Sew Over It Francine jacket – part two

Sew Over It Francine jacket – part two

Also known as, the big reveal! So, here’s the jacket:

In part one of this post, I reviewed the first two weeks of the Sew Over It Francine jacket class, so this is just a wrap up post and a chance to show you the finished product!

The third and final class was focused on the insides and building up the necessary support before closing out the lining. Julie showed us how to insert a wadding sleeve head to round out the sleeves at the shoulders, and then how to position and insert the shoulder pads. 

Next up we attached the lining and did  various bits of hand stitching to stabilise the inner seam allowances and secure the lining to the jacket at key points. That’s about as much as we were able to finish in class, so Julie spent the last fifteen minutes taking us through the last bits of hand stitching that would be required to finish the jacket. We did have the printed instructions and picture booklets to refer to, but it was still nerve-wracking finishing the jacket off without Julie’s demonstrations and supervision!

As recommended, I took the jacket along to DM Buttons in Soho, where for 10 minutes of my time and a mere £6 (!), I got four covered buttons and three professional bound keyhole buttons on my jacket! 

I managed to resist trying to sew the buttons on on the commute to work, but it was a close call!
Before I knew it, she was all done and I quite happily wore her into work the next time I was due in the office.

I had been worried that she would be too warm since I had to underline the lightweight rayon I used for the lining, but I was super comfortable in my Francine all day long. Our air conditioning is always high so even on a hot summers day outside, the office is a bit chilly, so with a sleeveless cami it was perfect.

I’m already planning another Francine, with pockets and maybe a notched collar. The best thing is that I have a pattern with Julie’s expert fitting adjustments so I will probably be coming back to this pattern again and again as I build out my homemade working wardrobe.

If you’re on the fence about taking this class, buying the pattern (if it has been released!) or taking a similar tailored jacket class, I’d definitely say to go for it. I’ve bought suit jackets that cost more than the class and didn’t fit me half as well, and always ended up giving them away as I simply didn’t like them enough to wear them much. But something tells me they’ll be seeing a lot of my Francine at the office from now on 🙂

– Michelle –

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