Me-Made-May Day 3 - A Very Belated Review

Watch out evil doers, this sewcialist is augmenting the fabric budget by bringing in a few bounties. Don't make me spray you down!

It's "water" theme Friday and I'm wearing my Salme Cropped Jacket and one of the dozens renfrews in my dresser drawer. They spawn like rabbits, you know.

So I when was perusing the closet for an outfit to go with my water gun, it occurred to me that this jacket never got it's proper blog reveal. Poor baby, it was forgotten in my 2 month Christmas sewing extravaganza.

Let's say we give this jacket it's proper review

Pattern
Salme Cropped Jacket 
Note, this is a pattern that comes without seam allowances so don't forget to add your own. (Guess who didn't on her muslin, this girl.)  This is the size 16 for big girls with boobs. ;)

Fabrics used
Black distressed leather from Marcy Titlon and some el-cheapo polyster brocade from etsy.  At the time it seemed like a good idea to use the brocade as lining, but I wouldn't do it again.  The brocade floats get pulled and it's not as slippery as lining should be.  I knew better, but got distracted by dragons.

Pattern changes/alterations 
First up the changes made because I was using leather
1. Converted the back dart into a princess line seam.  (3 pieces instead of one big one!)
2. The pattern has a large fold up hem.  I converted this into a sewn on facing.
3. Did not use the one piece sleeve provided.  Instead I swapped in the two piece sleeve from my Burda motorcycle jacket.  I feel a two piece sleeve hangs better in a jacket and it has the added plus of being able to put a seam in the middle of the under sleeve.

Style changes
1. Instead of keeping 3/4 length sleeves I added a 6" cuff to make them full length.  Also think it's a nice "design feature"

2. Leather lays a lot better with top-stitching so I added 1/4" stitch line on most of the edges. The back neckline is the one exception.
3. I drafted my own lining for the jacket using Jen's often used tutorial.

Fitting changes.
1. Dropped the bust dart a few inches to my normal location.
2. Standard 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.
3. Extra width added to the princess line seam for the upper back area.

Confessions/Advice
Here are my self discovered leather tips.
1. Add additional seam lines to the pattern so that there are more pieces.  This gives you more leeway to work around holes and use the uneven edges to your advantage.
2. Leather has more stretch in one direction than the other. Check your skin before cutting and use the less stretchy direction as the grainline.  However, if you run short on area to cut pieces it's not the worse thing ever to cut cross grain.  On this jacket I had to cut one upper sleeve cross-grain since I couldn't get any more skins.
3. Layout all your skins and do a little pattern tetris before cutting ANYTHING.  Since every skin is a different shape this could mean the difference between having to buy more or getting the whole garment cut out with what you have.
4. A self healing mat, cans of soup (or another heavy weight) and a rotatory cutter work the best when cutting.
5. ALWAYS double check before cutting a piece. Do you already have a left side? Good thing you checked, now flip that pattern piece over.
6. Binder clips work great as a pin replacement for seams.
7. Always use a teflon foot or a foot covered with scotch tape on the right side of the leather.  It helps to keep the skins from sticking to the foot. 

Husband Comment
"It has no buttons, it has no collar to turn up against the cold, it has no pockets. It's Useless!!!"

My Final Thoughts
I LOVE the lapel treatment on this jacket, its so cute and fashion forward.  The boxy shape works on me because of the cropped length and lack of closure.  These features also made the pattern easy to fit, always a plus with me. While I love mine in leather, the jacket would look equally cute in a cotton or wool as a office layering option.

This was my first pattern purchase from Salme and I was pleased with the overall experience.  I felt the instructions were good and that the pattern was well drafted.  I would purchase from her again...maybe a pretty summer dress?