o hello 🙂
I’ve made a suede cardigan for myself, or is it a jacket? The pattern says “jacket” but I tend to think of jackets as being kinda involved, time-consuming things to make, with lining and so forth. While cardigans are unstructured, unlined things one can whizz up in a blink of an eye. Which actually describes this thing pretty well.
The pattern is jacket 132 from Burda style magazine 11/2012, which Philippa sent to me in a giveaway, thank you so much Philippa! I lurve Burda magazines, the designs are usually both interesting and stylish, the cost per pattern is very very low, and still not bad even if you do only make a few things in an issue. I reckon they deserve to be a heckuvva lot more popular than they are. You don’t need every issue but I generally get maybe one magazine in a year and manage to make several things in each one. This design caught my eye straight away, and was firmly in my mind when I bought my leather. I actually made a muslin for it, which is only worth mentioning because it’s such a rare thing for me to do. Well my leather was kinda precious and I did not want to stuff it up! I did a minor sway back adjustment and shortened the bust darts by a few inches.
I used my two pieces of caramel brown pigskin, bought in Copenhagen on our trip. I liked both sides; the smoother, leather-y side has some interesting brand marks, but the suede side has the most glorious, rich caramel colour. Colour trumped brand marks.
The cardigan is quite long in the body with wide-ish front flaps so it took some layout wizardry to get the pattern pieces out! I re-laid the pieces down over and over and over again, trying to fit them all in and cut it with the skinniest little 5mm seam allowances. I did have to do just one little fill-in piecing on the left back back, but I managed to position this at the very top, centre back, so it’s as un-noticeable as I think it could possibly be!
The pattern has pockets; which I cut to be nice and huge, to accommodate my nice huge hands, hehe. Burda magazine patterns have the teeniest tiniest child-sized pockets of all, I swear. Very cute, but seriously?! Maybe it’s just me; I like to plunge my hands right down deep into my pockets 🙂 I used chocolate brown silk charmeuse, which I fortuitously just happened to have in my stash already, hanging around, in the perfect colour, you know, as you do 😉 Hopefully cutting those pockets out of it won’t mean I now don’t have enough for it to fulfil its original destiny.
The pattern called for a waist tie, to be sewn in the side seams. I preferred the idea of a separate belt that I could wear or not wear, whichever I wanted, however whim and whimsy struck, and not to have the ties dangling uselessly and annoyingly at my sides whenever I was wearing the cardigan loose. So I put little belt loops in the side seams, seen at top left in the picture above, and made a very long skinny belt as a separate thing. This has tonnes of mad bias-cut piecing all along it, as I was dealing with mere scraps of leather by the time I had cut out the main pieces of the jacket. But I don’t think that matters much, you can barely see all the joins when it’s on. This is simply folded in two lengthwise and topstitched.
I think worn loose, as at top, it looks quite modern, and with the waist tied up it looks a little bit boho 70’s, yes?
I am very happy with, and am very much going to enjoy wearing my Copenhagen souvenir!
Later edit: some technical details on sewing with leather, and thank you so much to Erica for asking 🙂
This is the first leather thing I have made so I learned a few things… I used a denim needle and regular polyester all-purpose thread, and used paper clips to hold edges together in lieu of pins. Lots of experimenting to get the tension right, I ended up with a medium-loose tension and a long stitch. The leather didn’t move through my machine very easily, so I used strips of tissue paper while stitching the seams, which helped a lot. Fortunately, this jacket had few seams! I used tissue paper both top and bottom, and did this by folding a wide, single strip and wrapping it closely around the edges before clipping it all together with paper clips, then sewed the seam; which was easier to hold in place than I imagine two separate strips would be, and also made it easier to follow an even seam allowance while stitching too.
For short seams, like piecing the belt pieces together; I started stitching from halfway along and ended at the edge, then turned the piece over and stitched the other half of the seam from the same halfway point to the other edge, because my machine didn’t like “starting” on an edge, and behaved badly on these. If I was to do more sewing with leather I think it would probably be very well worth getting a teflon foot for my machine, which will enable the leather to glide through more smoothly.
Details:
Cardigan; Burdastyle magazine 11/2012-132, caramel pigskin suede
Jeans, Burda 7863, white denim, details here and my review of this pattern here
Tshirt; self-drafted, white cotton jersey, details here
Socks; hand-knitted by me, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes
Love it!
AAAh it is gorgeous!! I love following you and your sewing adventures, you inspire me! Thank you for sharing. I love the Burda magazines have a small collection, only made for my youngest daughter, should get my butt in gear and make something for myself!
that is lovely – I get the Burda each month – and there is always at least a couple of items I love in it.
Gorgeous! Great use for your pieces.
Amazing! This looks so good on you and I love how you styled it with the white. Great pictures too with the rocks, your dog and the upside down boat, seems so random, but everything matches:)
Carolyn, I just got the Fashionary tape in the mail. Thank you, thank you! I'm so glad I won this and thank you for the sweet note 🙂
It really is a truly rich colour. I don't think my machine would thank me for pushing some suede under it but your cardy looks great.
The colour is made for you and the jacket/carry looks great! I totally agree about Burda pockets being too small – good on you for remembering. Rachel ☺
NICE !! I love it !
Very nice. I love the cardigan.
Gorgeous on you, and love the pooch's face in the first pic!
Love it!
Beautiful! The perfect example of casual chic. Your handmade items are always so inspiring.
Good morning, Sienna!!!!!
Cardigan OR jacket…it is beautiful. Gorgeous. You sure picked the perfect pattern for that leather!!! I like it without the belt, but it looks nice on you either way.
Very nice! I love Burda magazine as well and use it a great deal. I love following your blog. I am either making, have made, or am planning on making so many of the same things you are.
So gorgeous! The style really lets that glorious leather shine! I love it both ways, belted and unbelted, and I agree that it's nice to have options. Also, beautiful pictures.
Truly lovely, both belted and unbelted. Another triumph!
Beautiful! This pattern was perfect to show off the suede. I love the 70's boho vibe, for sure.
wow I love that, and how quick you are to sew up your leather. You are making me want to sew some leather as it has been so long. and now I see that an unstructured cardigan is a great idea. Fantastic and the whole look is very autumnal which is weird for me to see as we are in the height of summer. also great photos!
Looks great, both belted and not! It's good to see the dog once more too 🙂
Love the casual look of the jacket. Your dog is so photogenic. Always smiling.
Very beautiful. You always take great pictures.
The colour is beautiful with your hair – a signature neutral, in effect.
this is gorgeous! what a perfect use for the leather.
very nice cardigan .. I would have suggested doing an equal splice in the back of the neck on the other side to give an intentional seaming effect – but I love it anyway just as is!
Beautiful jacket/cardigan. The colour suits you so well. Your whole outfit looks so stylish. Great job.
This looks like a perfect choice for your special leather. Very stylish and classic to last forever. Love Sienna in the first picture!
What a beautiful piece to have made with your suede from Copenhagen—love the color, love the shape, love the photos.
Superb! Well done!
I love the colour and the 70's vibe – you look fab! I have been toying with the idea of making a leather tote for myself but I have to say that I don't feel confident working with leather. I have done two small projects: the first was sewn by hand and turned out perfect but the second, in which I used my machine, ended up with marks left by the feed dogs. Also, I am unsure as to what needle and thread I should use. Seeing your beautiful cardigan makes me reconsider… Would you have any advice to share? I'd really appreciate it!!
thank you Erica! This is the first leather thing I have made too, so I learned a few things 🙂 I used a denim needle and regular polyester all-purpose thread, and used paper clips to hold edges together in lieu of pins. Lots of experimenting to get the tension right, I ended up with a medium-loose tension and a long stitch. The leather didn't move through my machine very easily, so I used strips of tissue paper while stitching the seams, which helped a lot. Fortunately, this jacket had few seams! For short seams, like piecing the belt pieces together; I started stitching from halfway along and ended at the edge, then turned the piece over and stitched the other half of the seam from the same halfway point to the other edge, because my machine didn't like "starting" on an edge, and behaved badly on these. If I was to do more sewing with leather I think it would probably be worth getting a teflon foot for the machine, which will enable the leather to glide through more smoothly.
I've amended my post to include this technical information in hope it may prove useful to others, so thank you for asking 🙂
Dear Carolyn, thank you so much for sharing your experience! It is certainly very helpful, as always!
Yes, I do remember having problems with starting the seam. Also there was the fact that the bottom and top pieces moved at different ratios, causing an annoying misalignment at the end of the seam. Your solution is genius!
I will try and find a teflon foot in case I bite the bullet and decide to make my leather bag but I can see how the tissue paper technique (which I love!) can help. Did you use paper on both top and bottom pieces? (as sandwiching the leather between 2 strips of paper?)
Many thanks once again! 🙂
thanks Erica! yes I did use tissue paper both top and bottom, but not 2 strips: I folded a wide, single strip and wrapped it closely around the edges before clipping it all together with paper clips, then sewed; which was easier to hold in place than I imagine two separate strips would be, and also made it easier to follow an even seam allowance while stitching too. I hope I've described it clearly, please let me know if not 🙂
Thank you so much for taking the time once again to write back to me! Yes, I can absolutely picture how you did it and will definitely be using the same technique. Now, time to buy some cognac leather for a tote bag! :)))
It looks like a very versatile piece, and very you! I have a decent collection of Burda magazines, but it can be very hit and miss for me, since I don't usually go for the loose, unstructured pieces. I check out the U.S. version at the bookstore as I can, but I can't bring myself to buy it unless there is at least a couple patterns I like.
What a beautiful color, and I'm in love with the background of your pictures!
Have you found anywhere to buy leather/suede in perth. I keep looking at buying it online, but given it is such an investment, I would prefer to touch and feel!
Gorgeous BTW, but your stuff always is….
thank you Emma! No, I haven't found anywhere in Perth where you can buy leather or suede, probably why I was so excited to find the shop in Copenhagen where I bought this. Sorry 🙁
PBS. I love that you showcase our beautiful city on the net, the photoshoot site are always awesome, and I have fun trying to guess where
looks amazing, belted or not! love the photos too, great colors! and totally agree that burda patterns deserve to be way more popular than they are..
Amazing jacket, and your little addition at the top back neck is a gorgeous feature. Such a perfect backdrop and Sienna just loves the camera!
A really lovely thing & a great colour!
Do you have an industrial sewing machine? I am always afraid to sew leather on my little Kenmore sewing machine.
No, my machine is an ordinary Janome, seen here. I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Kenmore machines 🙂
Gorgeous.
Every time you show us your makes they just keep getting better and better. This jacket is just fab!
Lovely!! You might want to investigate using hand cream on the seams as you sew. The sewing foot glides easily over the lubricated seam and gets absorbed by the leather. I am not sure if the suede side would show marks from the cream….it has been twenty years since I have sewn with leather, so the details are a bit fuzzy.
I like the spare lines and rich colour of your new cardigan/jacket. It looks very well sewn (neat pocket!) and I feel it's the kind of timeless piece that could be with you for years. So pleased you found something to make in the Burda, too.
Love this jacket/cardigan! And what a great tip…"pinning" with paperclips.Perfect. I think that you paired the perfect pattern with the leather and I quite like the "patched" piece on the back. It looks like an intended design feature. Very lovely!
I absolutely love this jacket!
Beautiful jacket! And I love your pictures!
It is really interesting how different is sewing magazines' popularity around the world. For example in Russia Burda is very popular and very cheap(3$). So nobody uses envelope patterns, nobody wants to spend 2 time more money for one pattern.
Carolyn, this is all kinds of awesome! I love the casual unbelted look but the 70s vibe with the bot is fierce! And snaps for puppy pictures too (I am such a sucker for a sewing dog)
I want to make one of these. It looks very simple, like it can be worn causally or formally.
https://sewmodiste.wordpress.com
This is gorgeous. Your blog does more than anyone's to remind me of the huge range of stuff that it's in my power to make for myself. Any plans to start making shoes? 😉
thank you so much Gwen! and yes, I would dearly love to have a go at making shoes, however I think the closest course to me is around 2000 miles away. Something to think about for the future, maybe 😉
This is simply gorgeous!!
What a winter wonder.
I really like the coat and you've reminded me that white jeans look great in winter.
The suede is a lovely colour and really stands out in the minimalist style you have chosen. I am sure such a versatile jacket will get loads of wear.
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