Winter Swing Jacket

Pattern: BurdaStyle's Retro Short Coat 10/2012 #134
Fabric: Italian wool
Price: $25


You'd think after two green jackets I'd be sick of them, right? But what I really needed was a quick, warm project that was all for me, and this seemed to fit the bill. I thought I could bang this one out in a night or two but, unfortunately, tragedy struck and my bike was stolen while I was in the fabric store, and then I got a cold the next week. Luckily, my new bike has arrived and I'm feeling better, and I finished this up today and love it! 


Pattern Details: This jacket is made using BurdaStyle's Retro Short Coat 10/2012, one of those ones where they take an old BurdaStyle pattern and republish an updated one. In this case, it is based on a 1952 jacket


So far, members haven't been too jazzed about this pattern, but in my case it was just what I had been looking for. Back in August, I had begun brainstorming uses for this wool - a gorgeous Italian fare I got on sale for $10/yd (and also used to make this dress) - but I was having trouble conceptualizing exactly what I had in mind. I have a favorite light-weight green jacket that I wear all the time in the summer, and I wanted to make some sort of warm, easy-to-wear winter counterpart. After a lot of research, I had a pretty good inspiration board going. When I found the BurdaStyle pattern, I knew I could pull it off with just a few modifications.

1. Buckles at Britex, via Sewaholic
2. McCall's Fifties Swing Jacket, via eCrater
3. Buckled Coat, via Mango
4. ASOS Cape, via Chictopia
5. La Garconne Hooded Swing Trench, via Polyvore


Modifications: For me, the trick to pulling off a jacket with this much fullness was all in the proportions. I shortened the length by about six inches, tapering to slightly longer in the back. I then shortened and angled the sleeves to reveal a bit more of my arms, which kept it from looking like the jacket was overpowering me. I also moved the welt pockets more towards the center front of the jacket to give some visual interest just above my hips. I originally sewed a real pocket behind the welts, but because it weighed down the draping so much I decided to just sew them up and leave them as fake welts for now. If I were to do this again, I would make them vertical. Special thanks to Lladybird for the welt pocket tutorial!


Collar Modifications: You'll also notice that I redrafted the collar of the jacket from the tuxedo/shawl collar to more of a coat/mandarin collar. This involved re-drawing the coat opening lines so that they were straight instead of  sloped away from the center, and adding the collar from my coat pattern.


The whole thing is closed with two handmade leather straps and some slightly modified buckles (from the fabric store trip where my bike was stolen. sad!). After seeing the buckles from Tasia's trip to Britex, however, I might consider just buying some next time, as the whole thing started to look a little home ec. Surprisingly, however, the end result worked out just fine!


Overall, this is one of BurdaStyle's finer patterns instruction-wise, and while it doesn't come with a whole lot of illustrations, it does have clear, readable instructions. What a welcome surprise!


You can read my review of this pattern at PatternReview.com.

9 comments:

  1. thanks, I haven't taken it off since I finished it!

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  2. Great jacket. I like this shape and it looks so comfortable. I was loving those buckles Tasia featured, too!

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  3. This is lovely Meg. I like the pattern, I think it´s very interesting. I can understand why some people is not too excited about it though, Might be the pleats just on the bust, it makes it look more erm... ample? Not something you´d want if you are big in that area already.
    But you look amazing in it and I love how you styled it with your striped -shirt. Oh, and great details too.
    So sorry about the stolen bike AND your cold!

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  4. Oh this is so cute. The style looks great on you. Great choice for the wool too. Sorry about your bike, just awful!

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  5. I love the buckles you made! I was inspired by Tasia's buckle picture too and have been working on some pants for a school project with a similar buckle closure :)
    I hope you're enjoying your new bike!

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  6. I love this jacket! So cute and stylish. I love the buckles at the collar.

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  7. I love this jacket! So cute and stylish. I love the buckles at the collar.

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