Simple Sew, Cocoon Jacket

I had read a few reviews of the Simple Sew Cocoon Jacket and everyone seemed to be in agreement that the pattern is rather spacious. With this and my small shoulders in mind I went straight to the smallest size and cut a 6.

I had ordered some lovely fleece ready for winter from the super cool Remnant Kings - black for the main body and cream as a contrast for the facings, just to add a bit of a visual pop to the jacket. The fleece is super soft and warm, aaaaand there is the added bonus that is doesn't need to be overlocked!! I know it's sort of cheating, but I quite like that crisp, cut edge that I have left on my seam allowances and cuffs.

The pattern is really fun because all these big chunky pieces suddenly come together and create sleeves! I can see how you could easily lose yourself in this jacket though. I was very glad I cut the smallest size.

I love the big roomy pockets. I added a 4cm strip of interfacing to the top before I folded it over to add a little more stability. In hindsight, I could have done this to all the edges just to add sharpness before attaching.
The pattern doesn't actually state how much to fold under to make the pockets, but I turned in 1.5cm around the sides and bottom and 2cm across the top, and this fit perfectly between the dots on the front pieces.

Once the darts are in place (two at the back neck and bottom back, plus some clever ones at the elbow that help absorb some of that excess fabric) and the pockets are in place, the really fun bit starts and you start to see how the construction of the jacket really works. Susan Young pointed out in her blog that the image in the instrutions for sewing the front to the back is actually incorrect. If you check out Susan't blog, she has done a spot-on image of how they should fit together.

Once the front and back are stitched, the centre back seam is sewn and then the underarms. The pattern doesn't state it, but I clipped into the curves at the underarms to help the fabric sit happily. It looks like a jacket now! Time for a try on!

The roominess of the jacket adds to the snuggliness, but I just found it way too long for me. Without any real shape in the waist I felt like I was drowning a bit- though I'm sure this length would look brill on others. I turned up the bottom and pinned. I found it more flattering on me at a sort of donkey jacket length, finishing just below the pockets.

I cut the full length facing in cream, just to check that I wasn't any more keen on the length once there was a flash of colour in there to break it up. The pattern doesn't suggest interfacing anything but I did all of the facing to add some stability.

I attached the facing around the neck and front opening- right sides together, then turned to the inside and understitched close to the seam. I'd been tempted to sew the facing flush- wrong side to wrong side as I had liked the crisp cut edges, but decided against it as it was a bit lumpy at the back neck where the darts and seam allowances sat.

Once you've attached the facing you are almost there! I decided to cut 13.5cm from the bottom and allow for a 2cm hem. For this I unpicked the bottom back darts before I cut, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to turn up the hem.

A quick try-on after cutting suggested the back may be a little too roomy still, so I cheated (again!!!) and took a wedge out of the centre back seam, starting somewhere around the middle and taking out a few cm at the bottom. I know it's frowned upon to take the centre back off of the straight grain, but after pinning to start with I found it added just the little tuck I needed.

I hand stitched a blind hem, turning up 2cm around the bottom. The sleeves were a little too short to add a hem, so I left these crisply cut! ;) Next time I will add a couple of cm to the sleeve length so I can turn them up, or alternatively use some contrasting fabric for cuffs.

The Cocoon Jacket pattern is fun! It only took me a day to cut and sew together. It would be pretty simple to line as well, just by cutting out the same pattern pieces in your lining fabric and inserting, before hand sewing the hem. I probably would have done this is I'd have had enough cream fleece. I'm really excited to play around with some different fabrics for facings/linings. How cool would tartan look?! I played around with some leopard print that looked pretty ace but was sadly a little too stretchy to use with fleece.

Has anyone else changed up the length of the Cocoon Jacket? The pattern is sooo simple there's loads of potential for playing around with it... Thank you Simple Sew!

x

Location: Sheffield Christmas Market
Currently listening to: Let It Snow, Chris Isaak

Simple Sew, Chelsea Skirt

Twice a year The Identity Store hold a leather fair at the village hall in Matlock. There is a crazy amount of different leathers and suedes and furs, some shiny stuff, some unusual bits and pieces, hey, it's worth a look even if you have never worked with leather before. This was my third trip to the fair, and having finished my first Simple Sew Chelsea Skirt just the week before I was on the lookout for something that would make a nice panel skirt.

Initially attracted to some brown leather with the idea of making something a little bit Western inspired, after several walks around the stalls I changed my mind when I spotted a really big piece of black leather that was only £30. It sealed the deal when I flipped it over and found the suede side was this kind of wintery, distressed grey. This was a bit more exciting than the plain black side and would probably go with more of my wardrobe than the brown. Also there was maybe enough to make two! The leather wasn't too thick so would go through my machine without trouble, but also not so thin as it would stretch too much under the presser foot.



I cut out all the pieces of the skirt with the same pattern alterations I had made for my denim one. It was once I'd cut everything out that I started flipping the pieces over, wondering if I could mix and match the leather and suede sides. I loved the grey for the back pieces, but was quite excited about using the leather for the centre front, especially when I found that Prym make black poppers!

The skirt was quick to make as nothing needed overlocking (yay!). I interfaced one side of the waistband pieces and the centre front pieces where the placket folds over for the poppers. Nothing needed hemming as I was happy with the raw edge of the suede and thought the placket might be a bit bulky to fold under anyway.


The poppers were easy to insert (for future ref, the are spaced at 9cm intervals, but might be an idea to put insert the one at my hip point [widest point] first and work outwards to try and reduce any potential gaping. Maybe try doing them in pairs for something a bit different?). I loved the black on black effect.

The skirt looked pretty much perfect, I tried on with all my snaps done up and was very pleased..... But! It sat just a littttttle bit too low on my waist. I tried to forget about it, but I kept thinking about it. I knew the additional couple of cms I'd added into the waistband of my denim one when my denim shrank a little had made this skirt's waistband just a tiny bit too large around the top. I knew I would be put off from wearing it if I felt it didn't fit right....

...I made the decision to alter the waistband. This meant unpicking my understitching, unpicking the waistband from the skirt at the side seam and unpicking the facing from the waistband. As I had already clipped and graded my seams I had to be really careful as there wasn't much to play with.


I took 1cm in from the original seam at the top of the waistband and graded back out to where it joins the skirt. I'm not going to lie it was fiddly and halfway through I definitely wished I hadn't unpicked a thing!! Certainly this will serve as a reminder in the future to do it right first time! The result was a slightly bulkier waistband at the side seams, but a better fit at the waist :)


Next time I make the Chelsea Skirt I'm going to pay special attention to how my fabric behaves (How stretchy? Will it shrink when I press it?) so that I can cut the perfect length waistband first time!! I'm also going to really consider what weight interfacing to use for the placket so I can reduce the gape-potential between buttons.

Who knows, maybe spring will be rolling round when I make my next and I'll be able to pick some floaty summery fabric for my button down skirt ☀️

x

Location: Aizlewood's Mill, Sheffield
Currently listening to: Fractured Air (Tornado Watch), Calexico