Hopefully you read my post yesterday and know that I waited to do yesterday's pattern until today. I won't post a picture of me in the jacket until tomorrow. We have had a very dark day today, so pictures of a black jacket are a bit of a lost effort. But...tomorrow the sun is supposed to shine.
Today's pattern is just exactly the same as,
the Paper Bag Top I did for you in
this post in October, with the following exceptions.
The jacket is done in a bamboo knit. You can do it in another knit, just make sure your knit has a two way stretch. I like bamboo knits as they have the most beautiful drape. The collar area is wider than the other piece I did,
and the drawstring casing goes all the way to the edge.
You can see in this picture that it's really a rectangle that has sleeves and a drawstring that forms the paperbag look. Real easy to do unless you're like me and put one of the sleeves in on the wrong side. Oh well, we're all human.
Here are the measurements that I used.
My rectangle measures 54" wide by 42" long.
This jacket is meant to be very drapey, so if you are a little larger, add 2" to the width, up to 4" to the width. You can also add to the length if you would like a longer jacket.
Now, measure across your back just to the side of your arms. This will determine the space between your armholes.
Measure around your armhole.
Now, with your rectangle in front of you, measure down 10" for the collar. Measure down another 4" for the distance between the drawstring and the top of your armhole. In the above picture you can see a dash at the top of the rectangle. This is the midpoint of the rectangle. Take you back measurement and divide it in half. Do not add ease because this is a knit. If your back measurement is 16", divide that in half, 8". From the midpoint, measure over 8" on either side for the edge of your armhole. What I did to draw in the armhole was take my tape measure and form an oval with the measurement of my armhole and laid it down where the edge of the armhole should be and the distance down from the top edge that I determined for my collar and shoulder area.
Draw in the armhole. Remember, this is a knit and knit fabrics are very forgiving, so if your armhole isn't exactly perfect it will be okay.
For the sleeve, take a sleeve pattern from a t-shirt that you like and simply use that sleeve.
For my jacket, I did not finish the edges except for the bottom edge of my sleeves so that they wouldn't stretch out of shape.
Cut a piece of fabric 1 3/4" wide by the entire width of your rectangle for your casing. Turn under the edges 1/4 and stitch to you rectangle. Stitch another line down the middle of your casing so that you can have two drawstrings. You need two drawstrings in order to draw up the neckline and tie. Cut your drawstrings. Cut the drawstrings approximately 75" long by 1" wide. I like for my drawstrings to be a little extra long. They have a nice movement that I think looks very feminine. Stitch your drawstrings with a scant 1/4" seam allowance. Turn and then thread through your casing. You're finished. It's really quite simple. I am going to do this again and use a draped sleeve. I think just about any sleeve pattern would look lovely with the jacket. I know the black fabric makes it very difficult to see, but as I said yesterday, I have one that I've worn out and I love it and it's become a staple of my wardrobe, so black is what I needed. The next one I do will be a color that is much easier to see. Give me about two weeks and I'll have another for you to see. Do give it a try. I think you will love it as much as I do.
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend.
Rhonda
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