I finally cut into this precious fabric from my stash, once I’d decided that the new Muna and Broad Belmore Jacket was the pattern for me!
Now, this fabric is the Merchant & Mills jacquard fabric that you might have spotted online. It’s precious because it was so frightfully expensive. I didn’t love it when it arrived, and I did consider on-selling it to someone instead of using it myself. Even though I bought it on sale, it was still very pricey, and dare-I-say ‘not worth the price’!? Certainly, if I had felt the fabric in-person I would not have sprung for it.
Having said all that, the cosy texture on the outside of this fabric looks snuggly and nice- I like the look of the final jacket (which is a ‘quite hacked’ Belmore Jacket’). The inside of the jacquard has a super open weave which will snag easily, so I think I’ll have to add a lining to cover the internal bits. I’d hate to see this expensive jacket ruined quickly so I’ll have to take some extra steps to make sure it lasts. It started shredding and falling apart as soon as I cut it out- so I raced to serge/overlock everything before it was too far gone.
My advice, for anyone who loves the look of the fabric is to self-quilt some double gauze. Or pay someone to do it for you- it’d probably still be cheaper.
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Fabric details: I had 2.5 metres of this 120cm wide fabric- I got rid of the design lines and the pockets and cropped the jacket so that I could fit all the pieces in. It’s always possible that I could have mapped out my pattern tetris a bit better, and I didn’t manage to match the jacquard pattern on both of the neck pieces. I added contrast cuffs (by cutting into an unworn Cashmerette Springfield Top), and added pink bias tape around the top of the cuffs.
Pattern modifications and Size: I used a straight Size E for this but cut the back as 1 piece (instead of the 4 piece back on the original design) and I cut the fronts as 2 separate pieces (without pockets) instead of 4 pieces with internal pockets. This was mostly because I wanted the texture of the jacket to speak for itself, and to not be interrupted by pockets or seam-lines. I also didn’t have a tonne of fabric for pattern matching (or the patience to worry myself about it)!
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I imagine this will be a well loved jacket in cooler weather, and I’ve got plenty of time to add a lining in before it starts to cool down here.
