I bought a triple pack of patterns from By Hand London, one
of which being the Victoria Blazer (and another being the Anna dress whilst it
was still available on paper). I was drawn to the casual fit of the blazer and
like the three variations that you can create with the pattern, even though it
was rated above my skill level. I chose the cropped variation for my first
blazer so that I could throw it over summer dresses at the many christenings I
was invited to and also wear it with jeans for barbecues….and ended up wearing
it all summer. Fabric
I used a white linen look fabric from Remnant Kings for the blazer shell, with the intention of matching it to a
lot of summer outfits. I also ordered the same amount of white cotton lawn for
the lining to give a basic block colour. When the fabric arrived I could see
that it was fairly see through, so would need lining for the sleeves too (not
part of the instructions). Both fabrics were easy to work with when cutting and
sewing…they do crease a fair amount with wear though.
Pattern and Instructions
The pattern and instructions come in a pack which indicates difficulty
and Victoria’s ‘personality’. The blazer is meant to have a relaxed fit with
lots of ease (so shoulder fit does not have to be spot on). The pattern also
features ¾ length sleeves and includes side seam pockets, cropped and
sleeveless versions. The pattern pieces are printed on tissue and clearly
labelled. The variation I used has 6 pieces, and uses the same pieces for the
lining and for the shell (though not all pieces are duplicated). The markings
are easy to understand and there aren’t any fiddly bits to construct…it’s
basically a case of matching up pattern pieces. The sleeves do not need
gathering, and there are no fastenings
to factor in either.
The instructions are in their own booklet, which include
layplans and diagrams for each step in each of the pattern variations. They are
also written in straightforward language which I found very helpful as a
beginner. It is clear what the end product should look like and how the
construction helps to achieve this (again, helpful to novices!). I also logged
on to the By Hand London website to follow the sewalong which had even more
information and colour photographs. The instructions also tell you how to
insert a lining to the main body of the blazer, though they do not include
steps for lined sleeves (which I needed). I had a look around online and could
see that some sewing bloggers had made versions with lined sleeves, but they
didn’t explain how they had done this.
Alterations
The only alteration I made was to
insert lined sleeves. Other than that I didn’t know what to adjust or how to do
it to be honest. To line the sleeves I
was kind of on my own, and had only ever lined a skirt before so still in new
lining territory. The main issue that I needed to overcome was the sleeve cuffs
(mainly because I had already done all of these parts and was not going
to unpick them). I was worried about how to attach properly, and how to make
sure the stitching wouldn’t come apart as soon as I bent my elbow. Basically
figuring out how the lining would attach to the cuffs and look nice was
beyond me! Let alone figuring out how to attach them to the shell at the
armholes…..
So, in the end I followed the
instructions for constructing a lining, essentially making the same pattern
pieces as the shell over again, and included the sleeves. I hemmed the visible openings at the cuffs so
they were neat with a narrow double turned hem. I then attached the lining
following the instructions, and simply fed the sleeve linings into the sleeve
shells with no additional fastenings, ending up wrong sides together. The
lining is not attached at the armholes. This means that the sleeve linings
essentially hang loose within the sleeve shells. They don’t move around much
inside, and being the same colour you don’t really notice them either.
Thoughts
Well, given I wore this blazer all summer I would have to
say it was a success. It was very comfortable to wear and went with so many
things. It was also fairly easy to put together… this was one of the first
garments I tackled and I managed to make it, even though it says it is a more
difficult skill level pattern. If I was making it again I would have a think
about narrowing the shoulders slightly…I know that this is how the pattern is
meant to hang but on my petite (5ft) frame they do look a little wider than I
am used to. I will be making up a couple more versions to wear out and about as
soon as I find some fabric I really fancy for them.
Please leave a comment if you have a different way of lining sleeves, particularly for this blazer!
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