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Last week I ventured over to
Grey's Fabric for the first time, and met the lovely Sarah who showed me where she was on her Victoria Blazer from By Hand London. And after I saw it, I had to take the pattern home and give it a go myself.
I had already made a skirt and a pair of pants with this silk twill fabric, and I still had a little bit left - just enough for the cropped version.
I've been wanting a cropped jacket for a while, and this one went together quite quickly - in 3 hours in fact (well, 3:15 if you include the time needed to handsew the lining closed)!
I lined it in a teal quilting cotton with sewing scissors decorating it.
The skirt is self-drafted, based on the No. 2 pencil skirt from J Crew. I love it so much, I have already made four of them. I make another one whenever I have some nice fabric leftover.
![work103](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3683/9353839247_87e0bc10bd_z.jpg)
The blouse is also self-drafted, based on my raglan sleeve blouse pattern that I have shown here before. This version is made from a silk batiste.
![work97](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/9356616372_37cf0c8a45_z.jpg)
The jacket calls for the sleeves to be left unlined, which I did. But instead of finishing the armhole and lining separately as suggested in the pattern, I basted the armhole and lining together and finished them as one with bias tape. I think it looks much nicer this way.
While we are discussing the armhole, I loved that there were lots of notches on the pattern to make sure the armhole was lined up properly! I think everyone should include more notches on their patterns!
![work95](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7430/9353839297_c48c69d1e9_z.jpg)
Here is a closeup of the lining print and the armhole.
![work93](http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5523/9353839319_1dc27fe166_z.jpg)
And here is the collar and lapel. It is super easy to get nice sharp corners on these pieces since they were drafted along the fold.
![work92](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2880/9356616526_db8738638b_z.jpg)
The sleeve cuff is finished with a french seam, the first I have seen quite like this. It was easy and effective. Bravo By Hand!
![work109](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3791/9356616434_0258824150_z.jpg)
Here is the blazer with a pair of matching pants - I made these as a wearable muslin of
Vogue 7881 - a Claire Shaeffer pattern.
![work110](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/9353839121_a5b5f0521c_z.jpg)
The fit is pretty good, and the instructions are impeccable. This was my first time easing in the front and back pieces into the waistband instead of putting in darts. I have already adjusted the pattern for next time, to remove a bit of ease in the front crotch area and to lower the waistline an inch. But I have a feeling that these pants will get quite a bit of wear in the meantime (though maybe not with the blazer).
All in all, I ended up non-intentionally creating an entire suit in this fabric - and I really love all the pieces! I might try to make a few adjustments to the Victoria blazer pattern for the future - mostly to try and get the collar to lay flat. But I do recommend it to anyone who is intimidated to try making jackets or blazers - this one is a breeze!
Anyone else making suits, or intentionally or otherwise? I have been making a lot of work clothes lately - "cake" I believe is the proper term...