The Style Arc Violet jacket is designed for knits – it’s even in the pattern title!  But that didn’t stop me from sewing it in a woven.

My lovely friend Tanya sent me this beautiful vintage woven wool a little while ago. I absolutely adore the colour. For a person who never used to wear yellow, I have definitely embraced the gold and mustard ends of that colour spectrum in recent years!

Note to self: make sure that you steam out all the fold creases before taking blog photos next time! Wool is such a beautiful fabric to work with. It shapes, eases and steams beautifully. This jacket was such a pleasure to sew.

From the Style Arc website: VIOLET KNIT JACKET: A master piece of pattern engineering, the clever architectural lines once joined together create a fantastic slightly cocooned jacket. You will love it!  We made our sample in a wonderful sweater knit. The small inseam pockets are optional.  FABRIC SUGGESTION: sweater knit or Ponte.

I made the call to sew this in a woven after looking carefully at the pattern.  The only area that became tricky was the armbands.  They would have been easier to sew in a knit, and getting all the seamlines to align nicely took quite a bit of patience.  (There are some sweater weight boiled wool knits in at The Cloth Shop in Ivanhoe at the moment that would be absolutely perfect for this jacket…I wonder if I need another one….)  Otherwise the wool was lovely!

I did include the teensy inseam pockets. They are small, really only big enough for a hanky or a train pass, but are easy to construct.

The back neck is rather high, and when I’ve worn the jacket since these photos were taken I’ve turned the back neckline over to form a “proper” collar.

Style Arc are known for the quality of their drafting and the currency of their styles rather than their instructions, but I found the instructions were perfectly adequate for assembling what is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle garment. It is really important to transfer all markings and refer back to the diagrams in order to assemble this properly. Take your time, read carefully, and it all comes together as it should!

I sewed this jacket in size 12 without any alterations.  Although I was originally a little cynical about jackets and outer layers without sleeves, I have discovered that they are actually rather handy.  In Melbourne winters we are mostly in heated areas, so they provide warmth without getting overheated.  If I want to go for a walk in the crisp winter air, I’ll probably put on something with long sleeves, but otherwise these vest-like and short sleeved jackets work rather well!

I am taking photos for “Me Made May” again, and this is how I wore the Violet jacket last week. It’s a wardrobe winner.