by Heather Pennie Sewing a jacket from trending suiting and faux leather fabrics gave me a fantastic feeling of accomplishment. For me, autumn is about back to school and back to work. A business casual jacket that coordinates with many of the items already in my wardrobe is such a win!
I came across this Pinterest inspiration blazer in a style that I thought would look great for business casual wear (though I haven’t found the original source – please let me know if you do!) and I loved the two-toned vibe. Since leather and suiting are trending this fall, I found some amazing fabric options on the Fabricville online shop and a pattern requiring very little “hacking” to make my version.
On-trend women’s blazer jacket in faux leather and suiting from Fabricville.
Pattern: BURDA 6569 Women’s Jacket
Faux Leather Fabric (1 m): Fashion Leather Look 011
Suiting Fabric (2+ m): Stretch Suiting Antonella – Midnight Navy
Buttons (x3): Elan Shank Button 21mm
Fusible interfacing: Woven or knit interfacing. I used knit interfacing to keep the stretch in the suiting fabric.
Sewing a jacket inspired by the colour-blocking in my inspiration photo would only require a few simple changes to get the designer look I wanted.
Make the back collar by cutting the original pattern piece in half and add a seam allowance. Cut one of each of your fabrics and sew them together.
First, I needed to cut out my jacket pieces, using my colour-blocking plan. knew that I wanted to split the back collar so that each side was a different fabric. To do this, I simply traced the back collar piece, cut it in half and added a seam allowance.
Next, I cut out the remaining pattern pieces using my colour-blocking plan. I found the easiest way to do this was to sketch out my plan and label each piece as I was cutting it out. I made the left front panel and right collar from faux leather, with the remainder in the suiting fabric.
The third change I made was to create the faux half-belt. This was not included in the pattern so I made a simple rectangular pattern piece.
The finished dimensions of my belt are 11 inches long and two inches wide. When making your own pattern piece for the belt, be sure to add your seam allowance all the way around to ensure you have your desired finished size. Sew the belt pieces wrong sides together, sewing closed into a point at one end. Trim your seam allowances and turn. Press the belt and then add the button hole to the pointed end.
I originally cut my belt longer by a few inches so that I could size it to fit. To do this, I basted the left side seam allowance of the jacket with the belt and then made adjustments before stitching the jacket securely. Your belt size will vary depending on the size of the jacket you sew and your body shape and dimensions.
Baste the belt into the side seam first to ensure it is the correct length to button at the front without gaping.
*Note:
When I purchased this pattern, I didn’t realize that the pattern was for an unlined jacket. When I began the project, I decided that I would add my own lining, but changed my mind during construction. For a clean finish inside, I serged the seam allowances. For the sleeve and bottom hems, I used bias binding for bound hem edges.
I absolutely adore how this business casual jacket turned out. This pattern has three different views and I think I will definitely be using all three for variety in my wardrobe. I think that I will draft my own lining for the next version, but for fabrics with plenty of body, like this suiting and leather, it wasn’t necessary. This jacket is a great addition to my fall wardrobe, and best of all, I can pair it with both black and navy bottoms for lots of wardrobe mixing and matching.
Happy Sewing!
Heather
@manitoulinthreads
