A couple of months back, I found some gorgeous natural linen fabric from my local indie fabric shop.  I bought enough for a pair of pants and shorts.  After making the pants, I decided to make a matching jacket instead of the shorts.   I chose the Lekala 4162 pattern as I’ve had good fitting results with their patterns and liked the style of the jacket.

 

“What look do you want? “, she asked me

On my sewing bucket-list  is to make a tailored jacket with all the traditional techniques.   My dilemma was what interfacing to use on the linen to keep it cool enough to wear in spring/summer.  Procrastination soon set in as I couldn’t decide on going the full hog and using a silk organza interfacing, lovingly pad-stitched in; or keeping it simple and supple.  So, when I went back to the fabric shop for extra 1/2m fabric to do the jacket, I asked for advice on which interfacing method to use.

“What look do you want? “, she asked me.  “Do you want a look like the suave Italian gentleman in a crumpled suit?  Or the Hollywood actress look in a crisp, firm jacket?”
“The Italian look!!!”, I said with a laugh.  Then she brought out two interfacings, one softer and one firmer, and explained which to use where.

Construction

The linen was washed 3 times before I cut it.  The lining is a baby blue silk satin that I’d had in my stash for a while.  I made no adjustments to the pattern.  There is a little extra room between the shoulder blades, but the extra ease is quite comfortable.

One thing I liked about the pattern was that the turn of cloth was already added to the pattern pieces.  However you need to make your own lining pieces out on the pieces for the main body.  I added a back pleat into the lining.

The instructions are fairly sparse and use the bagged lining method.   For the collar, I referred back to my notes from Kenneth D King’s “Fly Front Coat” class on Craftsy.  I also used his method of attaching the shoulder pads, making the sleeve head and sewing in the sleeve linings.  I think it took as much time to but the sleeves  in as it did to sew the rest of the jacket, but the results are well worth it.

I’m not so keen on how the pockets look.  If I made this again, I would use a double welt or flap pocket.

 

Finished Jacket

I’m glad I asked for advice on the interfacing as I love how this jacket has turned out. I haven’t ironed it since it was first finished and I’ve worn it a couple of times before I took these photos.  It is already starting to relax and wrinkles are starting to soften.  It will mostly be worn with jeans as my lifestyle is fairly casual.  But it is nice to have for the occasion business meeting where I need to have a more corporate look.

I’m also rethinking whether I need to keep the hand tailored jacket on my bucket-list.  From a technical point of view, I’d love to make one.  From a ‘need’ point of view, probably not.   I guess the fabric should decide (?).

 

And a teaser…

I’ve been working on a general wardrobe plan based on the SWAP 2016 rules on Artisan Square.  I’m still working on my hiking theme entry but I’ve found that the format has really helped my to define the colours that I’m working with.  A weaving friend told me that if the yarn colours look good thrown in a pile on the floor, then they will look good woven.  So here are my 11 garments.  Over the next few posts I’ll show the different “packs” and some of my favourite combinations.

At a Glance:

Pattern	Lekala 4162
Fabric	Natural Linen. Silk satin lining
Difficulty	4/5 – fit is fantastic but the instructions are very sparse
End Result	4/5 –  love the final look but wish I’d done something different with the pockets.
Cost	$90.  I bit pricey but good quality materials,well constructed and a classic style.  Should serve me for many years