Sewing a summer jacket: part one Zero waste pattern

 A while ago I bought a sewing book with patterns designed to leave no fabric scraps. Considering the amount of scarps I have leftover from other projects this seemed like a good solution.  

So I'm going to try it and since I was planning to make a summer jacket anyway this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I will say I think this is an excellent book for beginners or people making things out of thrifted fabrics like tablecloths where you have to conserve fabric. My struggles with it mostly stem from me using a dress-pattern to make a jacket.

In general most of the patterns are of a loose fit made for people with different proportions than me. The way the pattern is made with all the pieces fitting neatly into a square means that the length of the sleeves determine the width of the body. Hence the loose fit and three quarter sleeves where I wanted a tight fit and long sleeves. But I found the pattern closest to what I wanted and set to alter it to my measurements and needs. 

Considering all the uncertainties I managed to talk myself into actually making a mock up, a test out of cheep fabric. This is good practice and something I should be doing more. However it also adds to the fabric waste, although this fabric was an old bed sheet that my cats had ripped up and I'd already assigned it to my rag rug project.

Since there isn't a paper pattern to copy I needed to measure it out using a ruler. But since it's all straight lines its not that hard.  And, no I did not iron it before but it doesn't matter if it's not perfect. 

I put it together with clips rather than sewing it because there is a limit to how much time I wan't to spend on this. Putting it on I learned a few things. First it gave my wizard robe wibes which I don't hate. Second the sleeves could be a bit longer, they are just barely long enough but I want to have a margin for seam-allowance and stuff. Third the pattern does not give the shape I want. But this can be solved by pleats. 

I decided to do some adjustments with slightly thinner sleeves and slightly shorten hem. Once I'd learned what I could it was time to try it on the proper fabric. This is a stiff black cotton that I bought at a thrift-store a while ago. Almost immediately I realized that since the end fabric was thicker and stiffer than the test it did not behave like the test. 

It stretching uncomfortable in the back of the neck where the fabric is just straight. I solved this by cutting out a bit turning it into an arch. For this I used parts from a coat pattern that I have.

There is also some weird folds around the arms which needed some strategic pleats to fix. In general this has become a lesson in how far you can stretch a pattern before it would have been easier to just use a different one. 

Still it looked decent enough so I sewed it together and then got started on the pleats which is what will give it a shape. I'm thinking boxpleats and making a thing of it. 

After far to long adjusting them I sewed the pleats together and ironed them open. I'll sew them down later when I'm sure I won't have to unpick them. Instead I turned my attention to the front and the collar. Mostly how I didn't like it since the collar was just straight. So I'm taking the collar from the pattern from before mostly since it matches the part I cut from the back. In order for this to fit though I needed to cut a bit of the front.  I then stitched the collar and lapels together pressing the seams. These pieces and the front lining I cut out from the same fabric though these were not part of the neat square pattern and there was some scraps left over from this. But in even with this there were still far less scraps than normally so while it wasn't zero waste it was low waste. Also these will all be used for my rug so that's fine. I then stitched everything on unfortunately breaking a needle in the process.

At this point the jacket is about half way done it still needs a lining and I'm debating if I want to buy new fabric or use what I have. It's also going to have embroidery so that's up next once I have decided how they should look.