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Sometimes I get the urge for a big, meaty tailoring project to sink my teeth into. Then, about halfway through, I always wonder what I was thinking taking on a task like this. Then at the end, it all seems worth it. So it is with this jacket, with which I have fallen madly in love.
Normally I am not one for vintage sewing, but I this pattern lept into my ebay cart before I could stop it. It is fun to see what patterns used to be like. They actually tell you the right way to do things, like including cutting layouts for underlining.
There was a photo in Selvedge magazine a while back of a white garment with red embroidery, which totally stuck in my head. After I started the embroidery on this jacket, I saw that the color combo lends it a bit of a nautical look, which is very au courant.
The fabric is a very heavy linen that I bought in London last year. It may be a home dec fabric. I washed it once, but it still feels stiff, like there may be some residual sizing. Or maybe that is just how the fabric is. Anyway, it was a pleasure to work with. Linen may be supplanting silk as my favorite fabric.
The sleeves on this jacket are one piece, no darts. I’m not at all sure about them, but I will try to reserve judgement until I have worn it a couple of times. Perhaps the short length will make the lack of shaping tolerable.
This is the pattern that I used, bought from eBay.
Belt detail
back
I hand embroidered all of the topstitching. Clearly, I have too much free time.
Rolling in Cloth 
34 Comments
I don’t think you have too much time on your hands…I think you have a vision and you execute it well! I was wondering what stitch on your sewing machine you used to get the topstitching but this is sooooo much better! I am loving this jacket!
MAGNIFICENT!
Fantastic job on this jacket!
I love the jacket…..and I love Lanvin vintage and thick linen which is far less temperamental than her sister, thin linen….. Happy Mothers Day to you.
Why did you change sites?
I moved because I really wanted the ability to do nested comment responses. Isn’t this nice, that I can reply to your comment and my reply shows up right below the original comment? As far as I can tell, you cannot do this on Blogger.
Hey, it works!
OH FANTASTIC!! that pattern looks so modern, especially with you loving finishing touches
So lovely. I am both jealous and inspired.
Wow, I think all that top stitching was worth the time. This jacket is phenomenal!
What a great pattern, Claudine. Your hand stitching is finely done.
Fabulous topstitching. I have some home dec linen in the stash and you certainly have inspired me to look at it a little differently. Great jacket.
Wow, that topstitching is so perfect. Gorgeous jacket.
gorgeous jacket and worth every minute of hand-stitching.
Wonderful jacket.. Maybe the topsitiching keeps it modern, because it certainly doesn’t look vintage at all. Did you use embroidery thread or silk button hole twist for the topstitching and how did you mark your fabric for topsitiching, if you did mark it.
I used pearl cotton embroidery floss for the topstitching. I marked it using a tracing wheel to dent the fabric. Tracing wheel marks are impermanent, so I could only mark maybe 12″ at a time, or else the marks would disappear before I got to them.
Love your new jacket! The red handstitching looks great on the linen, which is perfect for this style!
Fantastic jacket. I would to see you modelling it
Well. I love everything about that jacket. Seriously. It’s so summer and clean looking. Beautiful.
What a magnificent jacket! I think the hand topstitching really makes it. It’s nice to tackle an Epic Project once in awhile, isn’t it?
Stunning!
Love your jacket. The shaping looks fantastic without seeing it on you. Thanks for the tip on how you traced the topstitching. I was wondering how each stitch was so even.
That’s a very classy jacket, and worth the time to do the red hand stitching. Very nice.
That is a fabulous jacket! The red topstitching really kicks it up a notch.
I love jackets like this in the summer. White with red, white with blue–love it. Susan Khalje has an out-of-print book on working with linens and cottons that you might like. Nice work as always.
holy cow that is gorgeous!
Love the jacket and all the clothes that you wore on PR weekend! I’m so inspired by your creations.
This jacket was even more beautiful in person, thank you for sharing it with us during PR weekend
Found it Claudine! Loved meeting you this past weekend, and adding you to my blog roll. Keep up the amazing work!
Very nice jacket!!
Like others at PR Weekend Philly, I can attest that this is even lovelier in person than on the mannequin. Looks fantastic!
I share your affection for this coat. Your design alterations have brought the jacket from vintage (not my thing either) into now. BTW I can’t see how to follow your new site.
This just blows me away. It’s stunning!
I hope you know that I have been searching high and low for this pattern ever since you posted your jacket!
I had been given some stiff Irish linen from a friend and it was like burlap in stiffness. Another friend told me to wash it in the washer and dry it in the dryer a few times, as linen softens and becomes more supple with each washing. It just gets better! Just love your website!!
Hello – I love the simplicity of no darts and the top-stitching makes it doesn’t it just?
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