CJ made: cropped blazer

Thursday, 13 April 2017

By Hand London Victoria Blazer

I have had both the By Hand London Victoria Blazer pattern and this pretty cotton sateen in my stash for quite some time. The colourful print reminds me of one of my favourite artists, Sonia Delauney who uses lots of beautiful washes of colour and circular motifs in her paintings.

Sonia Delauney, 1914, Prismes Electriques. Image Source

Last Wednesday I decided that the Victoria blazer and Delauney-esque fabric would make a great pairing and set about cutting out the pattern.

I opted for variation two; the cropped blazer.

Things were going as planned and I also found enough bright blue fabric for the lining (leftover from SOI Tulip skirt) and cut the whole lot out.

The construction was great as I used the beautifully illustrated instruction booklet as well as the online sew-along on the BHL blog.

After tackling the very cool collar construction and had assembled the front and back of the blazer things went a little off-piste. It seems I had not cut the appropriate length for the cropped blazer on the front bodice pieces, leaving quite a chunk missing. Luckily, rather than sulking and throwing this in the UFO (unfinished-object) pile, inspiration struck in the form of a pocket.

After looking at Grainline's Driftless cardigan I decided to create a pocket by adding an extra layer of outer-fabric across the full width of the front of each bodice piece. I lined them with blue fabric and sewed the whole lot to the front of each bodice.

I'm really happy with this new 'design-feature' alteration. Additionally I also had to add extra sections on the lining too as I had cut all pieces out at the same time.

As for the remaining construction I did far more hand-sewing than instructed in the booklet but I really love the mindful practice of carefully finishing garments by hand. In part this hand-work is also because my 25 year old Bernina is still playing up and either needs a massive overhaul or (whispered tones) I need to buy a new machine.....

I used the same construction for the lining that I learnt on the Sew Over It Coco Jacket which is to sew the jacket lining to the seam allowance of the arm scythe then to hand-stitch the sleeve into position. It takes A LOT longer to do this than other methods but I love the final finish. I would like to make another Victoria Blazer so I will keep my eye out for a new fabric with the right weight.