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Finding the right interfacing
The fabric is heavenly soft which put me on a mission to preserve that quality at all cost. Coco Chanel would praise her jackets for being soft and comfortable as sweaters. Keeping that in mind I felt like interfacing would totally take away the pliability and softness of the fabric but I still decided to try and all of the different interfacings failed the test.Boucle is a looser type of fabric and interfacing it would absolutely make life easier as it would be more stable. But it totally changes the characteristics of the fabric making it stiffer. So I went with the higher-end couture technique and interfaced it with silk organza. Classic Chanel-inspired technique would be quilting lining and fabric together but I wanted to have a traditional lining so I opted for interfacing with organza instead. Did it take more time and effort than using fusible? Absolutely! But it was absolutely worth it. I hand-basted two layers together first, then did some running stitches in the middle of each piece with a silk thread so the organza wouldn’t sag and drag. The only pieces that were traditionally interfaced with fusible interfacing for rigid support were facings and pockets.
Thoughts on serging
I did try to serge raw edges before and after attaching pieces to organza and found noticeable distortions despite adjusting tension. So I decided to leave the edges raw. The fabric cut along the weft unravels extremely easily, so keep that in mind if you decide to leave those edges raw. For me, it was the only way to minimize distortions.
Construction Tips
The bottom pockets and top faux pocket flaps are lined. Bottom pockets are sewn in by hand to keep them puffy and not squished, so to speak. There rest of the construction was pretty straightforward. The lining was bagged through the hole in a sleeve seam of the lining.
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Sleeve head Support
One thing I was excited to experiment with was a sleeve head roll. I really love and admire the defined shoulder silhouette. Setting in the sleeves is my favorite part of jacket and coat making. I know it’s very daunting at first but the final result of creating a 3D object from a piece of flat fabric is so satisfying. A huge part of a defined shoulder is a sleeve head. I used to use a pre-constructed flat sleeve head and was never satisfied with a lack of padding in a cap. So I decided to construct a padding myself. As I was going through all of my supplies at home trying to imagine what I could possibly use for padding, I stumbled upon a cotton coil of just the right circumference to fill the sleeve cap. I constructed a casing from a piece of scrap flannel to protect it from disintegrating in the future, attached it to the sleeve cap and it made all the difference!
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Final thoughts
This project was surely a labor of love! And I think it came out fabulous. I am very satisfied with the result. The fabric was a pleasure to work with, it ironed beautifully into all the different shapes thanks to the high wool content. The jacket is warm enough to be a perfect transitional piece between the seasons. It is so chic and will get lots of wear and compliments for sure!
Thank you EBT team for always having an amazing selection of fabrics and mostly for having me among your ambassadors!
Your jacket is beautiful, thank you for sharing.
I love your idea of cotton coil wrapped sleeve head.