By Hand London Victoria Blazer - the Control Freak Version

 I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I've just completed a version of the Victoria Blazer, designed by By Hand London. It's my first time using one of their patterns, and I can totally understand why everyone is raving about them - the packaging, the instructions, and all the little details, like the included label, just make this pattern a joy to work with!

I decided to make a punk-inspired version of the longer jacket, along the lines of something these ladies would sport:

Joan Jett, lookin' fierce. (Actually, I'm liking that pink and black combo...)

Nancy Spungen, with Sid Vicious

Early Siouxsie Sioux

And here it is:

I found some great stretch cotton drill in black at Dalston Mill for the body of the jacket, and decided to use some scraps of black satin for the lapels. And to keep it from getting too manly, for the lining I used a cute make-up print poly crepe I found in Walthamstow on a visit with SewAmySew:

 But as indicated in the title of the post, I am a complete control freak when it comes to sewing, so just following the simple instructions was not enough for me! If you follow the instructions to the letter, you would sew the lining to the jacket right sides facing, then turn them both out through an opening which you then sew up. A perfectly reasonable method, but I prefer a more traditional approach - probably why my jacket took longer than everyone else's!

The first change I made was to draft front and back facing pieces, to be cut out of the same fabric as the body of the jacket. I drafted them by basically estimating and drawing them freehand using the jacket pieces. 

Back neck facing (left) and front facing (right)

 These were then reinforced with a medium weight iron on interfacing:

Interfaced facing pieces

I re-drafted the lining, taking in to account the facing pieces. Then I attached the front and back facing pieces, which were then sewn on to the lining:

Facings attached to lining

Facing and lining laid on top of jacket, right side facing, ready to be stitched

My alterations didn't stop here! I added 2" to the length of the jacket to make a hem. I always like some weight to a hem in any garment I make, so I reinforced it with some wide bias strips which I tacked lightly to the inside of the hem. The hem was turned up and lightly slip stitched to the body of the jacket.

Once the lining and facing was attached to the jacket and turned out, I carefully slip stitched the lining to the jacket hem:

'Surely it's done now!' you say. Nope - I also decided to line the sleeves, which I stitched in by hand around the armhole, and again slip stitched at the hem of the sleeve:

Detail of lining sleeve head

And now it's done! And I have to say I'm loving wearing this jacket! It's smart, but still has some edge. I can wear it to work, but also throw it on with jeans and Converse and be totally comfortable.

And one final thing I learned when making this - baking paper makes great tracing paper, and it's really cheap! Sainsbury's has it on offer at the moment - £1.75 for 10 meters.

I'm sneaking off now to look for some fabric for that Joan Jett pink number. 

See you soon!