I've been really into making coats and jackets this winter - well, whatever the substitute for winter that we've been having, anyway. I also did a little bit of un-selfish sewing, and I made DH a jacket with McCalls M7637.
Billed as "unisex lined jackets have separating zippers and rib knit trim strips and pocket variations," this seemed like a good choice for a light jacket for now into spring. I made View B, which has a self collar, ribbed trim at the hem and sleeve hems, and a sleeve pocket.
I used Woolrich Buffalo Plaid Wool Flannel - Bright Green/Black for the outer shell and collar, Pongee Stretch Lining - Black for the lining, and Ribbed Trim from Botani for the hems. I also used a custom sized Lampo Zipper from Botani.
Construction Notes
This was pretty straightforward to sew and went together readily. I used my Brother sewing machine for all seams, and pinked the seam allowances to mitigate any impression on the outside. I steam-shrank the sleeve caps to ease them into the armhole:
There are a couple of things to note about this pattern. First, and you can see it in the pattern photograph: the ribbed cuffs as designed are REALLY big. The finished measurement of the cuff is 9 inches for a size medium. Unless you have REALLY thick wrists, the cuffs will hang loosely. You can see that on the female model, and the stylist pushed the cuff up almost to the male's elbow to disguise it. I took two inches off so it wouldn't flop.
Also, because the cuffs are so big, I didn't have enough rib trim to use for the collar, which I had wanted. If the pattern had been better drafted there, I would have had enough. As it is, it wasn't tragic, but it was highly annoying and wasteful on McCalls' part.
Another thing to be aware of: the pattern calls for a 24 inch zipper. So I spent $18 at Botani to have one cut to that length. Then I got home and discovered that the zipper actually needs to be 23 inches. Come ON, McCalls! The instructions half way in tell you that you need to cut the zipper down and add a very home-made looking zipper stop. That pisses me off. It doesn't take anything to put the actual zipper lengths for each size on the website. I ended up spending ANOTHER $18, plus $9 shipping, to get the correct size to complete the jacket.
I can't tell you how much that angers me. That's laziness on McCalls' part. Grrrr...
Okay, deep calming breath.
I added a center back pleat to the lining for wearing ease.
When I was at Botani, I looked for plain black foldover ribbing, but they only had ribbing with white stripes, so I placed the stripes on the inside of the garment.
One other fun fact about this jacket: the sleeve pocket is just the right size to hold an iPhone.
While there are some very frustrating things about this pattern, it's a good basic design and my husband loves it. Here are shots on Shelley, and one on him!
Hope you're having a great weekend. Happy sewing!
Ann
