February Burda of the month done: Burda 2/2014 #115 cap sleeved jacket - the close enough is good enough version

So here we are on the last day of February and I've finally finished by Burda of the month project. It feels like I've been sewing this jacket for the entire month, and it was basically clogging up my sewing time and enthusiasm for anything else so I had to get it done. And in this case I'm settling for the close enough version - sure there could be more improvements but I think it's ok. As a reminder here is the pattern I used:

I didn't actually make the silver satin version, mainly because I couldn't be bothered making yet another version of this pattern but also because the second muslin I made was actually in a rather nice linen that I was hoping would work out as a wearable muslin. So I did the best I could to improve on the version you saw in the last post, and this is what I've come up with:

Sure the fabric is a boring cream colour, but it feels quite nice and I think the jacket has turned out to be a simple and lightweight jacket that I can wear over some of my more colourful summer dresses. I ended up letting out the seams a little because it was really tight when I wore it over various clothes which means I've got a bit of excess fabric appearing again at the back but there's no point wearing a supremely fitting jacket if you move as stiffly as a robot!

I didn't have enough fabric left to re-cut the sleeves, so instead I just took in the sleeve seams slightly and let out the cap sleeve dart as much as I could to try to make that cap sleeve stand out more.

For the front closure instead of doing a row of hooks and eyes I chose to use a zipper instead - I just thought that hooks and eye might slip open and they would be too fussy to do up. I found at Spotlight a lightweight separating zip in a cream colour that was perfect for this fabric. It looks like an invisible zip but the tape wouldn't roll over so I couldn't sew exactly next to the zip coils which means a little bit of the zipper tape is showing but it looks ok.

And because I was really really over it by the end I didn't even bother to line this jacket but I didn't make that decision until the very end so nor did I do any neat finishing of the internal seams like binding them or making French seams. The inside seams are fully overlocked so it's ok, but it's not a particularly professional finish on the inside I'm afraid!

This fabric has been in my stash for about 14 years - it's lovely fabric and it's only crime was to be unbelievably bland and boring. I thought about adding some trim or decorative stitching to this jacket to liven it up and to emphasize those seam lines but in the end I figure accessories would probably do a good enough job. I quite like this classic black on cream look:

I particularly like how the belt makes the peplum bit stick out and gather a bit more, this jacket has quite a lovely shape really.

Conclusion: a pretty good pattern - sure it needed a fair bit of fitting work to fit my very narrow, rounded and forward shoulders but it is a pretty simple pattern to sew, the sleeves are interesting and the waistline + peplum are quite flattering. If you're up for a possibly fiddly fitting experience I'd say go for it!