The Guts and the Glory

...or the construction details of Butterick  5546...I know I promised this yesterday but sadly it was not to be! 

First up, pattern alterations:

1.  As with any pattern I need to add some width to the finished garment.  Luckily I didn't need to add much to this one.  To the front piece, I sliced, diced and spread so that the bottom had a 1.5" increase.

2. To the back piece, I did a pivot and slide and added 2".  These two simple alterations provided enough space to smoothly flow over my protruding parts.

3.  The sleeves (I wish I had taken a  picture of the original pattern piece) were very large and bell shaped.  I knew I didn't want Sister Bertrille sleeves so I trimmed the side seams by 2" on either side.  Then I straightened out the hemline removing the flared shape so that I ended up with a more traditional looking sleeve.  I know that in my original post, I said that I was going to add elastic to the seam hem but when I tried the jacket on, I was fine with how it looked and let it stand.

Construction

*I pinned and then basted the front yoke to the front piece.  I was concerned about getting a proper fit and felt that a little basting would eliminate any shifting during the trip through the sewing machine.

*All of the exposed seams were finished with black rayon seam binding.  Since the jacket is unlined, I didn't want unfinished seams showing. 

*I added black piping to the collar to give it some definition...without the black framing the collar I feel like it fades into the background because the print on the fabric is very overpowering.

*The back yoke is an interesting detail to the jacket, this piece was also basted down with a bold colored thread so that I could see it on the right side when I machine stitched it down.

*I trimmed the sleeve hems with the black rayon seam binding preparing to turn them under to hem.  However, when I tried the jacket on, I felt that the binding provided an ending to the patterned material, so I left it.

Otherwise, I followed the pattern instructions.  The jacket is not terribly difficult to sew and I realize that the fabric choice is what really makes the jacket sing.  I'm almost afraid that it sings too loudly to wear to work!  And I won't be wearing it with the pants as shown, I'm going to wear it over my little black dress and hopefully I won't look like I'm going out for a night on the town!

I do want to make this with some short sleeves for a spring/summer look...I think it will work great with either a straight skirt or a sheath dress.  So you will probably see it again!

One final view of the outfit:

...more later!