Rectangles, Squares and Circles...WeekTwo??

The Magic Jacket

I started this series on January 5th, so I should have posted week 5 this week, but alas, I'm behind. I do promise to catch up and hopefully as the weeks go by, you'll be so happy with my postings that you will soon forget about that the fact that I allowed things to slip.

My goal is to give you items that are relatively simple to construct and yet look great. This week I will explain how to construct this jacket. The above outfit is something that I love having in my wardrobe. It's great for traveling, takes up no space in a suit case. It can be worn with sandals or with a change of shoes and jewelry look great for the evening. The jacket looks so graceful and gives just the right amount of cover up that I would like on a summer evening. Because the fabric is so sheer, it's difficult to see the back drape.
This picture shows in a little better detail how the back drapes.

This is a shorter version of the same jacket. Now that I'm looking at this picture, the black looks a little like Morticia's negligee. I have to learn how to take better pictures.

You are not going to believe how easy this jacket is to make. For a small size, start with 2 yards of fabric. For a medium, 2 1/2 yds., and for a large, 3 yds. For the jacket that is pictured above, I used the entire width of the fabric which was 60". As you can see, this made a full length jacket. If you would like something shorter, may use a fabric that is 45" wide, Or cut the fabric down to 30" or 36" wide. However, the longer the jacket, the more drape you will have in the back.

Hopefully you can see from the above drawing that the selvage edges of the fabric are at the top and bottom. If your fabric has nice selvage edges, you will not need to cut off the edges or finish them. Make sure that your fabric has a nice drape and is not too heavy.

Square off the ends of your fabric so you have nice straight edges. Fold the two cut edges toward the middle. From the top selvage edge sew a seam down about 18". Then at the top selvage edge, leave approximately 10" open at either side (This will be the opening for your arms) and stitch the selvage edge closed between the two openings.

From the bottom of the 18' sewn seam to the bottom selvage edge you will need to finish your seams. The black jacket is made from a knit that will not run so I did not finish the center front seams. You will be able to decide depending upon the fabric that you choose. Your jacket is finished! There are only two seams. It's that easy.

The pants that I am wearing are really simple to do as well. I took a simple straight legged, elastic waist pant pattern. The drape gives a very floaty feel when it is left untied.

In the above drawing I have drawn the side drape as an extension. Actually this will be a separate pattern piece that is sewn into the side seam of the pant. I also left room at the top of the pant pattern. This shows where the elastic would be. At the bottom, I left room for the hem.For the drape extension, you will need to measure across the front of your pants pattern and then add another 6" to 8" for the tie. As you can see from the drawing, the top edge has a slight curve. This will give a lovely drape over the stomach when the piece is tied. At the bottom, the width is about half the width of the pant leg.

The extensions held out.


The extensions tied at center front.

The fabric I used for this outfit was purchased at Vogue Fabrics here in Chicago. The shear is a silk chiffon and the pants are lined with a coordinating silk charmuse. So nice.

Good luck if you choose to give this a try. If there is something you don't quite understand, send me a message and I will do my best to answer your questions. The jacket is great for so many occasions, a beach cover up, an evening wrap, a light summer jacket or even Morticia's negligee!! Enjoy!