I have wanted to have a denim jacket for quite some time and when I saw this pattern on Seamwork I decided that I had to make it. As well as having the pattern, they also have a sew-along class, which was really helpful and guided me through sewing the pattern. Here’s how it went!
1. The fabric
I had some black denim stretch fabric which I had bought to make some jeans from, but I decided that I had enough jeans and it would be much better to make a denim jacket from it. For the lining fabric I decided to use the same fabric I have used for a few linings, it is the brown cotton lawn with a paisley pattern which I bought from Croft Mill. The pattern also requires some jeans buttons for the front closure, and I decided to buy the Kylie and the Machine jean jacket buttons in pewter. For the top stitching I used some cream coloured top stitching thread.
2. The pattern
This is a classic denim jacket pattern with a collar, a button placket down the front, two side pockets (which are actually welt pockets), and then it has two false front pockets. The pattern doesn’t include a lining, but I decided to have a lining fabric just on the inside of the yoke. I had seen somebody else do this in one of the Seamwork community posts, and I thought it looked great. I didn’t make any fits adjustments to the pattern, because my body measurements matched the straight size 12.
3. The challenges
Sewing this pattern was an absolute delight. I really loved sewing welt pockets, which is the first time I have done that and having the video to guide me through was really helpful. I found the biggest challenge with attaching the jeans buttons at the end of the sewing. For some reason the buttons I had bought took a huge amount of force before they would attach to the fabric, so I ended up spending ages hammering buttons and even now I’m not sure that they are attached firmly enough. I really enjoyed doing the top stitching, but there is so much top stitching that it’s hard to get it perfectly right each time. All in all I’m quite happy, but the top stitching around the pockets is a bit uneven.
4. The final result
I’m really pleased with this jacket, it’s ever so comfortable to wear, it fits me well, I am really proud of the buttonholes, and I really like the look. Surprisingly it looks a bit more like a biker jacket I think, because of the black colour and the boxy style. The only negatives are the side pockets are just a fraction too small so it is a little bit hard to get my hand in them. It’s not impossible but it’s a tight fit. Because I also made it out of a stretch fabric rather than 100% cotton the jacket does have a bit of a stretchy feel to it, which isn’t typical for a denim jacket but I’m ok with it. I’ve already worn this one loads and I feel really great wearing it.
The sewing resolution 