Fabric
The fabric that I used for this was a grey suiting fabric that I bought from Croft Mill. I had used it in my Megan dress so it would make a matching suit. It's a good fabric to work with and contrary to the rest of the pictures in this post, doesn't crease that much! I used the same lining as the Megan dress too; it matches in colour and is a fairly standard lining.
Pattern and Instructions
The pattern for this suit jacket came free with Love Sewing magazine. The pattern is a complete suit set with trousers, skirt, top and dress to match the jacket. The suit set is softly structured with gathers at the tops of the top and dress. The jacket has a shawl collar, which I thought would make it easier to sew. My version has quite a few differences but essentially the construction is the same.
The instructions inside are similar to those that you would find in most commercial patterns - concise with diagrams where needed. I found the construction of the neckline and collar a little trickier, and there are some dodgy bits that luckily are hidden under the collar. Speaking of dodgy bits, the reason this jacket took so long is because I had hemming issues. After I slipstitched the hem of the shell and lining I realised that somehow the lining was too short. It was pulling up the jacket and did not look right at all. After months of putting it off, I ended up putting the hem through the sewing machine. This means it's more visible than it's meant to be, but it is finished!
Alterations
I traced the pattern pieces and shortened them considerably for my jacket. I find that at 5ft tall, cropped is better. I shortened the sleeves a little too but having worn the jacket now wish I had shortened them further. I think the alterations may have affected the overall drape of the jacket as you can see here.
Thoughts
I think that next time I want a cropped jacket, I'll buy the pattern. As you can see, this wasn't hugely successful and is only just wearable....I certainly wouldn't want any other seamstresses to look at it closely. I can just about get away with it for work though. I'm glad I made it though because I do need a jacket to pair with the Megan dress and this matches colours perfectly. I would like to investigate the other patterns in the pack a little more in future.
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