Stitch by Stitch : Jacket

Hi all,

Another stitch by stitch here. This is the jacket that I made for my textiles A2 course. We really had the freedom to do anything we wanted, but we all opted for jacket (following a kind of tradition for A2) Other people on my class took a more classical approach, looking at riding jackets, jackets with fur, and country style blazers. Me on the other hand, well I decided to do a 'couture inspired' jacket. That basically meant I was going to try to make it as unique as I could (price and time restricting!) I looked at the work of John Galliano at Dior (no surprise there), and I loved the structured peplum style jackets that he had designed. I also kind of fell in love with fashion from the 1800's, particularly the later of the century. I loved some of the afternoon jackets, that were quite long in the body, fitted and had interesting beading and embroidery to enhance their dramatic shaping. So from the research I began to design (one of my favourite parts!) I have a tendency when I design to put down all of my ideas at once, into one garment, and I then have to pull them back in so its not too overwhelming on the eye.

Once I had my design sorted, and toile made next was fabric. I hunted around where I live to see if I could find any interesting wool fabrics and came up empty handed, so when in London to get the fabric for my prom dress I also got the wool fabric for the jacket, in the Berwick Street Cloth Shop. I loved this shop so much, piles of fabric everywhere, and the people serving were very helpful. My eye was drawn to a wool with a slightly brown warp, and green weft. It was so pretty that thought instantly THAT'S THE ONE! I got the darker green/brown fabric for the panels, cuffs and covered buttons.

So then I made it (sounds so easy in 4 words!) Not easy at all. My jacket was the hardest to construct out of the four in my class, and it involved some sewing when it didn't even look like a jacket! But it came out looking fine.

We always have to evaluate the project and the garment we have created, and overall I love what I made, but if I were to change it I would change the collar. It caused some problems, because I wasn't sure how big I wanted it. If I were to do it again I might make it slightly more geometric at the front, and a bit smaller.

Anyhow, if you are still with me after that long build up..Here it is....

Next doors cat photo bombed!

Back view, you can kind of see the embroidery along the edge of the contrast panel (also on the cuff edge)

Big poofy sleeve, pulled in at the cuff, with a row of buttons and rouleau loops.

Hope you enjoyed :)

xox Niamh xox