With the chill of Fall settling on the Bay Area, a new
jacket was definitely in order. With the
classic double-breasted Anise pattern by Colette in mind, I selected this
incredible Rose Madder and Plum Tweed Wool fabric from Britex Fabrics. I loved the striking color and texture of the
fabric and it seemed both modern and classic at the same time.
When I received the fabric I was a little intimidated! It’s absolutely gorgeous and unlike anything I’ve worked with before. My first concern was treating fabric that will eventually be dry-cleaned. After some research, I opted to put the fabric in the dryer with a straight-from-the-washing-machine damp towel to steam-treat it before sewing. After drying, the fabric seemed slightly loftier, but otherwise appeared unaffected by the treatment—perfect!
With the thick wool fibers woven into this herringbone
tweed, unraveling was a very serious concern.
For each piece of the pattern, I underlined with muslin (as per the
instructions) and then serged around the edges.
Not only did this keep the edges from unraveling, but gave the fabric
more structure. Even though none of the edges need to be finished (since the jacket is fully lined), it makes me happy to know that even the unseen bits are done right!
Initially when started the task of sewing a double row of bound buttonholes for
the front panel, I was stumped; the texture of the textile is such that it’s
nearly impossible to mark the fabric for the button placement. But when I flipped it over, I realized that
the underlining of muslin could be marked to my heart’s content. Then, instead of marking each buttonhole
according to the placement on the tissue pattern, I drew a grid on the muslin
with the widths and depths exactly as needed for the buttonholes. Running lines of basting stitches ensured
that I could see the buttonhole markings on both sides of the fabric and they
would be spaced just right.
For the pattern, I made a muslin in a straight size 2 and
didn’t have to make any changes.
Normally, I would do a petite adjustment in the torso, but since the
jacket is quite cropped, I opted not to shorten it further and I’m glad I
didn’t. The jacket is just the right
length.
For the lining, I used a wine-colored rayon/acetateblend. This lining fabric is a bit
heavier than regular Bemberg lining, and had a twill-ish sort of texture to it,
which made it much easier to handle and sew.
I pinked the edges to avoid major unraveling and it sewed up quite
easily.
Since I didn’t want to do as much hand-sewing as the Anise
instructions suggested, I chose to do a sort of “half-bag” method of lining
installation. To start with, I sewed the
entire lining together (arms included) and sewed the lining to the jacket
facing. Then, using fellow blogger Jen’s
ingenious bag lining method, I sewed the arm lining to the jacket fabric at the cuffs. The jacket hem was hand stitched, and then
the lining fabric was folded and hand stitched to the hem.
Aren’t those gorgeous buttons? As luck would have it, I was able to run up
to Britex this past weekend to see their incredible button selection in
person. These beauties are deep-red colored patent leather—a
bit of a splurge, but so worth it! One
of the super friendly staff members (sorry, I didn’t catch her name!) helped me
with the selection and I think they are just perfect.
By the way, if you are seriously considering making the
Anise Jacket, I would highly recommend buying the “Anise Companion”. Even as a fairly experienced seamstress, I
found many of the tips and tricks really helpful.
This jacket was definitely one of the most challenging
sewing projects I’ve ever tackled, but I don’t think I could be more pleased
with the result. The wool is lovely and pattern
is timeless. Thank you to Britex for
another opportunity to work with their fabulous fabrics!
