SIENNA Maker Jacket View C

Well, Hello there. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends and are working on having a memorable holiday season this month. Can you believe it is already December? Where did all the time go. I need more time to make stuff. Well, I have been working on some crochet projects. But most importantly, I was busy making my life beautiful, one project at a time, and I hope you found time to do a little bit of that yourself.

So, I started working on this Sienna Maker Jacket a couple of weeks ago. It is Pattern No. 21 and the pattern is an indie pattern from Closet Core Patterns. I like the indie patterns, but I have to admit, I don’t always like the price which is why I tend to stick with the major 3. I rarely pay regular price for a pattern, for a couple of reasons. One, I have tons and tons of patterns, and two, because I don’t have to. Most of the major pattern companies put their patterns on sale several times a year and sometimes the indie companies do too, even though the discount may not be as substantial as the major brands. So, I guess you are wondering why I paid full price for this pattern, Well, let me tell you.

THE PATTERN

I was looking on Pinterest one day, adding stuff to my “Inspired to Create” folder when I saw a bunch of different makes of the Sienna Maker Jacket. They even had some really cute quilted jackets, which I intend to try. I was hooked, so I ordered the pattern straight away, and a few weeks later, here I am posting about my latest make. I plan to make all three versions of this jacket. Here is the pattern from their website. Sienna Maker Jacket Pattern. You can buy the printed pattern, which I did; or you can buy a pdf version. I don’t particularly like pdf patterns. Too much work.

The pattern has 3 jacket options. Short, Mid and Long. I made View C, which is a short version that stops right at the high hip. I cut a size 20, my normal size in printed patterns. The pattern has 21 pieces and I had to cut 12 pieces for my jacket.

THE FABRIC

This is a woven fabric I bought from Nick of Time Textiles. I discovered Nick of Time Textiles about 2 1/2 years ago. They have excellent sales, especially around the holidays, and when I purchased this fabric, they were having a sitewide sale on denim and woven fabrics. All of their denim fabric was $6.95 a yard. I ended up buying 6 different colors, four yards of each. I also bought about six yards of a very dark wash denim. Not sure what I will do with any of it, but it is enough to be able to make almost anything. Here is a link to their website. Nick of Time Textiles It is worth joining their mailing list to get notifications of their sales. I normally buy all of my fabric online except for an occasional impromptu Joann’s purchase.

Sienna Jacket. Closet Core, Sienna Maker Jacket, Utility Jacket, Jacket, Closet Core Pattern, www.sewzaizay.com

THE PROCESS

I really wanted to take my time with this jacket because I wanted a jacket that I would enjoy wearing and would want to wear, often. I think I got what I wanted. Plus, I consider this a big project and it just wasn’t necessary for me to finish it in a hurry. There was no deadline on this so I was able to truly take my time. The written instructions are pretty good. However, I did have problems trying to figure out the back vent. I was very confused and even the online instructions from Closet Core was not very helpful. I did not see a video from Closet Core. I did find a video on Youtube where the person was making this jacket. However, she was not making the same View as I was making so the part I needed to see a visual demonstration of was not there. Having said that, I think the video tutorial was really good, and I recommend it. Here is the Youtube tutorial if you need a visual tutorial to go along with the written. Minerva Sewalong

Assembling the jacket was fairly simple for me, keeping in mind I was taking it slow. I also want to mention that when I put the facing together, there were 3 pieces to put together for the facing. The back facing, and then 2 pieces for the front facing. They suggested. Using bias tape to cover the seam allowance. Of course, you could have just used your serger. And if you have matching thread, that would make it even better, but I decided to go ahead and use the bias tape and I was very satisfied with the way it looks.

CHANGES TO THE PATTERN

I had to make a few changes to the pattern. The pattern requires button holes in the back and button holes in the front. Unfortunately, my sewing machine would not consistently make the button holes, so I finally had to give up that possibility. It could have been the thickness of the fabric, the needle, the thread, or my machine just had an attitude. Who knows. I was able to make some button holes on the back, but I decided to add some buttons to the back, and sew the back together, closing up the vent. I was not a big fan of the vent anyway. And because I could not make any buttonholes on the front of the jacket, I added some cute buttons to both sides instead. I think it turned out nicely. I don’t plan to close the jacket up anyway, so this works for me. I also made some changes to the sleeve. At first, I put some bias tape on the edges, but I didn’t like the look. Because the fabric was so bulky, the stitching line was not straight so I took this out, and just made a band for the sleeves.

When I make this jacket again, I will not make the pocketed sleeve that is part of View C. I will make the sleeve from Views A and B. I think the pocketed sleeve is cute, but absolutely unnecessary. No one really uses sleeve pockets. It’s just for deco and too much trouble. Even though this fabric was perfect for this jacket, I would like to try a lighter weight woven fabric.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In closing, I want to add that my goal is to have a closet full of beautiful clothes that I made and love. This jacket is a step closer to me having just that. I am very pleased with it and hope to share some more pics of me wearing it in the near future. That’s a wrap for now, but I can’t wait to show you a new project, pattern, or DIY something. Thank you for allowing me to share this Sienna Maker Jacket with you. Leave a comment and please “Like” if you like. I love sewing, and I love sharing my projects with you. Also, if you have not subscribed yet, please consider doing so. You can subscribe below. Until next time, I will be making my life better, one project at a time, and I hope you do the same. Thank you for your support.