Plaid to Meet You!

The mad for plaid trend is arriving full bloom for spring 2009!

For the little ladies from Juicy Couture:

From Nordy's, a plaid wool jacket for $358.



From Neiman Marcus, a cropped jacket for $148.



Heather eagerly chose this jacket from the children's section in Burda WOF, January 2009.



P-P-P-P-Plaid to the Bone!



Since Heather is working with rhyming words in kindergarten. I associated "plaid" with "mad" pointing to a popular 80's song that came to mind, "I'm Plaid (Mad) About You...."


I just completed sewing Heather's new peacoat. She adores it!

I'm Mad About Plaid! Plaid About You!!!!!!!!!!!!


Pattern Description
"Her favourite new jacket is not only comfortable and easy to mix and match – its decorative jeans-style topstitching and the double-breasted front also look great."

Size
Height in cm: 104, 110, 116, 122. I sewed a 116 based on her height. In terms of fit, the jacket seemed two sizes larger for her. After looking again at the Burda models, the jacket seemd drafted to be unstructured and slouchy.



Fabric
Tahari glen plaid from Fashionista Fabrics.
a Tahari Glen Plaid dress from Overstock.com



Favorite Features
*Well-drafted. The pieces went together nicely.
*Peacoat style
*Raglan styled sleeves (two-piece sleeve)
*Back yoke with pleat just below it.


Not-so-favorite features
*Confusing directions for the welt pockets
*Aligning the plaids.

Directions
Directions were easy to follow (except the convoluted ones for welt pocket for another pattern in the same issue), especially if you are familiar sewing a raglan shirt or jacket.

I paced myself, setting a goal for each day I have available to sew. I have a habit of wanting to finish everything in one day!

Day One
* Traced and cut all pattern pieces including the pieces to be measured such as the back loop and the welt and pockets.
* Interfaced the two center fronts and one collar piece.

Day Two
* Cut the fabric and lining pieces (side front, back, front sleeve, back sleeve.
* Prepared and attached the welt pockets to the side fronts, using Kenneth King's method described in "Modifications" section below.




Day Three
* Basted the back pleat and prepared the back loop and basted it to the center back.
* Sewed the back yoke to the the lower back portion containing the pleat and the loop.
* Sewed the front sleeve to the upper curved portion of the side front and the back sleeves to the upper curved portion of the back.
* Joined each front section to the corresponding back section at the seam underneath the sleeves and the at the sides as one continuous seam.
* Sewed the interfaced center front to the sides front.
* Prepared the collar and basted it to the neckline.

Day Four
* Prepared the lining in the same way as the visible jacket, sans the yoke.
* Attached the lining along the front edges, neckline, and lower edges. Instead of leaving an opening on the bottom to turn the jacket inside out, I left a 4" opening at the side through which to gently pull the garment through. Then I carefully slip-stitched the opening.
* Stitched the 6 buttonholes and attached the buttons.
* Finished the sleeve lining edge with a 1/8" seam allowance, tucked under an additional 3/8" seam allowance, and handstitched it to the sleeve's finished edge.


Modifications
* Instead of at the beginning of construction (just after cutting the fabric pieces), stitched the center fronts to the side fronts just before attaching the collar.

From Olliebollen, a Catimini wool manteau for $149 The welt/pocket flaps are downward.


*Used Kenneth King's method for "Foolproof Single-Welt Pockets" from his "Cool Couture" book. I situated my welts upward instead of downward on the markings so that the pocket flaps will face downward after stitching, slashing, sewing the pockets and turning them to the underside of the side fronts. After scrolling down a little, here are more information and pictures that provide an overview of Kenneth's nicely detailed method that started on page 89. I highly recommend this book!

*Omitted all topstitching.

*I was remiss in omitting the lower hem allowance for the center front and front facings. So the jacket ended up being about an inch shorter in length.


Conclusion
Can you sew them, sew right through them....It doesn't matter what they say, even if the fabric frays, hey, hey, hey... Our Seams are Sealed

I made one final press of the collar and the center front to maintaing the crease for the lapels.

My first impression of Heather's new jacket was "That seems to be 2 sizes large for her!" However, it did pass the "grandma" test. Grandma (my mom) adored the style and asked me to make another one for Heather! Now I appreciate that the jacket really had that retro "swing" style. I later noticed its cape-like style which makes it more endearing.

I am not sure if I will sew this again, but if I do, I would probably use a lightweight denim for a casual look. It really is simple to sew, although time consuming due to details such as welt pockets, collar, and lining. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this as a first time Burda WOF lined jacket because it is very well drafted and the directions are concise and clear (except for the welt pockets borrowed from another pattern) in comparison to other BWOF patterns.

More "affordable" RTW from Nine West:


From Macy's for $129:



From a high-end online store for $149: