Sunday Sewing....

As promised here is my picture tutorial on how to make a jacket like I posted a picture of yesterday.

It's really easy and you can probably make it in about 2 hours. You can use any fabric you want but I have opted for a printed cotton that I had lying around after making my clutch bag.

1. Take your fabric and fold it in half and then in half again.

2. You now need to draw a half t-shape on the fabric. To work out the size measure from the centre of the base of your neck to how far down your arm you want the sleeve to fall. Add about 2cm for hemming on the sleeve. The wider you make it, the more drape it will have.

3. Now draw the half t-shape on the fabric using tailor's chalk or something similar. Depending on how you want the sleeve to fall will determine how sharp the angle is where the sleeve connects to the body. In the above I have drawn it as a curve - this gives it more of a drape. When I made the one a previous post I drew it with a bat sleeve to make it drape a lot.

4. Next cut down the fold one one of the layers. This is to make the opening for the front of the jacket. Then sew the side seams together and press them open.

5. Keepin it inside out, pin back the flaps on the opening as above. The flaps will come in wide at the top and narrower to the bottom as the top needs to accommodate your neck.

6. Once pinned sew along the flap close to the fold. Trim the excess.

7. You need to hem the back of the neck of the jacket. I rolled the hem and hand stitched it but you can use a machine.

8. Finally you need to hem the bottom of the jacket and the sleeves. I rolled the hem again to keep it neat.

10. Press the hems and there it is- your finished item! Good luck and let me know how you get on.