson I made), but I’m not sure this was the right choice now, looking back. I obviously won’t unpick the whole thing and sew it the other way around, though!
I really do like the fit of these Jacksons. I’ve got some jerseys I’m going to use for some short and long sleeved versions, and I’m going to make them all the same as these ones (and of course the short sleeved version I also made last year).
As I’ve mentioned a lot on here, my love for Helen’s Closet’s patterns is still going strong! This is defo going to become my go to knit top pattern I think. Do you have a go to tee pattern?
Another day, another Jackson sweatshirt. I’m playing mega catch-up with my sewing from pretty much the last year – I want to get better at posting consistently. Though I do it for a while, then ghost my blog for like 4 months at a time usually!
Anyway, onto my latest make to make it to the blog (which I made ages ago!).
This is another Helen’s Closet Jackson sweatshirt, made to the same size and with the same adjustments as my first version, and my whale version. Namely I made the size 10, straightened the hem and added some (unnecessary) length to the sleeves because I didn’t want the hem bands or cuffs.
I managed to mostly match the horizontal stripes on the side seams – they’re not totally straight so I couldn’t match both directions.
The fabric is some fleece-backed sweatshirting from Hey Sew Sister, if memory serves. As soon as I saw it, I had to buy it – it’s the perfect shade of mustard imho.
The Jackson has definitely become my go-to jersey top pattern. I like the oversized vibe I’ve got by going up 3 sizes from my measurements. I’ve got one more to share that I made last year, and a bunch more planned. Sorry not sorry. I’m sure if you’ve read my blog for a while, when I find a pattern I like, I stick to it (*coughs* Archer, Kalle, Dawn).
Back in January I went to the Chanel exhibition at the V&A and it was really good. I’ve been to a few exhibitions at the V&A and I did enjoy this one. I actually didn’t know that much about Chanel’s fashions besides the obvious jacket and loose billowy trousers/loungewear she invented, so this was pretty eye-opening for me.
(disclaimer – I have not edited the below photos (as there are too many!) so apologies if they are a little wonky or badly lit.
This is one of the earliest surviving Chanel garments, from 1916! It’s the Marinière Blouse and is made from fine-gauge silk jersey, a fabric that was previously used only for underwear.
This dress is from 1919, as necklines were starting to go down and hemlines up. I didn’t think that Chanel would have made such intricate and pretty clothes – goes to show what I knew going into the exhibition!
I was surprised and fascinated by all of the intricate seaming work on some of the clothes – like this criss-cross of seams across this dress. She also had a fairly neutral colour palette, even quite early on (but with some bright colours thrown in, as you’ll see). I love how the seam on the body follows into the seam onto the pocket!
I love how she used the dress fabric on the coat lapels. And how the flowers have been cut out and sewn onto the neckline and hem of the dress.
And this dress had had flowers cut out and sewn on the top to make them 3D!
I don’t really wear dresses any more but I love this one, from 1934. I think the 30s was so glamourous, in a kind of effortless way, with the bias cut skirts etc.
A relatively early wool suit, from 1924-5. This is the kind of vibe I expected from Chanel to be honest. Though of course it makes sense that she also did more glam stuff and evening wear – her clients needed outfits for all occasions presumably.
Chanel often used embroidery on her simple silhouettes. It’s very difficult to photograph black clothes in exhibitions but I did manage this close up of some embroidery on a black dress from 1923.
There was, of course, a room dedicated to Chanel’s perfumes. I love how the design of the bottles has never really changed! And I’m not gonna lie, I really want this travel set from 1936!
This selection of evening wear from the 30’s looks so floaty and swishy and cool. It makes me want to flounce around in them! I guess the only limitation of an exhibition like this is you can’t see the clothes worn by actual humans, or in motion.
This black beaded dress even mentioned that motion was key for Chanel. It’s a shame they couldn’t put a video of the dress in motion. I understand some of the garments might be too fragile to be worn, but it could have been gently shaken so we could see the beading shimmering in the light as it moved.
Another dress I would have liked to have seen in motion…
I did wonder how they would tackle Chanel’s less than stellar behaviour during the Second World War, but there was a room dedicated to her conduct. The exhibition was sort of chronological so it came after this room of 20’s and 30’s dresses, but before the room of suits (which obvs was thematic instead). There were documents and a lot of explanation of what she did during the war.
There was a whole room of Chanel suits (though I only took videos really, which I can’t upload here – I’ll share them to Instagram, if you follow me there). It wasn’t quite as impressive as the room of toiles in the Dior exhibition, but it was nice to see them side by side and to see how the design did subtly change over time. And I love the pink stands!
Who could forget about the Chanel bag! They’re not my cup of tea, but iconic nonetheless.
Quintessentially 60’s suits! It was interesting to see where in her career she maybe pushed the envelope and where, as later in her career, she was more following fashion’s trends and silhouettes. The 60’s seemed to be very shiny!
Chanel returned to black dresses throughout her career. I like this one with the gold stripes.
Of course, this trouser suit is definitely an outfit I would want to wear!
I kind of loved this massive pop of colour right at the end!
Overall I really enjoyed the exhibition – and I learnt a lot! I did buy the book too, so I’ve got plenty of reading material and inspiration still to come. I found myself marveling at how something was constructed or patterned, or at the hand beading work involved in some of the garments. I also felt like this was a good sized exhibition – I’m sure it’s sacrilegious to say so, but I felt the Dior one was a bit too big. I found myself overwhelmed by the end, but not with Chanel, it was just the right size.
Did you manage to see the exhibition before it closed? What did you think?
I made this back in March and have worn it quite a lot – and I pretty much always get compliments when I do. So I thought it was about time I shared it here.
I used the Closet Core Kalle Shirt pattern (obvs from the name of the post) but traced it off 2 sizes larger than I’ve made it before. I’ve made the size 6 but this is the size 10. I traced it in the dress length and I love it – though I could have adjusted the sleeves so they’re not quite so long!
The fabric is one of the Robert Kaufman flannels which I bought from Guthrie and Ghani. It was one of the few shops that still had it in stock when I had finally decided which colourway to use! The fabric is really narrow, though (which I stupidly hadn’t checked) so I had to order an extra metre to be able to add the sleeves!
The not bad pattern matching on the back was a total fluke but the invisible pockets were deliberate! I do love an invisible pocket 🙂
For me this is a dopamine dressing item as it makes me happy to wear such happy colours! I’m almost glad it’s getting cold enough to start wearing it again this season!
You know you had a good time at an event when you literally take zero photos! Last weekend was my third time attending the ball (I missed it last year because I had 2 weddings and it felt like a bridge too far to also go to the ball!). You can see my previous outfits, from 2017 and 2019 here.
I did, however, take some photos of my outfit before I went. I went for a different vibe this year and made a suit with a cape, inspired by this outfit worn by Billy Porter, which I saw at an exhibition last year.
Obviously the embroidery was outside of my skills and time frame so I decided to get a brocade to kind of the same vibe. I also wanted to make a kind of see-through shirt, but decided against that because of modesty (and also time, again – I left starting the whole thing too late to be fiddling with difficult fabrics!
This is my whole outfit! I’m pretty please with how it all turned out.
The shirt is a classic Archer shirt. I’ve made this pattern so many times, it seemed an obvious choice. I made my standard size with no fitting adjustments, though I didn’t include any pockets. The fabric was not ideal for a shirt – it’s a crepe, so the shirt is quite bouncey and doesn’t press well. I chose it mostly because of the colour match with the brocade. Basically all the fabric is synthetic which is not what I usually want to do, but I had limited options and not much time left.
I’m not sure why, but the sleeves on the shirt were a bit long. Maybe the fabric just got kinda stretched out a bit. All the fabric except the brocade was from Masons in Abingdon by the way. They have a pretty big selection, but if you’re looking for very specific colours, as I was, then your options are limited.
The trousers are made from the brocade, obvs. The brocade was from Anglian Fashion Fabrics in Norwich – I saw it in person in July and regret not buying it at the time. I wanted to shop around for different options, but couldn’t find anything I liked more. Their delivery is not ideal and their customer service leaves a lot to be desired so I can’t honestly recommend them sadly.
The pattern I used for the trousers was Butterick B6878, which I used for my backless linen suit too. I don’t use big 4 patterns very often and always forget how minimal the instructions are! I also decided to leave the welt pockets off the back for time and the fabric pressed okay but not great (because it’s synthetic) so I thought trying to get welt pockets crisp would be tricky.
I made the size 10 and did have to take it in a bit on the back and side seams. I initially over-fitted it – I made the classic mistake of fitting it without the waistband, then added the waistband and it was too tight. I let the seams out again and cut a new waistband and they ended up really comfortable. I hemmed them considerably shorter than the pattern calls for as they were way too long.
Quite late on I had an inspired idea to make a bow tie! There are a bunch of free patterns and I kind of combined both. There are some that are adjustable but I didn’t have the hardware I needed so I made it a fixed size. I also had to watch a few youtube videos to learn how to tie it, lol.
The jacket pattern I used was the Nina Lee Richmond blazer. I’ve made it once before. I made the size 8 both times, but I kind of knew it was a bit snug – but I was too lazy to reprint and reassemble it. The previous version never had a button so it didn’t matter that it was a bit snug over my hips. I made the jacket with no adjustments to begin with. Then after it was all finished, I unpicked the hem and let out the side and back seams out to 0.5cm instead of the standard 1.5cm from the waist downwards. This was enough to make it fit nicely around my hips!
You can kind of see from these photos that the fabric is not the nicest to press. I tried to press it nicely but synthetic fabrics, of course, don’t really hold a press. I top-stitched the whole front edge of the lapels so it would sit nicely.
I do really like the fit I achieved on the jacket (and trousers) and any outfit that has 4 pockets has got to be good – I didn’t need to take a bag, I could fit everything I needed in my pockets. I do really like the pockets on the Richmond blazer, and the instructions are really clear and easy to follow. The photographer at the ball asked if they were functional and I was like ‘of course!’. I guess she didn’t know how much sewists love a pocket!
And of course, the finishing item of the ensemble was the cape. I was worried I would feel too stupid to wear the cape, but it’s really fun to swish around in a cape! I used Simplicity 8721, which is like a costume cape pattern (which is kind of all you can get). I made it without the hood and lined it, to give the same surprise colour as the one Billy Porter wore.
It’s quite hard to capture the movement of the cape in photos. The 2 fabrics were really light weight, which was what I wanted to make sure it would have some movement.
I do love the bright pink lining – and the shoes were a flukey colour match since i ordered them online!
I really enjoyed making all of the items I wore – and I did have enough time to finish everything, not helped by the delayed fabric delivery though.
I went to the brunch the morning after the event and everyone was saying ‘so are you going next year?’ and I had so recently finished my outfit I couldn’t think of anything I would want to make/wear. But I have since had an idea so who knows…. And I would have almost a whole year to make my outfit (though I’m sure we all know I would still leave it to the last minute!).
It was really nice to meet so many new people – the sewing community is great that you can go to an event without knowing anyone and you can make friends by the end of the evening!
sewingmachinations.com 