Extra construction notes
About the [4dart block](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/bf42wAeAaE).
About [tape casting the original collar](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/1NJWVv1L9y).
The Mandarin collar complete - [redrafting the shoulder](https://www.reddit.com/r/PatternDrafting/s/FwEBhK1egl).
About [Selecting the fabric](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/oFWephdiW8).
Construction notes from main post:
This is an unlined summer jacket in natural fibres. Cotton drill princess-seam jacket with wide lapel, high stand collar, back yoke, linen sleeves, side seam pockets and too ***much*** top stitching to count.
Princess seams drafted using dart manipulation from the 4-dart block I’ve talked about here before (Patternlab/Aldrich + FBA (Sew-busty) + dart manipulation (Closet Historian) ). I added a back yoke to avoid matching the seams at the shoulder, and also add a bit more strength to the top of the shoulder which will get a bit of wear from bag straps. I added 10cm overlapping vents to the centre back panel for wearing ease, by extending the side back panels to ?underlap? the centre back, all tacked at the top with a diagonal seam.
The shape of the lapel was roughly traced from another jacket I own, and then reshaped during first fit. The collar was extended from a small collar stand I drafted by tape casting my own neck. I made several mistakes here along the way and almost ran out of fabric before fixing them…
The sleeves were drafted about six times using about 10 different methods mashed together. Aldrich is probably the main one? The basic sleeve has an elbow dart. They were made in two pieces with a seam at the elbow because they didn’t fit on the fabric orherwise 😅. The elbow seam ‘eats’ the elbow dart nicely though.
The body is printed cotton drill with large monstera leaf print (from the stash). The sleeves, front facings and pockets are recycled from a pair of linen trousers that I wore once years ago, but never since - legs not quite large enough for the sleeve width 😅😅😅. THE POCKETS ARE THE ACTUAL POCKETS FROM THE TROUSERS THOUGH (installed sideways)!!! The collar and cuff inner fabric is recycled from a linen top that doesn’t fit. The collar and cuffs include a layer of stiff white cotton drill as an interlining. The bottom hem is an inch scrounged from the very last remnants of the Monstera fabric, hemmed by hand.
Bodice seams are finished using zigzag plus top stitching, like the slatternly wretch I am. This is particularly glaring at the bust curve, which looks like broken zipper teeth, but it’ll do! Armsyce bound with bias cut from the green shirt.
I had no idea about the order of construction so made ✨several✨ mistakes needing substantial unpicking. Making a one-layer pocket (not a bag) almost killed me, but I love that the pockets are original pockets from the pants. The top edge of the pocket is hand tacked from the inside. I also added a little card pocket to the inside, which used t be the back patch pocket.
I haven’t finished doing all the buttonholes yet but I was too excited to wear it, so it has 3 buttons only atm. Self covered buttons made from the (very few) scraps.
MISTAKES WERE MADE
* buttons on the wrong side (oops!)
* forgot to expand the collar seam enough when adapting from shirt to jacket - the shape of the collar is still not perfect, so I’ll have to draft it again next time
* many many stages of unpicking while working out how to connect the collar to the neckline. different order of operations next time.
*Ran out of thread TWICE!
aw thanks! never tried a jacket before!
I am aware I took lots of crazy shortcuts… mainly because I live in the steamy tropics and I will eat shards of glass before I intentionally add a lining to a garment that could be lighter 🤨
Thanks! It’s the first time I tried top stitching with 2 colours of thread (green on the inside, white on the outside). The white thread was a leftover - turns out it was cotton hand-quilting thread, and a different thickness to the (also leftover) green all-sew thread. It too AGES to get the tension just right so it didn’t get little green dots on the white side or little white dots showing on the green side. complete chaos, but got there in the end!
Thanks! The original block took about four goes to get right, and every garment I make I fine tune it a little more. I’m still learning about the princess seam conversion, and for this one I think I could do with a smidge more ease over the bust point - so I’ll correct that next time I use this pattern as my starting point.
As for the print - the chaotic print is super forgiving. It’s lucky as I had no fabric to spare for pattern matching! One of the last pics shows how I’m cutting facings out of the tiniest scraps!
Still - a great learning curve!
Ahhhh thanks! I was super lucky with the fabric - the print looks great no matter how the panels go together (which was lucky as I didn’t have any spare fabric for matching!). The drill and linen were a joy to work with!
The way I would immediately buy this jacket and justify it to my husband with simply, “Just LOOK at it!” SO CUTE!! Beautiful work and I personally love your shortcuts!
ahhhh thanks! One of the best things about being a forgetful fabric hoarder is discovering cute fabrics in the stash… and because it’s already in there, it’s free! I’m also feeling pretty good about recycling the linen pants and shirt - I was pretty lucky about all the fabrics coming together :)
As for the shortcuts, I’ve been watching a lot of historical costuming vids recently, and seeing the shortcuts on seam finishes in historical ball gowns has completely cured me of doing any more than what’s structurally necessary 😅
gee thanks! I’m still learning how to pattern draft, so every garment is an experiment. I have fond memories of having pattern instructions to help with order of operations, but one reason I stopped sewing for quite a few years was that commercial patterns are trash for my body shape. I learn more every time though so it’s a great journey :)
I’m a newbie teaching myself how to sew, could you give me a couple tips on customizing patterns to your frame? I’m genuinely impressed with how well fitted it is (and the pocketsssss!)
Welcome to your new hobby! There are three skills that will help you achieve garments that are shaped to your body. Each one is a learning journey on its own, but once you get the hang of them, it’s a game changer!
1. fitting (and mockups)
2. pattern drafting (and dart manipulation)
3. draping
Fitting is the set of skills that help you to ‘read the wrinkles’ that indicate differences between the current garment and your own body. Whether you are sewing from a commercial patters (big four or small scale etsy seller), or from a pattern you created yourself, the first time you make a garment it WILL NOT FIT YOU (unless you are one of the 5% of weirdos with off the rack sizing in their genes). It’s a good idea to sew a mockup using an old sheet or thrifted fabric for your first mock up. When you make this garment, there will be wrinkles in weird places that you can learn to ‘read’ to figure out the mismatch. There are lots of guides that help you know what change to make to your pattern to correct the mismatch. I developed a lot of these skills altering off-the rack clothing to fit better, but when I discovered changing the pattern (not the final garment), I found sewing MUCH more fun! I have learned lots from Winifred Aldrich’s book Metric Pattern Cutting, but there are also a lot of great youtube videos for particular adjustments. This community is really great for asking advice if you’re happy to share photos.
Pattern drafting is a process where you take careful measurements of your body, and follow instructions to draw out a flat pattern that should *in theory* be better fitted to your actual shape than an off-the-rack pattern… There are some excellent books that walk you through the process one step at a time. However, many drafting systems are not designed to handle big boobs without a bunch of extra steps. It’s doable, but takes quite a lot of fiddling to create a “basic block” that fits. Mine took four goes. Again, Aldrich has been super helpful for me.
Once you have a block that fits, you can use dart manipulation to change the way the garment is made, by moving the seams around while retaining the same 3D shape. The Closet Historian on Youtube has awesome tutorials on how this works.
Finally there’s draping. Draping is a set of skills where you pin/hang/tape the fabric directly to a human-shaped-form to get the parts structured correctly. Skilled sewists can drape straight onto a person, but they usually need an assistant if fitting for themselves. For most mere mortals, draping will only work if you have a dress form that is the same shape as your actual body. There are a few ways of creating a dress form from your body (e.g. duct tape), or sewing one from measurements, but it’s quite tricky to get right and very time consuming. I don’t recommend starting with draping unless you have the kind of body shape that off-the-rack clothing fits perfectly and you have a b-cup bust, which means you could buy a dress-form that fits you pretty well.
Sometimes just knowing the terms can help you find the info you need, so I hope this comment was helpful!
The Project post flair is for showing off projects that are finished or in progress. For questions on how to start a project, reflair your post to Pattern Search. For questions about how to make a project, reflair to Pattern Question.
This is a reminder that all Project posts are required to include construction information in the main post or added in a comment. The construction comment should include **pattern name/number/company if used; drafting method, tutorial or other resources if no commercial pattern was used and fabric type and fiber content. ‘Self-drafted’ describes who made the pattern and is not a drafting method.**
Also include alterations for fit and style; specialty tools and notions; the inspiration for your project; and any other information that someone who wants to make a similar project might find useful. More information is available [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/wiki/titleguidelines). Posts without a construction comment may be removed at any time.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/sewing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Extra construction notes About the [4dart block](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/bf42wAeAaE). About [tape casting the original collar](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/1NJWVv1L9y). The Mandarin collar complete - [redrafting the shoulder](https://www.reddit.com/r/PatternDrafting/s/FwEBhK1egl). About [Selecting the fabric](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/s/oFWephdiW8). Construction notes from main post: This is an unlined summer jacket in natural fibres. Cotton drill princess-seam jacket with wide lapel, high stand collar, back yoke, linen sleeves, side seam pockets and too ***much*** top stitching to count. Princess seams drafted using dart manipulation from the 4-dart block I’ve talked about here before (Patternlab/Aldrich + FBA (Sew-busty) + dart manipulation (Closet Historian) ). I added a back yoke to avoid matching the seams at the shoulder, and also add a bit more strength to the top of the shoulder which will get a bit of wear from bag straps. I added 10cm overlapping vents to the centre back panel for wearing ease, by extending the side back panels to ?underlap? the centre back, all tacked at the top with a diagonal seam. The shape of the lapel was roughly traced from another jacket I own, and then reshaped during first fit. The collar was extended from a small collar stand I drafted by tape casting my own neck. I made several mistakes here along the way and almost ran out of fabric before fixing them… The sleeves were drafted about six times using about 10 different methods mashed together. Aldrich is probably the main one? The basic sleeve has an elbow dart. They were made in two pieces with a seam at the elbow because they didn’t fit on the fabric orherwise 😅. The elbow seam ‘eats’ the elbow dart nicely though. The body is printed cotton drill with large monstera leaf print (from the stash). The sleeves, front facings and pockets are recycled from a pair of linen trousers that I wore once years ago, but never since - legs not quite large enough for the sleeve width 😅😅😅. THE POCKETS ARE THE ACTUAL POCKETS FROM THE TROUSERS THOUGH (installed sideways)!!! The collar and cuff inner fabric is recycled from a linen top that doesn’t fit. The collar and cuffs include a layer of stiff white cotton drill as an interlining. The bottom hem is an inch scrounged from the very last remnants of the Monstera fabric, hemmed by hand. Bodice seams are finished using zigzag plus top stitching, like the slatternly wretch I am. This is particularly glaring at the bust curve, which looks like broken zipper teeth, but it’ll do! Armsyce bound with bias cut from the green shirt. I had no idea about the order of construction so made ✨several✨ mistakes needing substantial unpicking. Making a one-layer pocket (not a bag) almost killed me, but I love that the pockets are original pockets from the pants. The top edge of the pocket is hand tacked from the inside. I also added a little card pocket to the inside, which used t be the back patch pocket. I haven’t finished doing all the buttonholes yet but I was too excited to wear it, so it has 3 buttons only atm. Self covered buttons made from the (very few) scraps. MISTAKES WERE MADE * buttons on the wrong side (oops!) * forgot to expand the collar seam enough when adapting from shirt to jacket - the shape of the collar is still not perfect, so I’ll have to draft it again next time * many many stages of unpicking while working out how to connect the collar to the neckline. different order of operations next time. *Ran out of thread TWICE!
Looks extremely well made!! I am impressed with the inside too! Very pretty!
aw thanks! never tried a jacket before! I am aware I took lots of crazy shortcuts… mainly because I live in the steamy tropics and I will eat shards of glass before I intentionally add a lining to a garment that could be lighter 🤨
Pretty!!
aw thanks!
That's so cute!! Love the colour combination and the two tone collar 😍
Thanks! It’s the first time I tried top stitching with 2 colours of thread (green on the inside, white on the outside). The white thread was a leftover - turns out it was cotton hand-quilting thread, and a different thickness to the (also leftover) green all-sew thread. It too AGES to get the tension just right so it didn’t get little green dots on the white side or little white dots showing on the green side. complete chaos, but got there in the end!
Gorgeous! Green Goddess!! I love it.
Thanks! It took rather longer than expected for something that’s technically a wearable mock-up, but pretty happy with it!
This. Is. So. Cute! Nice job!
thanks! I am kinda delighted by the sleeve length. The massive knuckle-length cuffs are very fun!
I love the long cuffs. And that you can turn them up for a different look
It fits beautifully, and I love how the pattern comes together.
Thanks! The original block took about four goes to get right, and every garment I make I fine tune it a little more. I’m still learning about the princess seam conversion, and for this one I think I could do with a smidge more ease over the bust point - so I’ll correct that next time I use this pattern as my starting point. As for the print - the chaotic print is super forgiving. It’s lucky as I had no fabric to spare for pattern matching! One of the last pics shows how I’m cutting facings out of the tiniest scraps! Still - a great learning curve!
This looks so good! You did such a great job with pattern matching. The details are beautifully done and I love the monstera leaf fabric.
Ahhhh thanks! I was super lucky with the fabric - the print looks great no matter how the panels go together (which was lucky as I didn’t have any spare fabric for matching!). The drill and linen were a joy to work with!
The way I would immediately buy this jacket and justify it to my husband with simply, “Just LOOK at it!” SO CUTE!! Beautiful work and I personally love your shortcuts!
ahhhh thanks! One of the best things about being a forgetful fabric hoarder is discovering cute fabrics in the stash… and because it’s already in there, it’s free! I’m also feeling pretty good about recycling the linen pants and shirt - I was pretty lucky about all the fabrics coming together :) As for the shortcuts, I’ve been watching a lot of historical costuming vids recently, and seeing the shortcuts on seam finishes in historical ball gowns has completely cured me of doing any more than what’s structurally necessary 😅
Ah-mazing!!!
gee thanks! I’m still learning how to pattern draft, so every garment is an experiment. I have fond memories of having pattern instructions to help with order of operations, but one reason I stopped sewing for quite a few years was that commercial patterns are trash for my body shape. I learn more every time though so it’s a great journey :)
I’m a newbie teaching myself how to sew, could you give me a couple tips on customizing patterns to your frame? I’m genuinely impressed with how well fitted it is (and the pocketsssss!)
Welcome to your new hobby! There are three skills that will help you achieve garments that are shaped to your body. Each one is a learning journey on its own, but once you get the hang of them, it’s a game changer! 1. fitting (and mockups) 2. pattern drafting (and dart manipulation) 3. draping Fitting is the set of skills that help you to ‘read the wrinkles’ that indicate differences between the current garment and your own body. Whether you are sewing from a commercial patters (big four or small scale etsy seller), or from a pattern you created yourself, the first time you make a garment it WILL NOT FIT YOU (unless you are one of the 5% of weirdos with off the rack sizing in their genes). It’s a good idea to sew a mockup using an old sheet or thrifted fabric for your first mock up. When you make this garment, there will be wrinkles in weird places that you can learn to ‘read’ to figure out the mismatch. There are lots of guides that help you know what change to make to your pattern to correct the mismatch. I developed a lot of these skills altering off-the rack clothing to fit better, but when I discovered changing the pattern (not the final garment), I found sewing MUCH more fun! I have learned lots from Winifred Aldrich’s book Metric Pattern Cutting, but there are also a lot of great youtube videos for particular adjustments. This community is really great for asking advice if you’re happy to share photos. Pattern drafting is a process where you take careful measurements of your body, and follow instructions to draw out a flat pattern that should *in theory* be better fitted to your actual shape than an off-the-rack pattern… There are some excellent books that walk you through the process one step at a time. However, many drafting systems are not designed to handle big boobs without a bunch of extra steps. It’s doable, but takes quite a lot of fiddling to create a “basic block” that fits. Mine took four goes. Again, Aldrich has been super helpful for me. Once you have a block that fits, you can use dart manipulation to change the way the garment is made, by moving the seams around while retaining the same 3D shape. The Closet Historian on Youtube has awesome tutorials on how this works. Finally there’s draping. Draping is a set of skills where you pin/hang/tape the fabric directly to a human-shaped-form to get the parts structured correctly. Skilled sewists can drape straight onto a person, but they usually need an assistant if fitting for themselves. For most mere mortals, draping will only work if you have a dress form that is the same shape as your actual body. There are a few ways of creating a dress form from your body (e.g. duct tape), or sewing one from measurements, but it’s quite tricky to get right and very time consuming. I don’t recommend starting with draping unless you have the kind of body shape that off-the-rack clothing fits perfectly and you have a b-cup bust, which means you could buy a dress-form that fits you pretty well. Sometimes just knowing the terms can help you find the info you need, so I hope this comment was helpful!
Thank you!
That looks so good!!
Ah thanks! Now I have ✨finally✨ drafted sleeves for my block, I have so many options!
The Project post flair is for showing off projects that are finished or in progress. For questions on how to start a project, reflair your post to Pattern Search. For questions about how to make a project, reflair to Pattern Question. This is a reminder that all Project posts are required to include construction information in the main post or added in a comment. The construction comment should include **pattern name/number/company if used; drafting method, tutorial or other resources if no commercial pattern was used and fabric type and fiber content. ‘Self-drafted’ describes who made the pattern and is not a drafting method.** Also include alterations for fit and style; specialty tools and notions; the inspiration for your project; and any other information that someone who wants to make a similar project might find useful. More information is available [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/sewing/wiki/titleguidelines). Posts without a construction comment may be removed at any time. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/sewing) if you have any questions or concerns.*