Rasta Stripes

Take a DVF Silk Assets jacket from hsn.com


and a Neiman Marcus, a Lafayette jacket for $598


and voila you get my striped jacket created from Simplicity 4953:


Simplicity 4953


Pattern Description
Misses' Jacket or Vest with Front Variations.

Sizing
Regular 8-10-12.

Likes
* Large stylish collar.
* Medium length style.
* Fitted style.
* Helpful illustrations.


Dislikes
* Back facing seemed somewhat bulky.
* I would prefer to use a lining next time. The jacket is heavily interfaced.
* Directions were sufficient, but occasionally jumped back and forth.

Features

* Stay stitched neck edges and edges of front with facing and edges of back prior to attaching the side fronts and side backs
* Stitched side fronts to front
* Created front pockets and attached trim
* Stitched back center seam
* Stitched side backs to back
* "Slashed" darts at front pieces (after stitching from point to point, which seemed to be nonfoldable darts), which is underneath the extended collar. This slashed darts will be stitched together, while being sewn to the back piece, at the neck.
* Machine interfaced front facings and back facing. Front facings took up a lot of interfacing due to extended collar.
* Sleeves consisted of upper and lower sleeve pieces.
* Sleeve directions were somewhat confusing. After sewing the pieces together, I inserted the sleeves as if they were set-in sleeves, matching notches. I continuously adjusted the ease to get them to fit in the armholes.

Fabric Used
Slightly stretchy mystery striped polyester from Joann's clearance section.

Modifications
* Used a single large button for the front instead of several.
* I needed to adjust the back because it curved outward just a little.
* Next time, I need to reduce the princess seams just a little for a better fit and use thinner interfacing because I noticed that the jacket seemed somewhat bulky.
* Added trim to the pockets and lengthened them about an inch.






Conclusion
Easy to sew, but somewhat time consuming. I had to read the instructions on attaching the front pieces of the jacket to the back, while creating the collar.

Shawl Collars!

Shawl collar jackets from Nordstrom's and Macy's:

($189)

($129)




I would say this jacket took 3 full evenings to complete. I took two days off from working on it and finally completed this evening (I just need to finish one of the arm holes after inserting the sleeve lining). I want to finish this immediately so that I resume other projects (i.e. Heather's new Lizzie McGuire dressy jacket and pink skater outfit).

I really like the style of the jacket. It is fitted (too fitted for me at this moment, flattering princess seams, and has a little bit of that 80's look.


I notice that the left model's jacket has slight bunching in the front. So I wonder if it has to do with the buttons tugging the loops. Whereas on me, it is more pronounced due to my post baby belly.
.



Likes of Simplicity 4281: Classic style and fit. The design of the upper arms, shoulders and low shawl collar already gives an illusion of broader shoulders. So, I did not attach shoulder pads according to the instructions.

Dislikes:
The jacket had some wrinkles in the waist area, concentrated from the button loops and button area. My sewing machine had some difficulty attaching the loops to the front side due to the thickness.

Unclear directions on attaching the sleeve lining, finishing the cuffs on the wrong side of the jacket with the sleeve lining, and finishing the bottom hem of the jacket with the lining. I "bagged" the lining and was impressed on how it turned out. The back contour of the jacket was flattering, however, the darts need to be reworked so that the jacket does not puff out.

When I get the chance, I plan to create another jacket after some weight loss

Close up of the buttons:


I used some woven cotton (light twill) and lining remaining from Heather's Snow White costume.





What I've learned:
I plan to lengthen the jacket by another 2 inches, for an uncropped look. I was surprised that the jacket was already at hip length for my short torso. It seems like the back of the jacket piece was much shorter than the length of the front jacket. From the pattern envelope, it did not seem that the back should be longer than the front. I was wondering if this had to do with insertion of the lining. While sewing the lining to the back, I deducted about 3/4" from the back edge so that the front and back hems would line up nicely.

Add some type of binding the seams at the button hole loops to decrease bunching at the waist.

Use a different type of interfacing to decrease the roll of the collar. The collar was an extension of the front of the jacket and was folded back after the attachment of the facings and lining. I used a slightly heavy type of sew in interfacing (what I have on hand) and a fusible type or some type of adjustment would have probably decreased the slightly inward roll of the collar.

The upper arms, just below the shoulder area seem to be slightly wider, most likely to accommodate the shoulder pads, which I omitted so that I don't feel like a football player. It feels and looks as if I were wearing shoulder pads due to the slightly firm nature of the fabric and my build. If I were using another type of fabric and opt out of using shoulder pads, I would decrease the upper arm allowance.

There was a slight puffiness on my upper back. Is is due to the darts being large or small or being a bit high or low? As you can see, I am not a fitting/sewing expert. I usually omit darting or opt for princess seaming in the back, which seem to flatter me more.

I like the style which is reminiscent of the 80's and can complement any figure.

*******************************************************************************************************
Finally found some quick and easy pants with a wide waistband and no zipper!

The Aloha King




From 2001:

Men's Snirt, Shorts and Pants.
"Very loose-fitting shirt has self or contrast collar and sleeves band, forward shoulder seams, side hemline slits and above elbow sleeves. Narrow hom. A, B: concealed button opening. B, C: pockets. Shorts, above mid-knee or straight leggedpants have partially elastic waist, button fly closing, side and back pockets and stitched hems.

I sewed View C, the shirt with one front pocket.



Size
XS - S - M. I sewed the M for my brother who is visiting us from Texas.

Fabric Used
Woven cotton with Aloha Elvis theme.

Features
* Five button front
* Sleeves extended from fronts and back
* Interfaced collar and front facings
* Side hemline slits
* Curved front hem , straight back hem
* Topstitched forward shoulder seams, collar, center back seam, sleeve bands, and front edges of shirt.
* Front left pocket (viewer's right).
* Directions were sufficiently clear.
* Seems more loose fitting than pictured on the envelope.


Errors
The pattern layout was missing the collar piece (#5) for View C. It also mistakenly added a piece (#13) to be interfaced as part of the collar, which actually was the fly piece that belonged to the pants and shorts!

Modifications
* I used the same fabric for the sleeve band instead of a contrast sleeve band as depicted on the pattern envelope for this view.

* I placed the front pocket to the right chest (viewer's left)

* Instead of slipstitching the facing over the collar and neck seam (after attaching the collar to the shirt) as instructed, I carefully machine stitched it so that the top stitching is not as visible on the right side of the jacket.

Conclusion
Although the shirt was really easy to put together, it seemed to take more time to sew!
This is the second project I sewed with my new BrotherXL3500, that I purchased for $99 from Overstock.com, which sews more quietly than my older machine (my beloved Husqvarna Viking needs to be repaired).

Overall, a nice basic shirt pattern for men.

Two Tommy Bahama Campshirts
From Nordstrom.com


From Macys.com