Paco for the Weekend

Unique Jacket - Paco Peralta

Having completed two dressy suits in the recent past I thought it was time to turn my efforts to something a little more casual. As I now have this stash of fabrics (I blame the Americans!) I selected the second Shetland wool - a blue/pale grey twill weave and set my sights on a weekend jacket. Something cosy, blanket-like, loose (I get tired holding my stomach in wearing those suits), relaxing and mega comfortable. The sort of thing you just reach for without thinking and know it'll feel good.

The designer and the sewer

So I delved into the pattern stash looking for something not too complicated - I've had enough of that recently too. And pulled out Paco Peralta's Unique Jacket pattern. A little gem!


I made this before in faux fur and had an adventure in nap, but always undaunted by past failings I forged ahead. Made in a T shape, there are no sleeves to insert, no pad stitching required on the lapels, self facings, not even a button hole to make as the front closure is built in to the front horizontal seam.

So between a perfect pattern and a fabric just meant to worn with jeans I created my weekend jacket this week just in time for the weekend.






The jeans are Armani, the scarf is Hermes, but wait - the shirt is an old school one of teenage son's that is too small for him now. They all wear school uniform here.

OK, now for the nitty-gritty details and the mucking about with the pattern that went on.

I wanted a jacket big enough to wear over sweaters if it gets cold and the original pattern, while not fitted, is neat. So I cut an extra 1cm (1/2") all round. The back is cut on the fold. When I tried it on it was too big at the neck and did not sit right across my shoulders, so I put a dart from neck to mid-back for a much better fit there. It looks just like a back seam.

In keeping with the roominess of this version, I lengthened the body by 15cm (7") and the bracelet length sleeves by 6cm (3") so that they hit the wrist.

The original pattern has one statement button at chest level on the front - this I kept but added two more below it so that I had the option of closing the jacket fully in bitter cold and windy days. These two extra buttons are invisible from the outside. I made two button holes in the front facing only, covered two buttons with shell fabric and sewed these on the opposite side.

Did not include the pockets that are sewn into the side seams - instead I made patch pockets and sewed these to the fronts. The patch pockets are lined and although I tried my very best to get two the same - I failed miserably. Symmetry is not something inherent in my sewing.

First time I bagged a lining is here. I will not go into details about this nor am I publishing a tutorial, suffice to say this 100% machine sewing method of attaching a lining to a garment requires genius level mental rotation skills, a lot of flipping inside out and back again, and the most bewildering instructions for sewing together of sleeves and lining.

I'm really not too sure how it works. I think this method of lining may even go against the natural balance and order of the universe; it makes hems defy gravity and once the garment is flipped the right way out - conformity and  neatness appear out of sheer chaos. Just weird! 

Bagged lining

Open back seam

Closed back seam

 I selected a red Chinese satin embroidery with dragons for the statement lining: maybe subconsciously influenced by the recent Chinese New Year celebrations. It's striking against the muted blue/grey of the shell fabric - but kind of a nice surprise when I open the jacket - unexpected I guess.

The lining fabric was only 45" wide and those dragons behaved just like a nap: I couldn't have angry upside down dragons close to my heart, so there was considerable pattern positioning and added seams to make it work.

When bagging a lining you sew right side together all the way round including sleeve hems so you have to leave a seam open to turn the jacket and lining right way out at the end. Most advice says to do this in a sleeve seam so that it is not too noticeable in the finished garment. This pattern has a horizontal back seam so I used that as my turning point instead. Later I hand stitched this closed with little stitches.

Thanks for reading and have a good weekend. Ruth