Tessuti Berlin Jacket

Is anyone else in the Antipodes SUPER excited to see the end of this angry summer? It’s been so hot and humid even in the first month of Autumn, that I leapt at the chance to photograph my Tessuti Berlin Jacket as soon as it cooled down to a bearable temperature.*

Shirt is a Trenery score from the op shop. Burgundy Threadz skinny jeans from a local shop end of season sale. Diana Ferrari boots from Savers. I am SO excited to be able to walk in jeans again, so long as they are very stretchy.

The Berlin Jacket is one of several patterns offered by Tessuti which are simple, unlined jackets designed to be sewn in wool that does not fray. This means the seams are sewn by overlapping and topstitching the edges, and edges are finished with topstitched facings attached in much the same manner (if they are finished at all).

As a beginner coat maker, the simplicity of this pattern appealed to me. I thought it would be a good way to dip my toes in the world of coatmaking before I tackled my next planned project – a fully lined, tailored coat made from an op shopped 100% woollen blanket.

Of course being me, I complicated things. This was partly due to my choice of fabric. I used what I think was pure wool** from the op shop, but it frayed more than I thought it would! So I freaked out and chucked in a bit of interfacing for stability, then double topstitched the seams for strength. This was most likely overkill, but it’s not really a sewing project for me until I’ve thought things to death and put in a heap of unnecessary work.

Despite my concern about stability, I managed to cock up the actual construction pretty badly. I’d like to blame this on the fact that I was sewing this with a delirious fever in hot weather, but the messy innards are entirely down to my own incompetence. Let’s just assume no one will ever see the inside of my coat and move on.

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While you're all stuck in on snow days, it's 33C in AUTUMN and I'm feverish and delerious with the flu. So obviously, I'm sewing a wool coat.

A post shared by Siobhan Simper (@siobhansimper) on Mar 14, 2017 at 6:18pm PDT

I do like the finished product, and got plenty of compliments the first time I wore it.*** It is slightly different to what I anticipated – despite being an experienced sewist who knows she should look at the line drawings, not photos, I still got bamboozled by Tessuti’s pattern photos and thought I was making something with a separate front band. I understand they’re going for the monochrome Melbourne aesthetic, but pattern samples sewn in black are never a good idea.

Final thoughts: this is another on trend and easy-to-sew pattern from Tessuti, which I’d recommend to anyone who wants a quick winter project. Just keep things easy and use the recommended fabric!

 

The deets:
Pattern: Tessuti Berlin Jacket
Pattern details: “This collarless, longline jacket features patch pockets, extended dropped shoulders and full length sleeves with a turned back cuff. The back neck is slightly raised.” Not suitable for fabrics that fray. Available as hard copy or print at home/copy shop PDF download from Tessuti in sizes Aus XXS-XL.
Errata: sleeve facing too short, by at least a couple of cms
Fabric: 2m x 150cm brown woollen fabric from the op shop.
Other materials: Sheerweft interfacing.
Mods: Size M bust and shoulders, L hips. 2.2cm forward head adjustment.

 

 

*I know – a summer top and a winter jacket in the same week? Due to cognitive difficulties and poor health, I tend to draft blog posts wayyyyy in advance.

**My brother and I did a burn test, and we think it came close to the results for wool. We really had no idea what we were doing.

***From my family, that is. What, you think I actually go out and meet people?