Burda of the month: 8/2013#106 red wool crepe jacket

It's becoming a bit of a habit of mine to finish my Burda projects in the following month instead of the month of issue as I originally vowed to myself - but I'm getting them made and that's all that counts. Plus this month I made a rather involved project instead of something simple, and lo and behold it's not a dress for a change!

Yes that's right - I made a tailored jacket. It's jacket #106 from the 8/2013 issue which looks like this in the magazine:

I admit that I may have been more than a little bit influenced by the magazine photo, but I've had a beautiful piece of raspberry red wool crepe in my stash for a while just waiting for the perfect project which turns out to be this pattern.

This pattern is the illustrated step-by-step guide for the month. Confusingly the page says it's both easy sewing and a "sewing lesson for the advanced" - although now that I've completed it I realise that what they meant was that it's an advanced pattern that they show you how to make in the most basic (but not best) manner to make it easy. I did read the instructions, and they were helpful to figure out the collar construction but mostly I did it my own way from experience and other resources.

Here's what I did differently to the pattern instructions:

1. Used way more interfacing than suggested. The pattern calls for interfacing only on the front facing piece, collar and hem lines, but I chose to block interface all my fabric pieces with a light weight interfacing, and then put an extra layer on the collar and front inset piece for extra stiffness. This gave the crepe a bit more substantial body appropriate to a jacket, although I suppose if you were using a fabric that was more substantial to begin with it wouldn't be needed.

2. I used the organza patch method to finish the back of the inseam buttonhole. Burda gives instructions to cut a slit in the fabric, turn under the edges and hand sew. Instead I used the method described in the Vogue Sewing book to use a square of organza to make an opening that you would use on the back of a bound buttonhole - it looks neater than the hand stitching I could achieve and is less likely to fray.

3. I bagged the lining instead of hand slip stitching the lining down at the end. I don't know why Burda didn't recommend this method - it's much a quicker and neater method and isn't really that difficult. The first time you do a bagged lining you don't think it could possibly work but it does! I like this tutorial over at Grainline Studio which clearly shows how it all comes together. For my lining I used a pink polyester of some sort that has been in the stash for years - one side is a soft, furry feeling which I used as the wrong side and the other has a slight ribbed texture that is more slippery - I have no idea what it is but it's a nice enough colour match with the raspberry red.

4. In addition to the suggested shoulder pads, I added a sleeve head cut from some wool melton to support the top of the sleeve as recommended in many tailoring books. It's the first time I've done this, but I do think it's made a difference - the sleeve sits so nicely. I also narrowed the shoulder by 2.5cm which is my usual adjustment.

Apart from the shoulder adjustment I made no alterations to the pattern which I cut out using the smallest size, size 34. Of course it's not perfect, but since I didn't make a muslin what can I expect? If I make this again I would take out a small wedge of the centre front panel because I'm rather flat chested and this bit sticks out a bit from my chest.

But overall I really love this jacket and am glad I put in the effort to make it properly. I made a fabric covered button because I couldn't find a perfect match, which I think looks quite smart. And the best thing is that the jacket sits equally well open or closed:

So well done Burda - a lovely pattern and well drafted. I'm actually thinking of making an evening version of this jacket in a tuxedo style in black satin with a matte finish for those front inset panels. I'll just add that to my very long to do list!