Viewers' Choice

MissBossy Patterns was a little indecisive about her choice, but I’m pretty sure that what she wanted was this Guy LaRoche jacket.   

Since I am defiantly sewing myself a new working wardrobe (even though I don’t have a job) this fits nicely into my plans.  I bought the pattern several years ago, because I loved the curved front on the jacket.  It is only a three quarter sleeve, and a rather loose sleeve design, so it’s not a cold weather jacket.  For me that was a plus as Auckland only gets a couple of months of true winter weather, and even then, it’s not honestly cold.  Much as though I love jackets, they don’t get as much wear as they did when I lived in the UK.

I used a rather plain fabric; a navy blue poly cotton with a reasonable amount of body.  I didn’t want the fabric to overpower the curved lines.  So that it wouldn’t be too plain, I added piping in a grey satin which I had left over from a high school ball gown for my daughter.  I had quite a bit left over, so I used the same grey satin for the lining.

The pattern went together quite easily, although getting the corners right on the side panels took a little time.  It’s not put together like any other jacket I’ve made.  The sleeves are kimono, rather than set in, and there is a side panel that goes from the hem, under the arm to the end of the sleeve.   

I probably won’t use this pattern again, but only because it is a distinctive design so there probably isn’t room in my life for two of them.

The pattern calls for a press stud closure, but I felt that it would look a little amateur with sewn on studs, so I placed a single button on the left side, and a crocheted loop on the right side, which is hardly visible. 

The finished garment is not as striking as I anticipated, and I actually prefer the look with that beloved curved collar sort of flopped down.  

That said, it’s a very usable jacket, and a little different from the standard corporate navy blue blazer.

I actually wore it to an interview last week (although I didn’t get the job :( ) 

I also made a blue and grey dress to wear with it, using more of the same navy and a grey light weight wool blend that was in the $1 stash.  There wasn't enough to do much with, but enough to just do the centre panels.  I used one of my standard patterns, which I bought in the late ninties

I'm pretty sure that this is out of print now, but I've seriously got my money's worth out of this pattern. I just did a quick count in my wardrobe and I still have three of this jacket, and five dresses.  I know there are have been more which have since been culled.  The long V neck dress is my go-to princess line dress.  It's a really simple dress, which is carried by the fabric or accessories.  I've made it up in plain fabrics, prints and one previous forray into clour blocking in black and white.  I have tweaked and fitted this dress to the point that I can sew it up in a couple of hours (really, it's that simple).

Unfortunately I recently had a small accident while diving without my wet suit jacket.  I was bashed against some rocks and grazed both my upper arms.  While this was a very minor mis-hap resulting a few surface wounds, my arms did look a bit of a mess.  

Since I wanted to be remembered as the woman who was perfect for the job, rather than the woman who looked as though she'd been attacked by a shark, I wanted sleeves on this dress, so I tweaked my standard sleeve block to fit this dress.

 Although it was a quick and simple make, I can see this dress getting a lot of use.  It's really comfortable, even in hot weather, easy to wear, but actually looks quite classy.  Of course, the vertical colour blocking is also very slimming.  Overall, I felt pretty smart for my interview (even if it didn't do me any good).