Jackets I've Made

I am on a quest for the perfect jacket pattern to fit my body. I own seventeen patterns, only 3 of which I've actually made.

This was my first attempt at a sweatshirt jacket, from this book. These jackets, made by disassembling a store-bought sweatshirt, quilting the pieces and reassembling it, are everywhere in the quilting world. Most of them are pretty frumpy, but I thought the patterns in this book were cuter and more modern.  Overall the process was pretty simple and straightforward. Unfortunately, I didn't do a muslin run through, and I didn't know enough to alter the pattern to fit my body so I ended up with a jacket that was really cute, but way too narrow to fit my linebacker shoulders. I lengthened the sleeves, but did it at the end of the sleeve instead of higher up the sleeve, so they were also too snug in the forearms. Fortunately it fits my sister, who is its proud owner. I think if I do this again, it will be a very different process.

This is an unlined jacket I made from this pattern. The fabrics are from the floragraphix collections, leftover from a quilt I made for my sister and brother-in-law.  I wear this occasionally. It's really big on me.  I definitely need to do some refining to the fit. It's made to be oversized but it's really huge. Maybe I just need to make a size down (could it be that easy?).

This is a jacket I made. I used this basic kimono vest pattern but I added sleeves. I used an organdy that was already embellished with ribbon for the body (no I did not sew all that down myself, lol).  I really like the pleated styles that I'm seeing everywhere right now, so I tried my hand at making pleats along the facing.  I used all kinds of scraps in black and white and I love the way it turned out.  I am going to add a binding along the sleeve and hem edges to finish it up, in time to be in the quilt show in March.

My latest endeavor is making this pattern.  A member of my guild made this and I fell in love with it. It is about half way complete, and has been for months, patiently waiting in a plastic bag for me to get my act together. Can I finish it in time to wear it in the spring?