Tag Archives: Blazer

Business in the Front, Party in the Back (literally)

So a while ago I saw a photo of a Thai actor in the below outfit and immediately thought about recreating it. Last year I had 2 weddings to attend and for one I was going to wear my Mersis Dress which I made the previous Summer. But for the other one, I figured why not make a new outfit!?

You can see that the above outfit is more of a jumpsuit than separates – the front is one piece, but with suit vibes at the top. I decided I wanted to make separates – much more practical for ahem going to the bathroom (you don’t end up basically naked!).

I wanted the trousers to be what I consider stereotypical suit trousers, so with some pleats, welt pockets on the back and with front pockets. I came across Butterick B6878 and while the illustrations and photos on the pattern don’t make it look amazing, I did some googling and decided to go for it.

There are 2 darts on the back and 2 pleats on the front. I made the size 10 and actually can’t remember if I made any changes and didn’t write any notes – normally I write fitting notes as I go so if I make the pattern again, I’ll know what I did last time. There are shorts, tapered leg trousers and wide legged trousers. I went for the wide legged version.

I ended up making 4 welt pockets in total as the jacket also had 2 – though double welts rather than single welts. For those keeping count, I had a total of 6 pockets in my outfit! Winning!

Obviously sometimes you need sustenance while you’re sewing. IMHO you can’t beat a good cup of tea!

The jacket pattern I used was the Ready to Sew Joe Blazer. I used this pattern before for my pink smoking type jacket and since I’d already hacked it to kind of be double breasted, I thought it would be a good place to start. Oh, a word on the fabric. It was this lovely blush pink linen/cotton blend I bought from a fabric shop in Abingdon called Mason’s. They have 3 craft shops in total and are kind of legendary locally. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by their range of fabric and they have every notion you could think of.

Before when I hacked the pattern I pivoted the fronts to make them wider but this made them on an angle, so this time I toiled it a couple of times to figure out how best to do it and went with slashing and spreading (again can’t remember by how much sadly). You can see above I pinned a little wedge out of the front to make it even more straight, then sewed the facing to the front along that line from the inside.

Of course there was also a lot of hacking to the back. I merged the back side and centre back pieces into one and then cut a semi-circle out of the back, leaving a bit extra for seam allowance. It was definitely a head-scratcher to figure out the construction to make it all look neat, but I figured it out in the end.

↑ business in the front

↓ party in the back!

The loop at the top which holds the ‘strings’ was 20cm x 11cm and sewn in half with a 1.5cm seam allowance. The loops were 74cm, 128cm and 146cm long, though I did have to slightly adjust some of them so they weren’t too slack or too tight.

I did really love wearing this outfit to my friends’ wedding back in August but there was quite the heat wave that week so maybe it wasn’t the most sensible choice! I was more than a little warm. I did take a t-shirt to change into in case I couldn’t cope with wearing the jacket and once I started dancing to the live band, I did admit defeat sadly.

Not to blow my own trumpet but I am really quite pleased with how the back in particular turned out, but also managing to make it actually look like a double breasted suit on the front – though the bottom set of buttons looks a little low proportionally, looking at these photos. Eh, the sewist’s curse, to always look for flaws that literally no-one else would ever notice!

While I may not get the chance to wear the whole outfit very often, I am definitely planning to wear the trousers with some other tops. And actually as part of Wear It On Wednesday I have already worn them once – I think when the weather gets a bit warmer they’ll get more into regular rotation!

To preserve my modesty I did add a popper to the front to make sure the lapels didn’t gape and show everything! As I’m sure you can appreciate I couldn’t wear anything underneath the jacket!

I did ask one of my friends to take a few photos of my outfit on the day. You can almost feel how hot it was in the photos – so sunny! I love hot weather but this outfit was not the best choice and I didn’t take any alternatives. Clever me!

I really enjoyed trying to recreate an outfit from photos I found online. I’ve done it a couple of times before (both outfits I wore to the dressmaker’s ball were red carpet copies [1 and 2]) but I definitely want to do some more of it. I just need some occasions to wear some more formal outfits…

A review of 2020

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I’ve done review posts (and then planning posts for the forthcoming year) for quite a few years on this blog and I wasn’t going to do one this year (I won’t be doing a planning post) but then I realised it’s been my most productive sewing year so far so it would be a shame not to celebrate all the things I’ve made.

I do want to acknowledge my privilege before I dive into my makes because I know a lot of people have lost friends and family members this year and have lost jobs and had their lives as they knew them fall apart. I myself work in a bookshop and was furloughed when the UK went into lockdown in March and was about to go back to work when we entered the second lockdown in November, but this was delayed until December. I was back at work for 4 weeks and a day when Gloucestershire was moved to tier 4 (today) meaning that I am furloughed again. I have been paid at least 80% of my wages that whole time and my partner and I have relatively low outgoings (and he went back to work in June) so we have been okay financially. I also have a flat to live in and hobbies to occupy me so I was able to enjoy most of my time not working. There were weeks when I was fed up of being in my house, but I did manage to visit family in the Summer when it was permitted and we have my partner’s family close by where we live. I have no children so I didn’t have to suddenly become a teacher over night and this means my time has been my own to do with as I please. I have also had regular online chats with my close group of friends from uni and I feel we have deepened out friendships – usually we try to meet up once per year and have a whatsapp chat but it has been nice to feel like we are close together even when we are (literally in some cases) thousands of miles apart.

With all that said for the first 3 or so months of the lockdown I sewed ALL THE THINGS that I had in my mind to make for probably years. I had bought fabric with specific projects in mind and then never quite got around to them, even with moving to working part-time last June (2019). In 2019 I made 16 garments and in 2020 I made 35 garments (2 of which I haven’t yet shared here) and refashioned one. That’s quite a difference!

I’ll start with jackets and coats – I didn’t realise I made 4!

Sequined Bomber jacket

Houndstooth Richmond jacket

Gold Rumana Coat

Victoria Blazer Coat hack

And of course, no sewing year for me would be complete without a bunch of shirts!

Blue and Pink Popover Kalle

Yellow Geometric Kalle

Faces Kalle

White and Black Checked Blaire

Classic White Melilot

I also did some epic scrap-busting and made a load of Inari Tees from larger scraps I had in my stash.

Silver Knit Inari

Electric Blue Inari

Jungle Print Inari

Crowd Inari

Cotton Lawn Inari

Pink Striped Inari

Yellow Geometric Inari

Black Striped Inari

2020 was also the year of making jeans for me – I made 5 pairs in total!

Ginger Jeans

First Pair of Dawn Jeans

Pale Denim Dawn Jeans

Black Skinny Dawn Jeans

Navy Skinny Dawn Jeans

I also made some other trousers that weren’t jeans!

Black Crepe Evelyn Trousers

Grey Hudson Sweatpants

Navy Blue Hudson Sweatpants

Navy Blue Double Gauze Arden Pants

Mustard Double Gauze Arden Pants

I finally made 2 pairs of Carolyn Pyjamas, the fabrics for which I had had for years and years!

Liberty Cotton Carolyn Pyjamas

Boaty Carolyn Pyjamas

I refashioned my Sew Over It Anderson blouse into a Marilla Walker Mercury top and I very much prefer the new iteration of this gorgeous fabric!

I made another Cleo dungaree dress mostly just to use up some leftover denim. I’m not sure how much wear it will get to be honest!

I also made another Sew Over It Nancy Dress – again not sure how much wear it will get, though it will certainly have to wait for warmer weather either way.

Another make I’m not sure will get much (if any) wear is this Sallie Jumpsuit. The fabric is a little too thin and clingy for me to feel completely comfortable.

On the opposite end of the scale is my denim Roberts dungarees which have already had sooo much wear! They’re so comfortable and a good choice for days when I’m mostly sitting at home but don’t want to wear sweatpants!

It’s no wonder after all the sewing – and all the new items for my wardrobe – that I slightly ran out of steam after the first few months! Though a few things were made after the first main batch, the vast majority were made in April, May and June.

I want to try my hand at underwear in 2021 – I bought some supplies to make period pants, to find another way to be more sustainable and reduce my impact on the environment. I did made reusable make-up wipes this year and they have been a triumph!

I also stopped wearing bras really at all last Winter (under so many layers of clothes when it’s freezing at work, who can tell anyway!) but in the Summer with only one layer on I do kind of want at least something else to protect and slightly support my boobs so I’m going to have a go at making some bralettes. I’m lucky that I don’t need the support of underwiring or more supportive bras – when I was younger (like a teenager) I wished I had bigger boobs but now I’m so glad they’re not!

I’ve also got a (rescheduled) wedding to attend in the Summer so I’ll definitely be making a new outfit – I don’t feel like I went out that much before the pandemic but I like having bigger events to go to as an excuse to make something fancier than I would wear in my every day life.

But these are my only plans – I used to plan yearly and monthly my makes but I almost never followed through with the plans so I’m just have ideas for now. And now my wardrobe if necessary items is pretty much complete I might have a go at some more frivolous makes just for fun – and to expand my sewing skills!

Happy New Year! And thank you for following my making journey this year – I’m so thankful I have had sewing to keep me occupied for the vast majority of 2020!

Houndstooth Richmond Blazer

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When I was thinking of making my suit for the Sewcialite Soiree, Nina Lee mentioned that she was releasing a jacket pattern. It was released later than made it possible for using it for that jacket, but I snapped it up as soon as she did release the Richmond, so that I could make a copy of this jacket Claire Foy wore.

I was on the lookout for the right fabric for ages. I eventually settled on this fabric from Minerva Crafts. I also bought the lining from Minerva. The scale of the houndstooth is obviously smaller than on Claire’s jacket but it still kind of works. The fabric is super synthetic, though, so I probably wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone else as it’s difficult to iron into shape.

I made the size 8 and didn’t make any fitting changes as it’s drafted to be a relatively loose fit. The sleeves are a little tighter than I anticipated, though, so I definitely wouldn’t get a thick jumper underneath – not that I was planning on that anyway.

The pattern has 2 welt pockets, with pocket flaps and the instructions were really clear – so if you’ve ever struggled with this before, you won’t struggle with this pattern.

I think if I made another jacket, I would use this pattern rather than the Joe Blazer (which I made for the suit) as I prefer the way it fits. I also made the super wide lapels, which I liked for the suit, but I think I like the lapels on the Richmond better.

It doesn’t look like it, but I have pressed all the seams and the collar but it doesn’t really look like it – this is because of the super synthetic fabric.

I didn’t bother adding buttons or buttonholes as I figured I wouldn’t wear it done up. I might change my mind once I start wearing it though. I think I’d go for black buttons like in the inspiration pic.

I thought about putting some shoulder pads into this jacket to add a bit more structure but the fabric is quite drapey and it’s meant to be a slouchy fit so I decided against it. I do kinda want to make a proper tailored jacket with shoulder pads and stuff one day though.

I’m hoping to get a lot of wear out of this jacket once Spring finally arrives, as an alternative to a jumper or cardigan.

Sewing another jacket has also made me kinda want to make another suit…..

Have you made a jacket/blazer?

My Sewcialite Soiree Outfit

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A couple of weeks ago I went to the Sewcialite Soiree, hosted by Sarah from Like Sew Amazing, Jen from Gingerella and the Stitch Sisters Rachel and Nikki and it was a brilliant night.

And of course it was an excuse to make a new outfit. But I thought about the fact that I have a few party dresses which I’ve only worn once or twice, and decided to make a suit instead of another dress, since I would then wear the trousers and jacket separately and then I’d have a suit too! I do have the suit I refashioned from one of my dad’s suits, but I’ve not worn the jacket since I took the photos to be honest – I have higher hopes for this jacket though as it’s a bit less formal because of the fabric I think.

My initial plan was to make a tuxedo but I didn’t really need another black jacket or black pair of trousers in my wardrobe, so I went for corduroy instead. I have a pinterest board of inspirational bright coloured suits. The fabric was this mustard corduroy from Fabricland (and I have loads left so expect a whole corduroy wardrobe in the future). I ordered a few samples from Fabricland and some crepe ones from Sew Over It – it’s really amazing how many different colours are called mustard!

And the lining is this adorable bird print cotton lawn from Sewisfaction – she posted it on her stories and I immediately fell in love with it.

The patterns I used were the very popular Persephone Pants, which I feel like I’m the last person to make! and the Joe Jacket by Ready to Sew. I searched for quite a while for a jacket pattern I liked and this was the closest to the boyfriend fit I was looking for. Plus it has 2 lapel variations and I went for these super wide ones! And I love them.

This was the first Ready to Sew pattern I’ve made and I have to say the instructions were excellent – this is the most tailored item I’ve made I think, maybe apart from my Honetone Coat.

There are 2 welt pockets with pocket flaps over the top, and this was the only place I got a bit confused by the instructions – which is surprising because I’ve done welt pockets before. There was a great youtube video I found, which really helped as the pocket in the video is the same as the ones in this jacket.

They were meant to be double welt pockets but since the corduroy was so thick and tricky to iron, I did single welts instead.

I love the flash of lining fabric behind the flaps.

I bought these lovely wooden buttons from John Lewis – they were a pack of 3, so there were 2 for the jacket and one for the trousers.

When I’d finished the jacket, I was worried it was a bit too long, but actually I think it’s fine – because it’s a loose fit, I think it’s fine. And I looked at other suits and just below the bum seems to be a common jacket length.

Yay lining!

I made the size 36 in the jacket and made no fitting changes. I did, however, have to redo the sleeves as I was in a hurry when I was cutting it out and didn’t put any of the notches and markings on the fabric and sewed them in really twisted. So my advice for this pattern (and obviously all patterns) is to transfer all the markings!

I made the size 4 of the Persephone Pants as they exactly matched my waist and hip measurements and, again, the instructions were great. I didn’t make any adjustments, but the next time I make them I will take them in a little on the back seam and the waist, adjusting the waistband too so it still fits.

I love the hidden pockets, and I used the same lining as the jacket.

I took 7cm off the hem (4cm cut off and 1.5cm twice as the hem) as I wanted the trousers a little cropped – as I think they’re supposed to be. I then, however, had to take another 3cm off as they were still a little longer than I wanted.

I wore the suit exactly like this to the party, with my white Archer shirt and with these light coloured trainers. I like the look of heels, but I end up wanting to take them off about 10 minutes into any party, so I decided to be comfortable instead.

I learned a bit about dealing with corduroy in the making of this suit – namely that you have to iron it on a towel and on the back – or sandwiched between 2 towels if you have to iron something 2-sided, like the lapels.

I definitely want to make both of these patterns again – there’s a photo of Claire Foy in a pink suit, which inspired this one, and in a houndstooth blazer with jeans and I want to fully copy that. I also love the trousers and with the little tweak to the fit, this could become my go-to pattern for work trousers.

I also had a slight epiphany while making this suit- namely that if I don’t watch Netflix which I sew, I can sew really quickly and needed to unpick a lot, lot less than normal – on average I probably unpick every third seam I sew, but with this whole suit I only unpicked the sleeves on the jacket (because I sewed them on wrong) and a couple of other tiny things!

Have you every made a suit or just a jacket? Do you like tailoring as much as I do?

Refashioned Primark Coat to Victoria Blazer

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Absolutely ages ago, I went through my wardrobe (you can see all the clothes I owned here) and gave some stuff away to charity shops and put other things in my ‘to be refashioned’ pile. I had an old coat from Primark which went onto this pile as I hadn’t warn it in ages and it wasn’t really very warm, but because of the style, I thought there might be enough fabric to remake it into a jacket.

You can see how long ago I took the ‘before’ pictures from my hair! (November 2013 to be precise!)

I figured the fullness at the back would come in handy, and I liked the stripey lining. The sleeves were lined with plain navy shiny fabric. I decided to use the By Hand London Victoria Blazer as the pattern, especially after I so fell in love with my black version. I did have to do some careful cutting out to be able to get all the pieces out of the right fabric – it’s funny how after unpicking the coat it looked like so much fabric, but then when you try to lay a pattern on the top, it suddenly seems like not enough!

I used some left-over fabric from my Georgia Dress for the collar, cuffs and lapels. I like how this looks a more casual version of the jacket, though my black one isn’t super formal.

On the front, some of the seam lines from the original coat are still there, as this was the only way to get the pieces cut out. I unpicked most of the original seams, but I did realise that if I unpicked all these small seams, I would definitely have had not enough fabric! (I should really have ironed this before taking the pictures!) I’m also quite impressed with myself for managing to make the 2 fronts symmetrical – if I do say so myself!

I’m less impressed with myself for the back – I had to piece it, having a centre seam, remembering to add 1.5cm for a seam allowance. The eagle-eyed among you may spot the fact that the 2 halves look different colours. This is because, even though I spent ages with the pattern piece for the back on the old bottom of the coat, I failed to realised I had to cut one half with the outside facing up and one half with the inside facing up, to get the pieces to fit and be mirror images. So the inside is darker than the outside, and therefore one side is darker than the other side. Oh well, never mind. I don’t care enough to not wear it!

You may be wondering about the length of the jacket – or maybe not! In fact, probably not. But there is something odd about the length – it is in between the long and short lengths. Ooh, I can hear the noises of wonder that I could be so imaginative! So I took 11cm off the long length, because I didn’t have enough fabric. I did still include the pockets, which I made sure to hold out the way when sewing the bottom seam as there isn’t really enough room for the pockets. I moved the pockets up a bit as the markings were about 2cm from the bottom of the jacket – this does mean they are slightly awkward to get my hands in. But at least I’ve got somewhere to put my phone!

I used the original lining and sleeve lining for the lining of the jacket. Again this was pieced to get the full pattern cut out – you can see some of the seams below. I pieced this before I cut out the pattern, rather than after as it seemed easier somehow.

I used the original (probably very, very synthetic) sleeve linings – I tried to see if there was enough of the stripey lining for the sleeves too, but there really wasn’t sadly. I really like the contrasting collar, cuffs and lapel – I did this partly out of necessity – but I actually think it makes the jacket look a bit more special.

I do really like the shape of the Victoria jacket – this fabric has more structure than the black stuff I used for my other version, so it does sit slightly differently.

Do you ever find a pattern you love, like for a jacket or jeans, and decide that you never need another pattern for the same garment? I feel like eventually I could make multiple versions of about 6 different patterns. But then there will always be new, shiny patterns that will tempt me away from my TNT batch!