Speeding Motorcycle Jacket

the road is ours

At long last, here’s my waxed canvas moto jacket, and I’m dang proud of it. I’ve been wearing it as much as possible over the past week, and even in the rain yesterday, which beaded right up! This, folks, this is one garment that just feels like me. For all the pretty little dresses I sew, I’m definitely a casual person. Very at home in jeans… obviously. I refuse to give up this pair, which only come out on special occasions these days. As in, the unveiling of a me-made jacket :) (This is one of two pairs I’ll be copying in the Jean-ius class, btw.)

Yeah, this is just me, inside and out. I am a little worried about using such a light-colored lining, but it can always be spot cleaned. As I type this, I remember now that I’d pondered treating the sheet with ScotchGuard. Whoopsy. I don’t want that junk against my skin, anyway.

I made a few changes to the muslin, which had already been altered from the tissue. Sandra Betzina gives lots of great tips in the instructions for this, so I slashed/spread a little for round shoulders on the muslin. With all the upper back ease, I don’t know how necessary that was. But it works. From there, I pinched out horizontally to bring up the armscye, adjusted the sleeve shoulder accordingly, lengthened the arm 1 1/8″, and took in quite a bit at the side seams & back band. That last bit was done after the fact, and next time I could grade all the back pieces a smidge. That said, there’s plenty of room above the waist for moving my arms about, which is key. The major change I made was to move the sleeve zips from the seam (near the back of the arm, in an awkward spot) to inside, by the thumb. This allowed me to install them exposed, and is so much better, in a utilitarian sense. I can now simply reach over and zip/unzip to my heart’s content. I stitched the lining with 1/2″ SA, versus 5/8″, to allow for movement.

Changes I should have made include adding a touch more room for the girls and shaving off the ease in the sleeve cap. Both issues weren’t very evident in the muslin, which had a little more give than the canvas. The sleeves aren’t set in perfectly, but after several rounds of unpicking/restitching, I didn’t want to keep piercing holes in the canvas. I also forgot my tag, and wish I had thought of adding a hanging loop to the inside neck. I could go back and add that in by hand. Again, the instructions are pretty fantastic, and this was a breeze overall to sew. Save for the sleeve lining, where I veered from the path and stitched by hand to the shell, tearing up my finger. Really need to find a thimble in the correct size!

Once I embraced the changes that were going to take place to the canvas during construction, this really came together easily. I love that it’s looking more broken in with every wear. And thanks to Amy, I’ve bookmarked a few businesses that provide re-waxing services, which I’ll need in the future.

I’d intended on finishing this for the Sew Weekly’s spring palette challenge. Then the VIP fabric challenge. Well, it’s done now. But in keeping with the Sew Weekly spirit, here are the facts. I often forget to post this info, and don’t really know if it’s interesting for readers. However, as a personal document, maybe I should be more consistent with it.

that collar isn't made for popping!

Fabric: waxed canvas, $45; thrifted bed sheet (lining), $1.25; black cotton (under collar, pocket, sleeve zip), stash

Pattern: Vogue 1198, Today’s Fit/Sandra Betzina, $27.50 retail, but I know I didn’t pay that. Maybe $7 after shipping.

Year: classic

Notions: non-roll elastic, 5 YKK Excella zips, cut to size, $44.90

Total price: ˜ $98.15 Which I suppose should make me cringe, but a) Crafty Foxes get a discount at Grey’s, where I bought the canvas :) and b) retail for waxed canvas moto jackets starts at five times that price tag.

hangin' tough? more like silly duckface goofball.

“let’s go! let’s go! let’s go! let’s go! let’s go! let’s go! let’s go!”