Burda of the Month: 9/2016 #108 blazer

Finally I have finished my September Burda project - it's been sitting in my sewing room untouched for at least the last three weeks. I made the outer part of the jacket quite quickly but when I got to the lining I suddenly lost all enthusiasm for sewing. Life has just been so busy lately and it's been easier to plan sewing projects, browse on-line fabric stores and read about other people's sewing achievements than actually tackle my own. But happily now it's done!

My pick from the September issue is probably no surprise to regular long term readers - I love a tailored blazer, especially one without a collar. This project is pattern 9/2016 #108:

Image via Burda Style

For once the magazine photo pretty much resembles the pattern and how it fits - no photoshopping or sneaky clipping the garment behind the model's back to get that fit. The pattern comes in petite sizing and I made a size 17 at the shoulder grading out to 18 at the waist and 19 at the hips which seemed to work well enough for me. I didn't lengthen the bodice to account for my long waist so the button sits a little higher on me than the model photo, but it looks good enough to me.

The back fit is superb on this one. The centre back seam and princess seams meant I could shape the back really well, and there is only a little bit of excess fabric under my armpit which is usually my problem area when fitting jackets:

I really like the two darts at the neckline, it's something that is common in vintage patterns but not so much in modern patterns but it gives a nice shape:

The sleeves hang really well in this jacket and the shoulder was spot on without me doing my usual narrow shoulder adjustment. I didn't use any shoulder pads, but I did put in a sleeve header. Annoyingly the sleeve header seems to be visible and is a bit ripply, so I'm considering taking them out:

The fabric I used is a pink wool crepe that has been in the stash for a long time, that I bought from a garage sale. Because the fabric wasn't quite jacket weight I block interfaced all the pieces with whisperweft interfacing, and then added a second layer at the front and back neckline. I couldn't decide on a button to go with the pink fabric though, so I made a fabric covered button instead - this way it matches perfectly!

You might notice I also left off the welt pockets - I never use pockets in my jackets anyway and there's a good chance of making terrible welts and ruining the front so I left them off. That dart was a little tricky because of the sparse Burda instructions, basically you need to cut into the pattern horizontally to sew the vertical dart, and then sew the bottom of the dart and jacket together to make that horizontal line. I've got a little but of bubbling at the point as you can see in the above photo, but it's not too noticeable.

Apart from the dart, it's a very simple jacket to make and would have been quick to make if I didn't suffer a severe case of loss of sewing mojo! When I did pull my socks up and just got on with it, the lining was easy enough to make and quick to attach using the bagging method (see this Grainline Studio tutorial for the best visual explanation I've seen so far).

One last thing before I finish up this post. Anyone notice anything different about these photos? Apart from the poor quality - my DSLR is in for a service at the moment and I made Anna take these pictures with our little point and shoot camera. Anyone spot the change?

No more glasses for me - I had laser eye surgery last Thursday afternoon and by Friday morning I was marvelling at my new found amazing eyesight. I've worn glasses since I was 11 years old, so it's pretty strange to not wear them after 28 years - I still find myself putting my hands to my face to push up glasses that are no longer there! I can't wear any eye make up yet or get water in my eyes while they heal, but since I won't be hiding behind frames anymore it's time to learn how to apply eyeshadow and eyeliner. The surgery itself was rather painful but it was only 4 minutes per eye, and it was ridiculously expensive (I could have bought a fancy schmancy Bernina sewing machine instead) but it's totally worth it, even if my kids do think I look weird.