Self-drafted blazer

After about three months off, I’ve finally managed to post a new sewing project!
The outfit I’m wearing is made up of a blazer, a basic jersey top (that I both designed and sewed on my own) and an old pair of black trousers I restyled.

I’m not a big fan of blazers, I basically never wear them.
The last time I wore a blazer/tailored jacket was the day I graduated, ten years ago, probably. Anyway, I’ve always felt like having a nice blazer to wear in those few occasions I have to dress up and be a little bit more formal.

I have had the chance to sew it this year, thanks to the Pattern Cutting Course I’ve been attending at Afol Moda in Milan. One of the projects I had to make was the pattern of a classic women’s blazer.
I designed the model and drafted the pattern at school. Then I sewed the blazer up on my own at home.

I used some vintage fabrics I had at home: a beautiful light-weight dark grey wool fabric by an Italian mill and a light pink silk for a lining. I used a scrap of a black woollen cloth for the outer collar stand.

It has been a very good project to train fitting better above all. It has been very useful to better understand the differences of my body shape compared to the standard size (size 42 in Italy should be 6 in the UK and 10 in the US). I drafted the blazer pattern in an Italian size 42 and then I fit it to my measurements. Even if I’m almost precisely a size 42, I had to modify the pattern a little bit to adapt it to my body shape. I modified both the test I made in cotton fabric and the blazer in wool (the wool has a different drape and performance compared to cotton).

For instance, I’m a little bit shorter than the average height (I’m 163 cm) and I had to shorten the jacket and sleeve length (as usual).
My waistline is shorter than the standard one in size 42 and this created a hump on the back neckline and some creases on the back waistline. You could try to eliminate these faults shortening the pattern (by 2 cm in my case) on the waistline or cutting some cm’s on the back neckline and shoulder seam (both on the neckline and the armhole in my case) if you have already cut the main fabric. In this case you have to adapt the neckline, the armhole and the collar stand, because they have changed due to the shoulder alteration.
As usual, I had to rotate the sleeve a little bit towards the front of the bodice (1 cm) because my posture leans slightly forward.
In the end, it was a little bit tight on the hips and this caused some other creases on the waistline and hip line, so I widened it a little bit.

Sewingwise, the more complex steps have been the welt pockets (above all those diagonal lower pockets close to the seam of the side panel) and the vent in the sleeves. However I got by!

I really like how it came out! It could be improved in some details. However, seen that it’s my first jacket, I’m super satisfied! I like it in its casual version, with the collar up.

The basic top in jersey is a very easy and fast project made in an afternoon (I needed something simple after sewing a blazer). It’s made up of a very light silk jersey.
I like the bottom of the top, instead I’m not satisfied by the upper part at all. I think I’m gonna change it, the armhole and the shoulders’ defect above all, in the up coming days.

In the end I restyled an old pair of trousers, that I had worn a lot over the past years. I tightened the legs and shortened the hem. Two simple variations that have made them more trendy and right for my body.

Here is the final outfit!