Adding A Little Black to the Wardrobe - M5530-A

Purple is the new neutral, and red is the new black. In my mind, there is always a need for several black garments in a lady's wardrobe. Black comes with many attractions: it's slimming, classic, elegant, and very versatile. This fall I'm incorporating several "black" garments into the wardrobe along with a few of those noted trends. Over the Thanksgiving weekend (I hope everyone had a grand Thanksgiving holiday.), I sewed this matching jacket for my dress (M5818).

This is the second time around for M5530. I made View C about two years ago.


This view is actually my favorite of the three jackets included in the pattern. It has a vintage look about it and the unique little bow at the necklace is super cute (to me of course).

The fabric: polyester from Hancock's.

The finished jacket looked similar to the jacket worn by the model. But at first glance, the sleeves looked dolman instead of in-set. The drawing, however, clearly shows them as in-set.

Nothing difficult about the instructions. I followed most of them as they were standard instructions for putting together a lined jacket.

I used a size 14, View A, with a few modifications/changes.
- Instead of top stitching along the front opening, I under stitched.
- Under stitched along the neckline as well.
- Used a contrasting fabric for collar -- slightly lighter in weight and has glossy finish.
- Made loop 1" smaller -- it looked better and helped form a better bow.
- FBA - No Sway back adjustment needed.
- Hem and lining -- followed my own method leaving a six inch opening in one of the sleeves (lining) so I could easily turn the jacket right side out after attaching the lining almost completely by machine, expect the lower front corners. I only hemmed where the seams joined to eliminate the appearance of hemming at the base of the jacket and sleeves. I copied this method from RTW.

My Flickr photo set is here.