Burda Style Athletic/Bomber Jacket!

Gosh, it seems like forever since I posted.  I just haven’t been well. Short hospital stay the first week of October, and it has taken a while to get back on my feet. Aargh.

When I came home, Ashley and D. ‘moved’ the loft downstairs into the dining area, and I’ve actually enjoyed a little sewing. And today Emile took on some modeling for me.

This bomber jacket is so cute – Burda Style calls it an athletic jacket, maybe because the sleeve is not set-in. I’ve been wanting to sew one for months, but just couldn’t settle on a pattern.

Burda Style 05/2014 #110

I finally chose this pattern, out of the many out there, for a couple reasons: it’s unlined, and it has a round neck with no ribbing. I think the ribbing on my neck would make me crazy 🙂

I also thought I might be able to adapt the band on this pattern for a button band, since I don’t use zippers. In the end, I just redrafted the front edge:

• I extended the front and front self-facing by 1.5″ to form the button band area. 
• And added the ‘classic’ button square at the ends of the waistband ribbing.

Another change I made…I ended up using faux welt pockets. I originally sewed in the pocket bags, but didn’t like them. So chop chop!

Inside views..

I used a corded denim, which is a little stiff at this point after only one washing. It’s a little ravelly, so all the seams are serged or bound.

Loving these button snaps…

Behind every good button snap there’s a good tool, and believe me, this one is worth every nickel it cost me. It does all the work – I’m so excited to have this hunk of metal! Many many thanks to Anne, at Clothing Engineer, who has a wonderful review and tutorial on the use of this fantastic tool.

Pres-n-Snap, from Sailrite

15mm ring snaps, Pacific Trimming

I’m going to put snap buttons on everything!!

One last sewing note. I didn’t go for ribbing – I used remnant cotton/spandex jersey knit for my cuffs and waistband – works like a charm. 

This was an interesting project, but it turns out that this grey jacket doesn’t match anything in my wardrobe! So funny…

Ciao! Coco