FINISHED! The Tokyo Flower Show Jacket

This is a big call, but this is one of my favourite makes ever.   I bought the fabric Friday, made it up on Saturday and am now blogging about it on Sunday!  Obviously I'm in love and just a little bit obsessesd.

The fabric, from Addicted to Fabric is a heavy weight cotton with a small percentage of stretch Apparently it was also available at Tessuti as Rachel made an amzing Belladone out of it and Gabrielle also bought some, so I wait with baited breath to see what amazing garment Gabrielle makes from it.  I love this fabric.  It is so nice to sew with.  I have a metre and a half left and I'm keen to buy more... but I suppose that would be excessive... or weird to have a whole wardrobe made out of this fabric. Stay tuned for a skirt though - probably tomorrow at this rate:)

So now to the pattern.  I've been thinking lately how much I've loved having my New York Cape during winter and how much I wanted a loose fitting jacket for Spring/Summer.  I have a beautiful Claudie Pierlot blazer that I love but I wanted a more relaxed jacket with a bit of a swingy back.

Enter the Tessuit Tokyo jacket.  Amy made a beautiful colour blocked version a couple of months ago which I stored in the back of my mind and recently Sallie showed an amazing shibori version. I hadn't made it up before as I hadn't found the right fabric and I didn't really want to make it up in the recommended fabric as I wasn't sure it would be me, but rather thought I might make it up in a slightly less drapey fabric.

And so the marriage was made.  As soon as I bought the fabric on Friday I knew what I would make... but I wasn't sure that it would work, either for the fabric or the style on me.

But it did! (If I do say so myself). Yesterday afternoon the wind really picked up here so we all bunkered down inside and I got right onto the making.

There are so many things that I love about this make:

• the slightly stiffer fabric kicks the jacket out perfectly at the back
• the professional looking pockets and cuffs (which hide my usual lo fi sewing)
• that you can turn the collar over - in full or a portion - I'm wearing it slightly turned 
• you can snuggle up in the jacket - crossing it over the front - something I do a lot and is something I love with the NY cape.
• The length...I was worried that it would be too long but the length is spot on
• The pattern - it's quick and straight forward and gave me a great sewing buzz (from taping to finish was about 4 hours)
• It's not lined but is really neat on the inside
• Oh and it's a little bit Erdem

I made up the xs and cut the back on the fold rather than having a seam down the back.  The instructions are really clear and because it's not lined and the sleeves are magyar it is a dream to make.

I took most of these photos in the Ladies Garden at Old Paliament House.  I walk through here most mornings on my way to work.  It's the week before day light savings starts so the mornings are light and you can see how stunning the morning was so I thought I'd go 'on location' nice and early.