Butterick Pattern, B5053 by Connie Crawford. This jacket is my wearable muslin version of the Connie Crawford Jacket with Scarf Collar. I used a cotton quilt-type fabric for the jacket body and a polyester medium weight for the collar and cuffs. The blue color in the print is great to wear with jeans, and then I have a RTW top that matches the green in the print. The jacket is lightweight and it kind of feels like wearing a blouse--actually it is a great summer jacket. I do recommend this pattern--it is easy to make after you have conquered any fitting issues.

I made a size XL, size 16, but probably could have used the size L, size 14, because the jacket ran big.

This pattern has nice shaping on the hem with shaped up sides and

side vents, and also has a scooped front hem edge.

Next Time: Lengthen collar to fit neck edge--the neck edge is elongated from cutting 3/4 inch (on the double) off of CF. Add vertical darts in front and back to give the jacket more shape.

Changes I Made to the Pattern:

• Shortened sleeves to 3/4 length and changed cuff dimensions to fit this sleeve length. I cut the sleeves on the cross grain to get the vertical dimension with the geometric print.
• Removed about 3/4 of an inch off of the entire center front and neck seam. I had already cut out the collar when I decided to remove fabric from the CF. The collar needs to be lengthened in order to fit the "new" CF. I will lengthen the collar for the next version.
• Pinched out a 3/8 inch dart off of CB to remove excess fabric in back.
• Added a little more fullness to sleeve head; I basted the sleeves and side seams in and then tried the jacket on. The upper sleeve was somewhat tight, so I removed the sleeves and recut them to add 1 inch to the sleeve head. I was able to ease the extra inch into the sleeve without any puckers. Now the sleeve fits like it should.
• Since the fabric is so lightweight, I added a strip of soft fusible interfacing to the CF and around the back neck, 1 1/2 inches wide, and top stitched it on the outer edge. The interfacing stabilized the collar with this fabric. I also added interfacing to the inside of the hem to stabilize it as well.
• Did you happen to notice the bias binding at the bottom of the collar? This was my solution to cover a construction "mistake." My high school sewing teacher always told us, "You can find a solution for almost any mistake you might make in sewing if you don't panic about it. Stop and brainstorm about some creative options for fixing it." I accidentally scorched the end of the collar with my iron. There was a streak of brown on one end of the collar that was quite noticeable. I was able to cover up this area with the bias binding on the end of the collar. So of course I added the same design element to the other side of the collar. Voila! Fixed.
• I used a Hong Kong Finish (bias wrapped seams) to finish all the seams in the jacket. Suprisingly, the wrapped seams helped to further stablize the shape of the jacket, since the body of the jacket is made from lightweight cotton.