aka The Jacket of Poo… not

Burda 7401 – a modern-day trench (OMG I’ve got my sunnies off – note I do wear my sunnies whenever I am outside – it’s an Aussie beach girl thing.

Oh, it’s not so bad… now I’m finished… I feel this sense of impending DOOM as I sewed.

The construction was an epic battle and at one stage I desperately hated it and banished it to the wardrobe. Funnily enough now I’ve fallen in love with it, it’s rather like the artful trench that wasn’t (hey, I’ve never claimed to make much sense).

Burda 7401 front view closed.

THE JACKET THAT NEARLY WASN’T…

I sewed like a woman possessed. Then fell outta love. Hard. I tweeted and bemoaned how this project had morphed into The Jacket of Poo. And I hated it. With a passion. I even banished Betty and the jacket to the wardrobe for a week. I got up on Saturday and pinned the sleeves on… and it restored some balance and I felt better… and nearly missed my weights class as a result… ah the sacrifices!

WARNING… dangerous sleeves ahead…

Yes, they are kimono sleeves. No setting in a sleeve. Hooray I hear you cry… however they have a gusset under the arm… and it is hell on earth to sew. A straight piece of fabric curling around a sharp curve… it’s like driving on buttered bald tyres on an icy road… you desperately try to hug the curve but it just doesn’t play nice… and you have to sew it four times… oh how the drunk monkey howled in mirth…

Burda 7401 – sleeve gusset… so much harder than it looks.

Most of this jacket I did not find technically difficult however the sleeve gussets are a nightmare. I tried pinning, basting, hand-stitching… regardless of my approach they are just incredibly disagreeable and that one step makes this jacket an advanced project in my opinion.

SHHH… secret pockets!

Yes, it’s got pockets. Where??? The front panels are also pockets. They open at the side seam and are the full width and depth of the front panel. I personally would not use them to stash things in as it would ruin the drape of the jacket – however they are excellent when slouching around town.

CONSTRUCTION… embrace it…

This is not a lined jacket.. and I don’t believe everything needs to be lined… I know, shock horror, I’m a sewing radical.

It’s a very modern jacket, with interesting design lines, pockets hidden in the seams, softly folded lapels, standing collar, an angled flared peplum. I think seeing the seams is interesting and also the reverse of the fabric, it’s all part of the feel. I didn’t really want to see fraying or neatened seams… so I flat felled many of the seams… excluding the sleeve gussets and the peplum. The sleeves and peplum I attached as usual and then sewed the seam allowance down through all the layers so every seam had a secondary line of stitching as per a flat felled seam.

TIES… the closure that nearly wasn’t…

I added the ties – which I thought were epic cool – I created them from the furry selvedge as I discovered that there is a Million Shades of Beige and no ribbon would match. They matched perfectly and… I hated them. I tried creating the wrap ties like Carolyn did on her beautiful jacket for her daughter – but I disliked them crossing the smooth peplum at the back and pulling on the drape of the front.

I almost cut off the ties and replaced them with a hook and eye…. almost. Then I simply trimmed off the furriness (as suggested by ELH) and suddenly things looked much better. The overall feel of the jacket and the fabric is just too slick for any soft textures.

Burda 7401 – how I love the back view of this jacket….

I found this fabric – this rather amazing shimmer twill at the Alannah Hill outlet in Melbourne. It’s only downfall… it is epic beige- not my favourite shade. I was so delighted when I found similar fabric on the Minerva site – shimmer twill. I’ve now got some in raspberry and green… I may have just purchased some more in ice blue… I highly recommend this fabric. It’s absolutely perfect for jackets – make a Sewaholic Robson in it! It’s the perfect weight, practical sturdy fabric that doesn’t fray badly and has a lovely soft metallic sheen – trust me – you will love it.

OH THE IRONY… I made a Shiny Beige Jacket… *face palm*

‘Beige’ is the disparaging colour I apply to people I find dull. Beige People come in many forms – people who are so righteous it’s tedious, people so lacking in real opinion they talk without saying anything, people who never really say what they mean for fear of offending, people with no opinion but the opinions they spout of others.

I also have an aversion to Shiny People. I probably loathe Shiny People more than Beige People. Shiny People are those people impressed by appearance and stuff – what lies beneath doesn’t matter as much as the surface and the price tag that it came with. They never really seem to have ‘friends’ so much as impressive people in beautiful clothes that they hang out with because they are the right sort of people to be seen with. The type of people that you never really feel you actually know…

Burda 7401 – side view

Life should be lived, in all its colour spectrums (the odd moment of beige is OK, and heck Shiny can be hellishly fun… Shiny can be like eating three courses of dessert with loads of grog – let’s be honest) and a little bent around the edges… because life is like that if you open your eyes and really look… imperfection is what makes life interesting and beautiful. Shiny Beige jackets and all… perhaps this is in fact my very own flak jacket against the army of Beige/Shiny People that live out there… and a reminder of who I’m not going to be…

SewNotABeigeShinyPerson (most days I hope).

Inspiration: Handmade by Carolyn (beautiful gorgeous make) & Pretty Grievances (Anne scared me off this pattern for a while with her tale of woe!)

Pattern: Burda 7401. This appears to have recently gone out of print. I think it may still be in Australian stores.
Fabric: Beige Shimmer Twill from Alannah Hill outlet, Melbourne – purchased on the Frocktails trip. Similar fabric from Minerva Fabrics… on clearance!
Location: Port Macquarie Town Green… a block from where I work… I know… life’s tough… shot in my lunch break…