I’ve torn myself apart but finally finished it! Despite the few flaws in the lining, I managed to sew this jacket right :D

My sewing ego just boosted… Who’s gonna stop me now?! Would I be exaggerating a little if I aim New York Fashion Week for next year?…

I call this one a peplum jacket but the real deal is the sleeves! I actually bought this pattern from Vogue only because of the sleeves. 

I thought the original pattern has more volume in the sleeves than I would actually like; so I resized the sleeve patterns -both on the jacket and on the lining - before I started. I’m really lucky to get the look I wanted the first time ‘cause I never use muslin when I sew :) The ligthweight quality of the fabric also helped me in getting a rather sleek look on the sleeves.

                                       Pattern used: Vogue 8718

As I have mentioned in my previous post, this is another knock off pattern from Vogue. The original jacket was first designed by a high-end RTW brand Akris in 2010. For more information on the pattern and the sewing steps you can read: Akris Jacket on the way!

My second most favorite part of this pattern was the stand-up collar and the neckline. It is such a neat and elegant cut that you can easily use this jacket without wearing any top under it. The original sewing instructions tell you to make overstitching here, but I didn’t want to bring down the elegancy of the jacket by making an overstitching. Instead, I hand-stitched the lining (the “tearing myself apart” scenes I mentioned at the beginning of the post…)

The Peplums… It seems like we can’t get rid of this trend so let’s embrace it! I get a lot of blog traffic with “peplums for pear-shaped” searches. Of course it wouldn’t look flattering to wear puffy peplums as models with sizes half of my leg, but there are tricks to work around it and I believe anyone who likes this fashion can wear peplums.

While I was cutting the pattern, I first thought about making the peplums with 2 contrast colors and decided to show the lining at the front. 

(By the way, did you notice the method I found for keeping my little man busy while I’m sewing? This is a classic scene from my sewing time…)

Here’s the result: Honestly, it did not give the WOW effect I was aiming for. However, due to the busy details in other parts of the jacket, maybe having a moderate effect on the peplums is indeed a good thing. Else, the jacket may have looked quite busy and overworked… for an office wear at least.

On the other hand, maybe wearing a white skirt may also have tuned down the contrast peplum effect after all. It might be a better idea to wear navy blue skirt / pants under this jacket later on. Hmm…

But I cannot get separated from my beloved lace skirt that I sewed at the beginning of summer. Soon I will have to put it aside and wear thicker and darker clothes; so I must wear it as much as I can, shouldn’t I ? :P  

That’s all for my v8718 challenge!

By the way, if interested, go to my tutorial on how to make a Lace Skirt.

Happy sewing! 

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