Quick & Easy Felt Jacket

I had no intention of buying cloth, or even making something for myself yesterday morning. Honestly! I was going to clean my house! I stopped by Fabric Fix in Manchester to check out wool for my daughter who wants me to make her a jacket and I want to work on it at my Sewing Camp at the end of this month.

But then.....

I saw lovely double sided fleece which would be perfect for this Marcy Tilton Vogue pattern I've had around for a few months. They had a beautiful pink, lime green, red, and taupe, all with black on the other side and for the incredible price of $8 a yard for 60" fabric! So, my plans went out the window. I bought the taupe and ran home to trim the pattern and run it up on the machine. Since it's fleece, it required no hems and no facings. You have to cut the fabric very evenly so I used a rotary cutter. The only seaming was on the shoulder, the side, and the sleeves. The fleece was so forgiving that everything just melted together.

The sleeve has an interesting detail. It's cut very wide at the upper sleeve and tapers as it goes down. To create the taper, you cut a dart out of the cloth, piece the cloth together and close the edges with a zig zag stitch (detail here). I don't really like the fit of the upper sleeve and will have to play with it if I make it again -- there is just too much fabric there. I'll either cut a smaller size, or try to find a way to take some of the excess out of the sleeve without spoiling the lines of the jacket -- suggestions welcome.

There are no buttons or other closures -- the collar folds down a couple of different ways. The sleeves are shortened by simply trimming away until they are the length you want. I trimmed away enough to make it bracelet length. Since the jacket isn't necessarily for very cold weather, I thought the shorter length showed off bracelets while balancing the wide upper sleeve so it didn't overwhelm me and just look too big.

The side also has some interesting detail, with the back cut longer than the front -- side view picture here.



I'd like to experiment with some of the other colors -- perhaps adding a pocket or two that are zig zagged on to carry over the theme from the sleeves. The pattern calls for some artistic needle felting that you can do as well.

Fun look for 2 hours and $13!!