As sneaky-peeked previously; my shearling jacket, and ma
n, I’m so happy with it!! It turned out just exactly how I hoped, and was the most wonderfully cuddliest, comfiest thing to have with me in our recent visit to Japan; I loved bundling up in it each day in Tokyo and used it as a snuggly rug while on the plane… without a doubt the warmest coat I’ve ever made formyself, evah. Like wrapping myself in a fluffy blanket, and I was perfectly snug enough even in the subzero temperatures of Hokkaido.
Obviously, and with my usual attention to weather appropriate sewing ahem, I chose to get started on this super fluffy thing during the most heinously hot heat wave… 42C anyone? phew, try-ons were hideous. Seriously I question my sanity sometimes. Well, lots of times actually 😉 Anyway it was all worth it in the end, since I’m quite chuffed with how it turned out.
What is it about making jackets that is so enormously satisfying and fulfilling? I don’t know exactly why, but I always find jackets, and dresses too, to a slightly lesser extent; to be the projects that give me the biggest of happy warm fuzzy buzzes… 🙂
wrt this one; well I’ve wanted to make a shearling jacket for oh, about ten years now. Ever since the first time I clapped eyes upon one belonging to our friend S; a colleague of my husband’s who is always super suave and cool and has a slightly alternative, very hip and happening taste in clothing. He owns a beautifully thick, oversized shearling jacket that he’s had for years and years and trots it out every winter once or twice. Every single time I see it I’m struck all over again by how awesome it is and have harboured a secret desire for one of my own…
I bought the faux shearling from Spotlight and the burnished, dull metal buttons from Fabulous Fabrics. The pattern is loosely based upon McCalls 5276, a pattern I’ve had for years but only muslined once and not got any further… oops! I pretty much chose the pattern just for the collar alone, since I wanted that big oversized 70’s lapel collar on my jacket, but not much else.
My alterations included;
Body and sleeves slimmed down and lengthened somewhat.
Welt pockets added as described here,
Belt and belt loops added.
I also fine-tuned the front edge and collar to have it so I could happily wear it in a variety of ways… a) open, cardigan style b) buttoned up halfway with the lapels flared, c) buttoned up to the neck with the collar laid down in a peter pan style, and finally d) with the collar turned up and buttoned up right to the very top in a funnel-neck style. Also, having the belt tightened or hanging loose adds to the wearing options too.
Because I was using a shearling obviously I left off all facings and all edges are left raw. When working out how to seam the pieces together, I checked out a pattern for a shearling jacket from one of my Burda magazines… which mentioned overlapping some edges to be joined and top-stitching the overlaps to minimise bulk. So; I overlapped the shoulder seams in this way, and also the collar-to-neckline seam. The other seams; namely the sleeve, side and armscye seams are sewn right sides together in the conventional way.
Even though I used the McCalls collar, I still cut it a bit bigger on the edges – just in case!!- never forget the golden rule of sewing… you can always cut away but you can’t add it back… EVER!!! And then trimmed it here and there to allow it to sit how I wanted it to look, to fit how I was imagining my collar. I’m particularly pleased with how the collar looks when buttoned up to the neck like this..
I made the sleeves extra long, so I could turn them up and have a woolly “cuff” on the sleeve ends, and also made wrist strips. These are sewn to the sleeve, then wrapped around and buttoned to themselves. The seam allowance of the cuffs are topstitched down for a neat look when they are turned back, and then I stitched-in-the-ditch of the sleeve seam down to the sleeve so the cuffs stay folded up permanently.
Welt pockets: my tutorial for how to do the welt pockets is here
Buttonholes: I’ve written a separate post detailing how I did the buttonholes here, so as not to clog up this post more than it is already! aaaaaagh! picture overload!!
In summary; I thoroughly enjoyed having and wearing my cosy new jacket in the subzero temperatures of Japan, and now we’re back home…. and it’s 35C… lol! so it’s off to the back of the wardrobe with this fluffy hulk of a thing. See you again next winter, you snuggly bundle of cosiness!
Details:
Jacket; my own design based loosely upon McCalls 5276, faux shearling
Top; the twist top from Pattern Magic by Tomoko Nakamichi, in ivory ponte, and in charcoal ponte
Jeans; Burda 7863 modified to be flares, in ivory cotton denim, and made as regular bootcut in black cotton corduroy
Gloves; hand knit by me in 4ply charcoal merino, details here
Socks; hand knit by me in Noro 4ply, details here
Shoes; Francesco Morichetti, from Zomp shoes
