Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: A Designer-Inspired Jacket in an Embroidered Silk Suiting

Hello my sewing friends!  

When September rolls around many of us look forward to wearing cozy sweaters while sipping pumpkin spice lattes. However, I live in a warm ­weather state – umm, scratch that – I live in a hot weather state, and I wear layering pieces rather than cozy sweaters. Like this jacket!

Vogue 1831 is a Gucci-inspired jacket pattern that was released a few months ago. The fully lined jacket looks like a basic jacket from the front, but turn around and you’ll find an inverted pleat with an adorable bow detail!

I wanted to sew this jacket to wear with jeans and when I saw this embroidered silk suiting, I knew I’d found my fabric.

There is a gold metallic swirl embroidered into the fabric that glitters slightly when the light hits those threads.  Trust me, the photos don’t capture the beauty of this fabric.

Although this fabric was listed as dry-clean, I preshrunk it in the machine using a gentle cycle with a cold wash and cold rinse.  I placed it in the dryer on low heat. Just a reminder, it’s always a good idea to test a sample of your dry-clean fabric first as not all of them will be okay after being machine washed. 

To sew the jacket, I used a size 12 universal Schmetz needle and black all-purpose thread. Inside I used Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse medium interfacing, and a surprise pop of color! The lining is a NY designer rayon lining with purple, raspberry, red, and gold stripes. I used a remnant of faux leather I had in my stash for the contrast collar.

Both the original designer jacket and the Vogue sewing pattern included patch pockets on the front of the jacket at the bust. I eliminated those as I thought they looked odd, and they certainly weren’t functional due to the location. I also did a full bust adjustment using a pivot and slide method so there would not be a dart at the side seam.

Now those metallic threads are gorgeous, but they did present a few challenges. I discovered the threads were difficult to cut so I ended up cutting all my pattern pieces single layer. The threads were a bit scratchy against my skin, but the lining took care of that.

I also found the threads made the fabric too stiff for the back bow detail, which is actually two pieces. There is a small loop sewn into at the bottom of the back yoke and the bow piece is inserted into the loop. I cut both of those pattern pieces in half and used a lightweight fabric on the inside of the loop and on the underside of the bow.

Because the jacket is fully lined, I did not finish the seams.  Due to the inverted pleat at the center back of this jacket, the lining hangs free at the hem line, so I finish the jacket hem with a Hong Kong finish using bias strips of the lining. That way if the lining flips up that hem edge looks quite nice.  

After a summer of quick sewing projects, it was nice to slow down and enjoy the process of creating this jacket.

This is a versatile layering piece! I plan to wear it most often with jeans, but it can easily be paired with trousers or even a short pencil skirt. I know I’ll be wearing this one a lot this season.

SHARON  @thesharonsews


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories SILK, SUITING, & LINING.

Comments

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this fun jacket with us. I appreciated all your details, and found your hem finish quite a nice touch!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stinking cute! May have to break my fabric fast… oh wait, already did!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha!Ha! I always have good intentions with my fabric fast ... and then FM posts something amazing that I just Have.To.Have!

      Delete
  3. I bought this pattern the moment it was released and can't wait to make it. Your version is fun and fabulous! Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bought it right away too! I hope you love yours as much as I love mine!

      Delete
  4. Love your new jacket. Thanks for showing this pattern.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista | Chasing Time: My White Rabbit-Inspired Look for Atlanta Frocktails

For this year’s Atlanta Frocktails, I found myself captivated by a character who’s been quietly tugging at my imagination for years—the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. There’s something so relatable about his frantic energy, always checking the time, always running late. While he’s worried about being on time, I’m usually calculating how late I can be and still technically arrive on time. Spoiler: I’m often wrong. It’s a cycle of procrastination and anxiety that I know all too well. So when I imagined my look for Frocktails, I thought—why not honor the White Rabbit? After all, time has been chasing me too. But this look isn’t just about Wonderland whimsy. It’s also deeply inspired by this year’s Met Gala theme, Tailored for You, which includes a focus on Black Dandyism—a celebration of Black elegance, intellect, and expressive style. I’ve been obsessed with this theme since it was announced. As a Black creative, I find it powerful and moving to see style used as a way to reclaim...

Made By A Fabricista: Getting into the Spirit of Summer

I'm not gonna lie y'all, I had a completely different project I wanted to do, but that's gonna take more time, and I wanted something cute, comfy and fun to wear for my birthday on the 19th. When I saw this goldenrod & off white linen jacquard , I thought it looked a bit like the design on a Koroks body, especially Makar from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker! I started with the bodice from the free Elderberry dress pattern from Mood, but deviated for the skirt, it felt a little plain of a design, and I had scraps of a Korok fabric that I knew would be a nice accent with some cut out pockets. I've made these pockets once before, deciding the cut out was based on aligning with the seam on the bodice for how far in, and as for how low depended on where I wanted the pouch of the pocket to start. From there I cut the visible part of the pocket, making sure to match the curve of the waist and following the line of the side seams of the skirt, as well as cutting a facing to...

Made By A Fabricista: A Pink Suiting Set for Spring

Spring is here! So is my first blog of the year. I had some inspiration with this one. I saw a picture on an Instagram profile and wanted to make my own. Now, my version ended up a little different, but overall, I really love it. However, I still want to recreate the inspiration pic at some point. For this look, I chose a cotton candy pink double weave suiting . It is soft, has a semi-textured hand, and has a crepe weave on the wrong side. The fabric does have some stretch to it. I absolutely love the color and feel of this fabric. This is a suiting fabric with the softness of a knit. The thing I do not like about it though is it snags. So, I had to be careful using pins and seam ripping to prevent snags. I had the Fernanda Vicki Sews pattern in mind but once I downloaded the instructions and saw how many pieces were involved, I switched to a different pattern, lol. I ended up making the Riana Blazer. It has a semi-fitted blazer with a straight silhouette. A belt and belt loops that yo...