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.