Friday, July 13, 2012

'Casually Elegant' Jacket


I mentioned, after Margy visited, that I identified a little hole in my wardrobe. I needed a jacket or two that I could wear when out and about that would be a notch nicer than my usual garb. Sort of "ladies who lunch", Shams style.

Almost immediately after Margy returned home, I made this lightweight jacket. I wanted a simple shape and detailing, similar to Babette's beautiful pieces. I started with an OOP Adri pattern - Vogue 2148.

I traced off the short jacket, but chopped off the collar to make it a v-neck. I decided to make it somewhat fitted. I added an FBA, and used 4 darts and 2 tucks to skim the body - there is a small dart in the armsyce, a larger dart in the side seam, and a tuck under the bust. I extended the front by 2" beyond CF. I'm not completely sure how I feel about this - it may add visual width. For the closure I used three giant black snaps.

The fabric is a fabulous reversible brocade from Emma One Sock. It just disappeared from her website after being on sale forever, though I bought it at full price. It is incredibly lightweight and has a very nice selvedge. I wanted to keep the jacket simple, so I finished the front, hem and sleeves with the selvedge. Instead of facings, I encased the edges in a narrow band, attached by hand. I wanted to avoid top-stitching on this piece.


Worn closed. The "ripple" on the right is actually the tuck under the bust.



Ha ha! I love these harem pants, the Shaza (named for me) by Style Arc! (Shaza is my Klingon name.)


Right side. Because of all the shaping, it's a little hard to get a good hangar shot. This would look better on a dressform.


The inside. Eek, I almost like this side better. You can just make out an armscye dart and the bands that finish the outside edges.


Closeup of outside.


Closeup of inside.


Finished armscye.


Finished inside showing snaps, side seam dart, and tuck.

I'm pretty happy with it. I haven't worn it yet, since it is a notch nicer than my usual garb and I haven't had the right event.


Vogue 2148



From Emma One Sock: Just in from a top French mill, this is a wonderful textured jacquard weave brocade with a very smart and stylish woven-in graphic design. The colors are black and silvery medium gray (PANTONE 16-0000 is close). It's a suiting weight with body and a more firm yet malleable drape, fantastic quality, and excellent design. Dress up or down. Perfect for a jacket, suit, fitted skirt or dress, vest, evening coat, etc. Dry cleaning recommended.

My Swedish bound daughter gets on the plane in a few days for her almost-month abroad. I've been encouraging her to internalize a few phrases, such as, "I need 2.5 meters of this, please! And 3 meters of that!" Her reaction to this? "Oh yeah, they are metric!" She tells me that fabric is too expensive and takes up too much luggage space. Humph. She does, by the way, love the sleep mask I made for her. I'm not sure which one she's using, but she sleeps with it every night and says it really helps. (Which reminds me, I used a scrap of this fabric for one of her sleep masks.)

I am almost caught up with blogging. I have one more jacket to blog. This one took awhile to sew, because I did it the hard way. By hand. I don't have pictures yet. It is so cold here today. Seriously, it's stay-inside-by-the-heater cold, but I'll take pics this weekend.

Have a great weekend!

44 comments:

  1. I love this jacket! The fabric is beautiful.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, this is one of those times that the fabric really makes the garment.

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  2. Indoors with a heater?! I'm struggling being indoors with air conditioning! The heat and I just don't get along.
    Anyway, you've made a very cool jacket here. I love the fabric and how you used the selvedges. They add a good dose of quirkiness. This will be the perfect garment for dressier events. Woot!

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    1. Thanks, Dixie! Yes, it is SO cold here. I live on the western side of SF, which is coastal weather. Last night I went down the peninsula to have dinner with a friend in Mountain View. It was *gorgeous* weather. We found ourselves at a little festival and ate dinner outside. It was about 78 degrees. Heaven. So many micro climates in this area.

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  3. Love that fabric and what you created with it. Such a perfect match for fabric/pattern. Great jacket that I'm sure you will reach for often!

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  4. Beautiful, elegant, funky and flattering--just the thing for a little museum going. I love the way you altered it to fit. (And spiffy with the pants too.) Elle

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    1. Thanks, Elle! That's what I was going for. ;)

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  5. Great piece, Shams. I'm sure you'll love wearing it. I do especially like your use of this interesting selvage. I'm partial to a quirky selvage, myself.

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    1. Thanks, Martha! When I don't utilize a gorgeous selvege, I die a little bit, inside. :)

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  6. I do love the way you used the selvedge on your jacket. The fabric is gorgeous, as is the jacket. I can't get over your weather! You definitely have a need for jackets.

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    1. Thanks, Andrea! Yes, I love the fact that a jacket is almost always in order here. :)

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  7. It sounds like I need to make another visit...:) The jacket is gorgeous...a really special piece. I like the simplicity of the pattern, the better to show off the fantastic fabric. HOW DID I MISS THIS FABRIC????? A real winner...

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    1. lol. Thanks! (I thought I pointed this fabric out to you?)

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    2. As my equally aged friend Joan would say, "Not today"...

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  8. Great jacket, the whole outfit is wonderful on you. Very chic and elegant. Perfect for a lunch on the town.

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  9. I love the fabric you chose for the jacket. It's a great piece of fabric for the simple styling of the pattern...so a great marriage of fabric and pattern equals an awesome garment for you!

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    1. Thanks, Carolyn! You are the master of marrying fabric and pattern, so I do appreciate it!

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  10. Great fabric , truly made up into a very nice jacket!

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  11. Great jacket. Looks as if it will be very useful

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  12. Casually elegant describes this jacket perfectly. It looks fabulous and so do you! A wonderful outfit with the Shaza pants. Now for a lady's lunch :)

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  13. You TOTALLY nailed "casually elegant, shams style" Everything about this jack is to die for - awesome :)

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  14. Fabulous outfit Shams. You're rocking those harem pants! I just ordered my first few patterns from Style Arc and I'm looking to whipping them up. And I adore 90% of fabric from EmmaOneSock and this is no exception! I wear jackets as part of my casual attire as often as I can and love the effect. Hope you get lots of wear out of this one!

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  15. I love this incarnation of 2148, which BTW is the first time someone has used an OOP that I actually have. I was so excited and have no idea why 8-). This is so cute and the fabric is heavenly. Looks so nice on you.

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  16. What an absolutely gorgeous jacket! Simple pattern + fabulous fabric = stunning results.

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  17. Terrific jacket. Love the fabric. And those harem pants are so you! You were them perfectly!

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  18. your jacket is fabuloso!!! I love the fabric, and your entire outfit screams "Invite me to an event where I need to kick it up a notch!!"

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  19. Great jacket and your shaza pants totally rocks

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  20. Your jacket shows why one should never toss out the Vogue designer patterns, there are so many gems among them, no matter the publication date. Great jacket and perfect addition to a wardrobe. Speaking from my microclimate, it was a scorcher this week so today is cool sewing weather :)

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  21. Ladies who lunch - shams style. Love that description. It is a beautiful jacket and the selvedge looks so good as a trim. I hope you get a chance to wear it soon.

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  22. Love the jacket Shams. The piping really sets it off beautifully.

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  23. What an elegant jacket! You really have a sense of what looks good on your shape. Fabulous fabric.

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  24. Your jacket is exquisite and looks wonderful on you. I love the fabric and so admire your ability to picture what you want and make it happen. Bravo!!

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  25. Great casually elegant jacket Shams! I love the fabric too - the trouble with jacquards is I can never decide which side to use as they often equally as nice!

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  26. that is one great looking jacket - it also looks like you have lost weight too - makes you look very slim

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  27. I love the style and fabric and it work well with pants. I'd wear it to the supermarket - why not look fab all the time?

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  28. Love this jacket. The way you distributed the FBA really works with less emphasis on the bust. Such wonderful light weight fabric!

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  29. That is a fantastic jacket!! I love the fabric, and the pattern looks like it has loads of potential.

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  30. I want to be a lady who lunches Shams' style!

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  31. Sharon, wow, what an amazing jacket! Look at all the positive posts to your jacket! You are now ready to go to wonderful events; just put on that jacket, some funky shoes , cute pants and your ready to roll..

    Karendee

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  32. Your fantastic fabric choice just makes this jacket! I like your truly personal style.

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