The Jasika Blazer

My daughter Rebecca took up sewing in earnest about 2 years ago. I had tried to interest her when she was a young girl of 12, but it didn't take. However she has always loved clothes and fashion, and now being a stay-at-home mom who home-schools her three children, she needed something to challenge her mind and give her something creative to do in her spare time. I suggested she try sewing again. Well, she took off like a shot and made a Vogue blouse as her first project. It wasn't long before she made herself bras as she said store-bought ones are never comfortable. Since then, she has made at least 20 dresses, and about 6 pairs of jeans for herself. This year, she made her husband jeans as well, and then dress pants.

She has also taken up knitting which she loves. Being a mathematician, I think all that counting appeals to her right (left?) side of the brain. I can't count how many sweaters she has made in the past 2 years.

Well recently she said she wanted something challenging and I suggested we sew the same pattern together and encourage one another in the process. We were trying to decide between a tailored jacket and a casual anorak jacket, and the tailored one won out. Rebecca has been readin the blog of Julia Bobbin with avid interest and Julia has discovered traditional tailoring with hair canvas, pad stitching, welt pockets, handmade buttonholes. Her work is incredibly beautiful.

Julia Bobbin

Both of us are impressed with the patterns of Heather Lou of Closet Core Patterns, so Rebecca picked out the Jasika Blazer as our together-project.

Jasika Blazer

So, first off, the muslin. I have some fitting issues, not too many, but some that need to be tackled. So a muslin is always a good idea when making something that requires such an investment of time. I made alterations to the pattern. Shortening all the body pieces by 2 inches as I am only 5'1" tall. And shortened the sleeves 2" as well. The rest can be altered at the hem if needed. I cut size 16 at the shoulders and neckline, and graded out to size 18 for the bust, waist, and hips. I cut size 16 for the sleeves, as my arms are not a fitting problem and the size 18 would be too roomy for me.

I knew that I would need more ease over the tummy area. And I found the greatest alteration on another sewer's blog, she had also made this pattern and found the alteration she needed in a site that deals with alterations for men. Her alteration consisted of slicing up through the pattern from hem to bust, then cutting on the side, and spreading the pattern to give another inch or so across the middle. The cut on the side will allow you to overlap the pattern as you spread it and then you add back any needed length at the bottom of the side seam. This is the same alteration that you make for a fuller bust, only you are doing it at the middle of the pattern instead of at the bust line. It's "bloody brilliant", as the Brits would say.

Unlikely Nest

So I have sewn the front, side and back together. I will add the collar and sleeves later today, but I can see that this is a good muslin already. The only change I have to make is to move my shoulder seam back at the neck. This is something I always need to do, it is the reverse of a forward shoulder seam alteration. I seem to need less length on the back neckline than the pattern gives.

Looking forward to the next step in this journey, cutting out the good fabric and then we are on to the interfacing: hair canvas to be hand catch-stitched at all seams and then pad-stitched to create the lovely roll line of a tailored jacket's lapel. There is something incredibly satisfying about doing something like this, involving slow sewing and taking lots of time to get things right.