Category: denim jacket

Croc denim & furniture spray

~ velosews ~ 6 Comments

At least five years ago I bought this croc-resin stretch woven denim locally with a zipper jacket in mind. And here it is.

Whoops. 
Before I show you the fabric, let me show you my sewing tools of choice. 
I used lots of furniture spray, a teflon foot, a denim needle and wonderclips to sew the fabric.

You can see the teflon foot and wonder clips used on the collar.
You can’t smell the ‘Mr Sheen‘ used to help the fabric flow and be sewn easily.

My fingers ached trying to pin this fabric together, so wonderclips made sewing easier.

McCalls 4596 jacket. I first made this pattern up in 2008.
Here’s a close up view of the collar and lining. The fabric has some stretch which was both good and bad. The slight fabric stretch is basically good once it’s made up and you wear it.

However I did use pins to get the sleeve in so the puckers at the shoulder line look like small even pleats. I trimmed the seam allowances everywhere I could for better shaping.

I used the denim fabric on the pocket at the jacket seam.
Here’s the side view so you can see the final close up.

The back shaping is nothing to look at on the hanger. When I saw this photo I realised the lining in the right sleeve was too short, so I unpicked it and handsewed the sleeve lining in place, and the sleeve now hangs ‘naturally’.


Why did I make this jacket now?
I wanted a wild-looking jacket to go with my highland inspired dress but it was so cold on the day, I ended up wearing a coat instead.

The back shoulder width gives me room to move and it’s a good layering piece.

I can safely say this jacket is great for travel.

This was my go-to jacket in Canberra this weekend for CBR Frocktails. Fab weekend ladies!

A little faux coat

~ velosews ~ 18 Comments

My littlest niece (LN) had her birthday (see desserts) and she chose a white faux fur for her jacket. I know that white fur will get dirty but as I said to her Mum when she smiled at LN’s fur choice, “We can always dye it later.” 

I’ve been following 21 wale because she sews great gear for very young growing family so I thought that sewing for this 8 year old was doable.

Both LN and her Mum picked a princess-seamed, zip-front jacket with zipper welt pockets from Young Image Magazine Autumn/Winter 2012/2013. LN wanted it hip length. This jacket will be hip length within 12 months.

This test version is a floral denim that had been sitting in my stash. Why test the pattern? I wanted to check the construction before I cut into the fur.

Can you see the coat handle on the inside collar?
So I used a open-ended zipper on the fur version once I knew the denim test version worked.

I decided to sew the zipper in the front before sewing in the sleeves because I didn’t want the front opening to be wonky or have to battle with the full coat when sewing in the front zip.

 Once the zipper was sewn in I attached the lining and then flat sewed in the sleeves, finished the side seams and hemmed the sleeves and jacket.

Both jackets have a coat handle to hang these coats anywhere.

I’ve used white satin binding for the welt pockets and at the edge of the collar.
The heart print lining shows when you roll up the sleeves. LN was quick to point out ‘no one will see the lining’ – observant.

I’ve whitened the pic below so you can see the true colours of the fur and how the fur lines up.

LN loves her fur version and she made taking these photos a challenge. LN-1: Aunty-0. 
She didn’t like the denim jacket so it now belongs to one of her little friends.