After finishing the oversize bomber for a friend, I really wanted to make an oversize bomber for me. Yes, I have made many bomber jackets for me over the years, but they have been considerably less generous in width and, especially, length. I wanted this to be big.
I didn't feel like doing patchwork for this, though. My last visit to the craft thrift store had turned up some dark pink toned wool bouclé, which the previous owner had cut sleeves from, then folded the sleeves and everything back up and did no more with. I figured I'd make a blazer from it...until I decided I wanted to make a big bomber. I knew the existing cut sleeve wouldn't be wide enough, but I figured I could use part of it, and add a seam to make a mock two-part sleeve.
There was the big question of which knit to use for the bands. I have a lot of a pale salmon-y pink (also from the craft thrift store) that does coordinate, but I didn't like the idea of having lighter bands with the dark shell. On a whim, I dug out what was left of the chintz print knit (used for a dress, a shirt, and in the patchwork cardigan) and tried to judge if it would coordinate well with the wool. (Yes, that knit fabric is also from the craft thrift store.) I decided that it didn't matter if it coordinated well--I just liked the idea of using it.
And then, for lining, I decided to coordinate with the floral print, and use the light blue charmeuse I picked up at the craft thrift store the same day I got the wool.
It is, perhaps, a bit more luxurious than I planned. That's always nice.
I cut most of the cloth using the size 40 version of Stretch & Sew 1027 that I traced off years ago to make a gift jacket. I deviated from the tracing by adding length (although still not as much as I took out to begin with), and by using the pattern piece made to modify New Look 6120 to have a button front...which I'd completely forgotten was a tracing of the front of Simplicity 8175. I did that change solely so the front would extend to the bottom of the jacket, instead of making a complete lower band by sewing extensions to the waistband, then sewing that to the lower edge of the jacket. In retrospect, this was an extremely nitpicky decision.
Part of the modifications done when tracing S&S 1027 was adding to the neck band so the seam allowance would be 5/8" instead of ¼". As nice as the overall drafting for that pattern is, I'm not fond of how it wants all the knit parts to be attached with a ¼" seam allowance. So I don't do that.
I probably could have made the neckband a little shorter--as it is, it doesn't stretch much to meet the neckline, so it doesn't lay super flat. Again, this is nitpicky.
I didn't have problems sewing through this spongy wool, esxcept for one huge exception: when doing the final stop stitching around the front opening and the faced parts of the neckline, I confidently sewed over a spot with more layers than the needle liked, and it bent. I replaced it with the thick needle I'd meant to use on the previous coat.
I considered using four part snaps, but I thought that chunky big buttons would fit the aesthetic more. I knew just what buttons I wanted to use, although I wasn't sure, at first, if I still had them. Turns out they had been sorted into the purple bag, and not the blue bag where I first looked.
They have mica streaks of blue and pink--along with the dark background and the golden circles, I thought they coordinated nicely with the floral print.
One of the necessary vertical sleeve seams is shown here. Even with the top stitching, it's very inconspicuous.
When I sewed on he pocket bags, I completely forgot about doing them the normal way for a bomber jacket--where they get stitched to the front of the jacket--and sewed them on like I do with skirt pockets, so they can hang free inside the garment. They're not hanging free, though, because I made sure to catch their lower edges in the waistband seam.
Here is where I will mention that working with charmeuse in winter, with hands that I didn't even think were very dry, is an intensely unpleasant experience, as the shiny, luxurious, fine-denier float yarns will very happily snag on any and every slight rough spot on the skin. Unpleasant.
That said, I did convince myself to hand sew the lining opening closed.
That was the absolute last step, because I had to leave it open to turn the waistband back out so many times, to adjust for uneven front edges, and to get the area where the shell fabric makes the 90° turn around the bands to come anywhere near being right, and to fix areas where the lining got caught at angles in seams where it shouldn't be, and probably other things I've forgotten doing. I would probably have put more effort into getting that 90° turn right, but I looked at the jackets in the photograph on the pattern envelope for Simplicity 8175, and not only do both of those have that little pucker, but the envelope illustration showing the front view also has that. So. It's beyond fine.
...especially since the Simplicity jacket isn't mean to be lined, meaning I added an extra layer of hassle to this. I love the look of lining, though, so no regrets.
As with the previous patchwork bomber jacket, I ended up piecing the lower band, to make the amount of fabric I had work. This jacket has four parts making up the knit portion of the waistband. I sewed them with 5/8" seams, so they should be sturdy. The seams very much get lost in the print.
So, that was a relatively quick project, even when taking it at whatever pace I wanted to put into it, instead of rushing it for a use deadline like I did the coat for The Child the other day. I also resisted the temptation to add appliqués of some sort, because it seemed like it might end up bland. I admit, it's not a showstopper, but it's cute enough.
It's a little heavier than I expected--going by the way the wool reacted to high heat from the iron, I'd say that, if it's a blend, it's still very high wool content. This jacket might end up downright snuggly (as long as I don't touch the lining with winter-dry hands.)
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