Fabworks jacket
I first met the Fabworks team at the Sewing Bee Live event at Exel. I promised them at some point on a trip to Yorkshire I would pop into Dewsbury and see them. And probably spend some money.
It’s quite hard to find if you are driving in from the M62, due to a number of one way streets, although relatively easy to find your way back to the M62! It’s well laid out, very decently priced and the staff made ‘the lady whose come all the way from Birmingham’ very welcome.
So despite being in Yorkshire and there being some genuinely Yorkshire woven wools on offer, I bought Irish wool from Avoca, for £15 per metre. The idea was to make a short, lined jacket using Kwik Sew 3732 as a trial run for making a lined coat from my Welsh wool. In particular, I needed to consider how to draft and attach the lining, as the pattern is unlined. It’s not a glamorous pattern, but its straightforward and does the job.
I learnt a couple of lessons. One, I guess I already knew. The other is something of a revelation.
The one I already knew was that it is a good idea to draft things and then go away and think about it before cutting. My first draft of the back lining used the original back facing shape, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided it would be better to re-shape the facing and create a gentler curve for connecting to the lining. It fits nicely. albeit it, it probably should have a tuck in it. Will widen the lining and add a tuck for the very expensive coat version.
The revelation is about bound button holes. You probably haven’t noticed, but I have never made bound button holes. As far as I can recall, never in my life. I have learnt that you don’t leave bound button holes until the end of the work; you make them before you add a lining, or join a facing, whilst there is still room to sew them and you have the opportunity to hide the back work. Which is great apart from the fact that I still haven’t worked out how you do this with a lining, and make sure that you line up the front bound opening and whatever you do to create a button hole in the lining…….
In this case, the test machine button holes would work through two layers of fabric and interfacing, but I could not get the facing seams under the machine foot easily to sew them. My research was too late in the day for making the button holes before completing the garment, so I ended up resorting to fastening with large press studs and placing a decorative button where the button hole would have been. I might remove the buttons and leave a plain front.
I’ve hacked this pattern before. I made a long sleeved blouse as a roomy cover up for holiday days when I am exposed to the sun and shouldn’t be!
It is a relatively easy pattern, and hence good for hacking, and comes together quite tidily. My only concern about using wool, was that at some point when sandwiching the collar, you are sewing through 6 layers. My machine did it but it wasn’t very happy.
So here is my new wool, lined jacket, ready for some Autumn and Winter wear. And a few thoughts to ponder before I work on my Welsh wool coat. Collar or no collar, and how to fasten??
One Week, One Pattern
Me Made May 2016
Me Made May 2015
Simplicity Competition
Sew Over it Patterns
all my own work by ann 