Hi. Look at this amazing fabric… I got it (among other things!) from Abakhan with my Christmas jumper prize voucher. I thought it would make a great lining for a really warm jacket or coat. When it arrived, MrA’s eyes lit up at the sight of it…

‘It’s too nice to go on the inside… make a jacket like my Moncler one’

… he’s got this really cool Moncler jacket that he picked up at an absolute steal. I’ve always envied it. Then we saw the Omer Jacket in La Maison Victor and it was decided.

In the magazine they’ve made it out of a black drill and I love the biker-jacket feel. With my fabric choice I’m thinking mine will also have a nod to racing & skiing… quite the all-round-sporty-jacket!

I made a lining pattern by tracing all the sleeve pieces together, all the back pieces and the fronts – minus the facing. I also remembered to put a big pleat in the centre back (I cut the back lining on the fold) so I had some wriggle room…

This took a bit of time as there are 23 pieces to this pattern… Nine for the sleeves alone!

While all those little pieces are great for squeezing into a really tight pattern layout – I measured my fabric and I had used 2m10, not the recommended 1m90. I used 1.5cm seams (larger than recommend) which may have made the difference – as there’s only 20cm in it – but I would have been miserable if I’d pinned it all out only to be short by such a small amount.

(You could try saving on fabric by only cutting pocket facings, cutting the pocket bags out of lining material?)

Anyway, this is how the sleeve lining pattern ended up… One bonus of doing this is that I now had a full -size visualisation of how the sleeves jigsawed together.

I made up the main jacket following the instructions. I was glad I’d lettered and named all the pieces – although there was a bit of a mix up, I think the zip band was lettered wrongly in the main list…? Look out for that if you’re making this. It helped to lay all the pieces on the floor to see how they’d go together.

The pockets were cool, you fold the welt (or ‘piping’ as it’s referred to in the pattern) then you put in a basting line, match this up with the (previously) thread traced pocket mark and sew it down along the basting. With the pocket facing stitched exactly 1.5cm parallel with the ‘piping’ stitch line, you can cut through and carry on securing the opening – the welt is already folded all out of one piece.

One thing I’ve noticed with these LMV patterns… they don’t go much for pocket linings… but all the notches match up nicely and the zips and top pockets went in without a hitch too. Although not too happy under the iron, this fabric sews really well.

Then it was time for those sleeve zips. They looked like they’d be really tricky, but again; I made sure my markings were clear, followed the instructions, basted a lot… and they’re not-too-shabby even if I do say so myself.

Then, it couldn’t be put off any longer… I had to sew the sleeves together. It was a bit like Tetris (if anyone is old enough to remember that?!) it really helped that not only were my pieces marked with what letter they were, I also marked the direction arrow of the ‘grain line’ – as it was not always apparent which way was up.

This is a great pattern for lovers of topstitching. Every seam gets sewn and double topstitched. It’s particularly great with this fabric because; as I can’t iron it, the stitching is making it look really crisp. It is also less noticeable where the pattern doesn’t match up because the pieces are broken up by the stitching. Win- win!

Here’s the technical bit…

Needle

Universal 75

Thread

All purpose polyester

Stitch length seams

2.8mm

Stitch length topstitching (when I remembered to change it!)

4mm

Topstitching distance

1.5 mm & Foot width

Feet used

Open toe, zipper, stitch in the ditch

The sleeves went in flat. They’re drafted perfectly to fit in smoothly. It was only after I’d sewn them both in and was topstitching round one of them that I realised I’d forgotten to put in the ‘shoulder pads’. I’d made them near the beginning, with the pockets, and forgotten about them! Thankfully a 4mm topstitch isn’t too tricky to unpick, and the seam didn’t put up too much of a struggle. I just unpicked as much as I needed to be able to get a good run-up to the shoulders. Phew.

So with the outer pretty much done, I had some head scratching to do while I worked out how best to get the lining in.

First, I had to make it. I did a bit of stash busting and used up some deep red/ purple/ plumb (…?) lining fabric that I don’t remember buying and seemed to have quite a bit of. It looks great against the silver.

I really got into the topstitching and even changed thread colour on the inside shoulder seams…! (… even if I did forget to change stitch length from time to time…)

I decided to do the cuff insert in silver too… I used some of the dupion I had left over from my suit. I’m starting to think that if I wore this inside out it could double up as a superhero costume! … Ironman…? Deadpool…? Magnetos’ smoking jacket…?!

I checked and double checked (& triple checked) the instructions to make sure I had the zip facing and the collar overlap on the correct sides. It’s exactly the opposite of my Tweedy-Bomber which has the flap on the outside.

With the outer and lining complete, before I put the two sides together I fit the snaps onto the side straps. If the straps were nearer my waist I’d consider a second ‘cinching’ snap, but they’re a bit low and I don’t need it bringing in on my hips.

Next, the zip goes in. I had to wait a couple of days here as I didn’t have the right size in my stash. I’ve used longer zips before and tucked the ends into the seams, but I’ve never really been 100% happy with the finish.

As soon as it arrived I diligently hand-basted, basted then sewed it on. I topstitched the right hand side of the zip too, the side with the flap.

On went the upper collar, I opened the seams and stitched the jacket seams down at the neckline. Then I sewed all the way down the fronts, joining the jacket to the lining and turning the corner at the bottom. It was sort-of trance-like… I really had to concentrate, I got the distinct feeling that if I did any of this in the wrong order things were going to get really tricky. I didn’t take too many pictures of this section, it all happened in a corner of my living room late one weekday night under the glare of an angle poise lamp… I’m sure I’m not the only one who does this…?!

Suffice to say, once the collar was on and the lining attached (everywhere but the cuffs and hem) I stitched in the ditch of the collar and added two rows of topstitching. I also stitched down the left front, by the zip, through all the layers. I had to wait til morning to photograph it, but this is where I was at by bedtime; almost a whole jacket…

Now I had a little bit of working out to do. Bagging out – hems in particular – are fast becoming my nemesis. NOT… ON… TODAY..! – I was determined to get this right…

I’d drafted the linings the same length as the main jacket, and the jacket has a 3cm hem. So… if I cut 1.5cm off the lining and sew it level with the main pieces, I should end up with a 1.5cm visible ‘cuff’ on the inside… no?

Well, I tried it on the sleeves first. And, do you know what… it worked!

And the hem… well… that worked too. I couldn’t believe my luck… Thankfully I remembered (that I’d remembered) to baste a section of the lining for turning through. Then a couple of snaps on the collar and a very satisfying topstitch around the hem…

It’d be an understatement to say I’m pleased with the results! To be honest, I stumbled into this project not really thinking about it or with any anticipation of what to expect. I just thought I’d :

“… make the jacket from the magazine…”

Ha!

I wouldn’t say that this was difficult as such, but certainly tricky. The instructions were legible (some needed reading a few times first, but I always find that to be the way… don’t you?) but going off piste with the full lining really showed me some ‘areas of study’.

When all’s said and done, I’ve ended up with a jacket that I absolutely love. I am no longer envious of MrA’s Moncler… in fact, HE is envious of MY La Maison Victor! And the weather in London seems like it will get a decent bit of wear before spring truly arrives! Hmm.

Ages ago I determined to make a skiing jacket. I haven’t been skiing since and the idea has sat on the back-burner… I’m thinking I might reinstate my plans based on the Omer jacket…! We’ll see!

Happy Sewing!

Notes to self:

  • Raise the side straps to my waist, maybe turn them inwards with a double set of snaps.
  • Possibly shorten the next one by 2 or 3cm (… there will definitely be more of these!)
  • Tweed & denim would make a good autumn combination I think…?
  • A removable faux fur collar or a hood on snaps would be cool…
  • Practice linings!