Burda of the Month: 4/2015 #137 - a miniature French style jacket

I struggled a bit with picking out a pattern to make from the April issue of the Burda Style magazine - there isn't much in there that jumped out as needing to be in my wardrobe. I contemplated making a wrap shirt dress (4/2015 #122), but when Burda themselves describe a pattern as having a "plunging neckline" you just know it's going to need a lot of work to make it decent! So I've taken the easy option this month and made a simple jacket for Anna instead:

This pattern is 4/2015 #137, which is described as a short spring jacket:

I quite like the version Burda made up for the magazine using a jacquard and bead trim, but since we are about to enter winter and are having some wild and windy weather I used a length of wool coating that I picked up in a op shop for $4 some years ago. The fabric has a wonderful feel to it, not at all scratchy but soft with enough body for a jacket, however it's all a bit too much pink for me to wear. A jacket for a young lady though is a perfect use for it.

This pattern is really simple, as it has no closures, those pockets are fake and it's designed to have the edges bound in bias binding so there are no facings or linings.  Because I used a wool fabric I chose to line it, using a pink lining also from an op shop purchase and a long time stash resident. I cut out the lining from the pattern pieces and lined the jacket to the edge.

I changed the pattern slightly by adding length to the body of the jacket and the sleeves - it's a bit too cold for three quarter sleeves at the moment. I also added patch pockets to the front because everyone needs functional pockets, especially a six year old!

The trim is not only the most expensive part of the jacket (the only component bought new and not from the stash) but was the most time consuming part because I hand sewed it to the neck edges and pockets. I found it really hard to pick out a trim, mainly because I'm terrible at picking out complementary trims but also because they all seemed a bit too grown up for a child's jacket. In the end the trim I used is mostly pink but it has some rainbow sparkle to it which Anna loves so that was a good choice.

I used sized 120 for the body (technically Anna is closer to a size 128), but I think the body is overall a little large and particularly at the back there is quite a bit of volume although it seems pretty good around the shoulders. I'm not sure what happened at the hem line because it definitely seems to curve up from the front - probably sloppy drafting on my part when I was making the pattern!

The fabric had stretched out of shape a bit and those white lines were slightly off grain, but I tried to steam it back into shape the best I could and match them up as much as possible. I cut the pieces out on a single layer to get those plaids to match up, which I think I did a pretty good job:

And overall the recipient is happy which is what counts and hopefully means that she will indeed wear it. Everyone who has sewn for a child knows that it is never guaranteed that something you make for them will actually be worn!

Final thoughts - a simple pattern that is quick and easy to make with infinite variations with fabric and trim choices. A lovely French style jacket for the budding fashionista!