Made by a Fabricista: Boucle Jacket by Diane
Happy New Year Friends! I'm happy to get my Fabricista year off to a good start with a classic boucle jacket. It's a timeless style, classic fabric and beautiful color!
I started with New Look pattern 6028 view A and chose Fabric Mart's soft green, black and white boucle suiting, similar to the type of fabric used in the pattern photo (the fabric also comes in this pretty pink, yum!) I used this Maggy London black satin for the lining. So luxurious!
I didn't make any style changes or alterations to the pattern (don't you love when you get a pattern like that?) but I changed the lining. The jacket shell pattern and the lining pattern are the same, meaning, when you sew the lining and jacket together, the lining fabric is right up to the outer edge of the jacket. So if the jacket comes open or lifts up, you would see the lining right at the edge. I wanted a more traditional lining that included a facing all the way around the neckline and a hem. It's an easy remedy:
1) I added 1" to the hem of the jacket shell (there was only a 5/8" seam allowance).
2) I cut the jacket front facing out of the shell fabric.
3) I cut a back neck facing out of the shell fabric and attached it to lining.
This boucle is great to work with because it has some natural give, making sewing curves and easing in sleeves a breeze. I added a sleeve head to the sleeve to give the jacket additional structure. Here's how I made them (it's so easy you don't need to buy them):
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Trace the sleeve head onto lightweight fleece, from dot to dot. |
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Draw a line from dot to dot. |
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Fold along the line and cut out the curve |
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Sew the sleeve head onto the seam allowance of the sleeve, matching raw edges of fleece and sleeve. Stitch just inside stitching line (4/8"). Press all seams toward the sleeve. |
The sleeve on the left has a sleeve head and the one on the right doesn't. You can see what a big difference this tiny piece of fleece makes. The one on the left looks much better, it even makes the side of the jacket hang more smoothly. And this is all before shoulder pads!
And now for the fun part....the trim! The outer trim on the jacket is simply bias strips of fabric gathered down the center. I used the gathering foot on my machine, set the tension all the way up, used the longest stitch length and stitched until everything was gathered. I put the trim on with a straight stitch right over the gathering line. Super easy....and pretty!
I had some leftover strips so I sewed them into a continuous circle, put a button on top of the raw edges and made a flower. I'm feeling pretty tricky right now!
I think now it's time to make this jacket in pink!
Happy New Year!
Diane
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Posted on January 21 2015
Beautifully done. The fabric is gorgeous and matches your eyes. How lovely.
Love how you did the facings and trim.
Perfect. Can't wait to see the pink one.
Brava!
Vancouver Barbara
Just beautiful!!!
Had a blue boucle dress long time ago and loved wearing it.
The classic beauty of Chanel with some personal innovative touches….beautifully done…..perfect….anxious to use some of your techniques…Thanks for showing your work
Really beautiful jacket! I never realized what a difference a sleeve head would make- thanks for showing us the difference. I also love your flower!
Beautiful and classic.
Your jacket is absolutely beautiful!
It looks well made. I like the color choice. Congratulations!
Absolutely stunning! The trim and flower are lovely and I agree, the addition of the sleeve head is perfect. I sure must pick up this pattern and fabric if still available.
Gorgeous! Can you tell me if the unfinished edges on the trim bother you? Or is there a method for fixing this?
I like the raw edge look of the trim but I didn't want it to look like it was falling apart. I cut the fabric strips on the bias and that allowed me to have the ruffled look without threads going everywhere. And it wears very well!
beautiful jacket and I agree it is very "Chanelesque". Classic, timeless style. I just might have to get this pattern based on your beautiful rendition of it.