Saturday, January 4, 2014

McCall's 5190

The first finished project of 2014 is McCall's 5190.  Actually it was done before the new year except for the buttons, which I finished sewing on Thursday.


Please excuse the shadows in the photos.  My photographer is only 12 and it was freezing outside- much to cold to quibble about the photos and definitely too cold to re-take!

Here is the pattern picture.  I made View A, the tan jacket on the upper left:



 I should know by now to be wary of patterns that don't show real photographs.  But more on that in a moment...

I deviated a tiny bit from my standard pattern sizing for this project.   Usually I cut a 14 through the shoulders, a 16 at the bust and waist, and an 18 at the hip.  But I figured the fit on this jacket would be somewhat similar to the fit on M5859, which was very close through the body.  I wanted to be sure this jacket would fit over a blouse or thin sweater, so I cut a 16 through the shoulder and bust and eased out to an 18 at the waist for the muslin.


I made my standard pattern adjustments:

1.5" of additional length at the waist
Shortened the sleeves 1"

The muslin turned out okay.  I tried it on over a sweatshirt and decided I needed to add an additional 1/2" at the side seams.  I also decided to do a 1/2" FBA.  And I trimmed the shoulders back to a size 14.

Why on earth I didn't notice at that point that this thing is too darn short, I don't know.  The waist is in the right place and the hip shaping is, too.  I just need a couple more inches at the hem for it to really feel right.  Notice in the photo above that the hemline and the cuffs are almost the exact same length!  Compare that to the pattern illustration.  Notice how the sleeves are so much longer than the body of the jacket in the drawing.  I really can't tell for sure from the drawing if this is supposed to be extra short or not.  It would be great to have a photo of the jacket on an actual human to have a better idea.  In any case, my length adjustments didn't help the proportions.  But that's the way it is, or rather, the way I am- my torso is long and my arms and legs are short.  Really short.


The fabric is "cordless" corduroy from Hancock Fabrics.  I purchased it several years ago, I'm not sure for what, and I finally decided to just use it and get it out of my stash.  I love the color, but the napped fabric was kind of a pain to work with.  I thought it would be easy, but it wanted to shift around a lot more than I expected.  All the seams are topstitched, and it shows up nicely.  I did a test swatch to check before starting.  The buttons are silver toned plastic also from Hancock's- completely machine washable and cheap.  I think they were $1.00 for a card of two.   There are ten buttons on the jacket so they only cost me $5.

Here's a shot of the back.  I borrowed the "belt" from a different view just to give the back a bit of interest.


Seriously, if I had just added another 1.5 to 2 inches at the hem, I think the proportion would be so much better.  On the other hand, the stand up (mandarin) collar is perfect.  I was worried when I saw the pattern piece that it would be skimpy, but I think it turned out just right.


There are no pockets in this jacket.  The pocket flaps are decorative only.  I moved the bottom set up one whole inch.  When I pinned them on at the pattern markings I felt like they were way too close to the hem and they looked odd.  There may be no pocket under there, but it should at least look like there could be one, right?


I pretty much followed the pattern instructions as written.  The jacket is fully lined- I used a coordinating cotton print for the lining and the underside of the pocket flaps and belt.  Normally I wouldn't use cotton to line a jacket.  I'd want something more slippery.  But I didn't have anything just right in my stash and this cotton print went with the blue fabric so perfectly I just had to use it.


This is not a difficult pattern, but it does take time to put it together.  There are a lot of pieces to cut and sew together.  If you're looking for something quick to sew, this is not the right project.  But if you want a cute (short) jacket with a military vibe, this is it.  A beginner could make this jacket with some patience and attention to detail.

I love this jacket on the hanger.  On me... well, I wish I had added more length.  But I'm still going to wear it.  It will be perfect to stay warm in the office and it will certainly look better than wrapping myself in a blanket.  And when I start my next jacket project (yes, there will be more) I will be paying extra close attention to not only the lengthwise fit of the garment, but the finished length as well.

Will I sew this again?  Well, I've learned to never say never.  It is a cute jacket.  I love that it has a military vibe, but it's not over the top.  There are some other nice views.  But I think I've had enough of this one for a while.  I have tons of other jacket patterns to try, so I'm moving on for now.

I'm off to finish up a simple top that I started the other night.  Then I'm going to dive in and trace a new Burda project... a knit dress.  What are you up to this weekend?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This jacket is beautiful. I'm glad you're going to wear it in spite of the trials and tribulations of construction.

Dk's Wife said...

The jacket looks awesome, and doesn't look too short to me.

I am working on a knit cardi and a sleeveless top that matches. In other words, a twin set.

RhondaBuss said...

I don't think the jacket looks too short. It really is lovely and such a pretty color.

Paola said...

What a great jacket. Love the colour.
I think sewists set themselves higher standards for fit than the average person, because we know we can do better. The lengths look fine to me.

Janine said...

I think the finished jacket looks lovely on you so I hope to get to love it more despite the length .

Adrienne said...

I hope you end up loving it because it's so pretty.