Louis Antoinette Teddy HB bomber jacket - Metallic French Terry
I have probably half a dozen bomber-style jacket patterns in my collection, none of which I'm crazy about. I've made the Rigel bomber, but don't like how low the neckline is. I don't know where (Instagram probably) but I saw this Teddy HB bomber by Louis Antoinette, a pattern company I was unfamiliar with. I liked the unique design lines and decided to give it a shot.
Based on the size chart I cut a size 40 and decided to dive in without a muslin. The pattern is designed for wovens, but I had wanted to make a jacket with this Metallic Silver Laminated French Terry that I had bought from Mood:
The laminated surface removes most of the stretch, so it was more like a woven or stretch woven than a knit. It's crazy looking - Tim hates it. The lining was a purple polyester I bought a while ago at Fabric Outlet SF.
The pattern instructions come in English and French. My version had Step 5 in French mixed in with the English instructions - so I flipped over the French instructions, which luckily had Step 5 in English. The instructions are pretty good. I think the best way to describe it is: I wasn't always 100% sure I was doing things correctly, but in the end I always did. Does that sound stupid? So just think it through, pin and look at it, and trust your instincts!
Some minor problems I had: It was very hard to sew the casing for the sleeve elastic. You have to stretch the elastic as you sew, and it is a narrow sleeve opening, and you are sewing at 1 3/4", and I kept getting my fabric and my fingers caught in parts of my machine. This terry is a little fragile, so it chewed up my sleeves a bit.
And, p.s., I used a teflon foot for sewing on the surface of this fabric, if you happen to have it in your stash.
The only other problem was the step of attaching the collar - that went fine, and then the instructions are to "finish the body". Up until this point they had named the pattern pieces you use - Piece 6 and 7, etc. This step they want you to sew on Piece 1, which I didn't think was obvious from the diagram. I didn't realize/had forgotten I even had Piece 1 still sitting over on the table! So after you sew on the collar, sew on Piece 1, the Front.
I don't *love* the finish for the zipper. I'm used to a cleaner method where the zipper is sandwiched, but this isn't an option here because of the way the bottom lining has to be attached. It's not bad.
Also, is this just me, but when I went to sew the sleeve lining to the body lining, my seam allowance is visible, it's not sandwiched between the lining and fabric. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out if there was a way to sew it right sides together, and was stumped. It's the sleeve, so it's not like its even visible if you unzip the jacket, I'm just used to having a clean lining.
In the end, this project was challenging, in a good way, and the end result is really fun and very shiny!
I, Queen of the Swaybacks, know there is a lot of extra fabric at the lower back.
Something I will adjust for the next one. Because I can definitely see myself making several of these in different fabrics for different seasons.
Bad photos! But I love the jacket :-)
The pattern instructions come in English and French. My version had Step 5 in French mixed in with the English instructions - so I flipped over the French instructions, which luckily had Step 5 in English. The instructions are pretty good. I think the best way to describe it is: I wasn't always 100% sure I was doing things correctly, but in the end I always did. Does that sound stupid? So just think it through, pin and look at it, and trust your instincts!
Some minor problems I had: It was very hard to sew the casing for the sleeve elastic. You have to stretch the elastic as you sew, and it is a narrow sleeve opening, and you are sewing at 1 3/4", and I kept getting my fabric and my fingers caught in parts of my machine. This terry is a little fragile, so it chewed up my sleeves a bit.
And, p.s., I used a teflon foot for sewing on the surface of this fabric, if you happen to have it in your stash.
The only other problem was the step of attaching the collar - that went fine, and then the instructions are to "finish the body". Up until this point they had named the pattern pieces you use - Piece 6 and 7, etc. This step they want you to sew on Piece 1, which I didn't think was obvious from the diagram. I didn't realize/had forgotten I even had Piece 1 still sitting over on the table! So after you sew on the collar, sew on Piece 1, the Front.
I don't *love* the finish for the zipper. I'm used to a cleaner method where the zipper is sandwiched, but this isn't an option here because of the way the bottom lining has to be attached. It's not bad.
Also, is this just me, but when I went to sew the sleeve lining to the body lining, my seam allowance is visible, it's not sandwiched between the lining and fabric. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out if there was a way to sew it right sides together, and was stumped. It's the sleeve, so it's not like its even visible if you unzip the jacket, I'm just used to having a clean lining.
In the end, this project was challenging, in a good way, and the end result is really fun and very shiny!
I, Queen of the Swaybacks, know there is a lot of extra fabric at the lower back.
 |
| unzipped |
 |
| and zipped |
Something I will adjust for the next one. Because I can definitely see myself making several of these in different fabrics for different seasons.
Bad photos! But I love the jacket :-)
