Stylearc Cindy Jean Jacket

 

A few years ago I made Stylearc Stacie Jean Jacket in blue denim.  Although it still gets worn, it is one of those items that I don't reach for often and I wasn't sure why that was because a New Zealand spring and summer often required an extra layer to be carried at the very least.  I decided it was because of my love of blue denim it was working against my wardrobe and not with it.  I wear jeans a lot!  They are probably my most hard working item in my wardrobe.  I would wear them to work if I could, and I often do when I can get away with it.

Last summer I saw a denim jacket with a ruffled neckline and mentally stowed it away as a possible make.  The seasons got away on me as they often do and the jacket in my head never got made.  This spring however, the denim in my stash that had been sitting there and earmarked for wide leg jeans was calling me from deep stash.  I had nagging doubts about white jeans for a whole host of reasons but really wanted to use up my white denim.  Enter Stylearc's Cindy Jean Jacket.  This was exactly what I wanted to make from my white denim.  Once again though I put the project off.  Until I was forced home in surgery recovery mode.

I cut the jacket out in short bursts while my body healed, on the dining table.  It took a bit of pattern Tetris to get the jacket out. I cut the jacket to a size 10 but added 5mm to each side seam to increase the size there to a 12.   I had to piece the front facing and was left with only tiny scraps but I did manage to cut it out of my 1.2m of denim.  The ruffle I cut from the selvedge and not just let it fray like the pattern instructs.  This was because of fabric constraints but also because bits of white thread trailing from the jacket would probably become a huge source of annoyance.

Because the denim is slightly sheer, I wasn't sure what to make my pocket bags from.  In the end, I found a business shirt of my husbands that had a stripe but was in a neutral colour.  This became my pocket bags and was also used to bind any raw edges on the pocket bag, purely for aesthetic reasons because these pockets are on show.

To speed the sewing process up and because I was unable to lift my heavy 1950's Bernina machine, I chose to topstitch in regular thread and in a colour that matched my white denim.

To finish my jacket I added jean buttons that were in my stash from previous jean making.

 I needn't have bothered grading out to a size 12 at the hips because it would have fit fine as a straight size 10 but I am not complaining about the extra width, it just means I could theoretically wear more layers if required, although given this is a summer jacket I don't know why I would ever need to.  It was a breezy day on this launch and it proved to be the perfect extra layer to keep the wind out.  My only regret with this jacket is, why did I wait so long?