Hi All! ‘Tis the season for indoor photos here in Oregon. It’s also the season to sew a few layering pieces, wearables that you can wrap yourself up in when it’s damp and cold (most days here). That’s why this cropped drape front jacket grabbed my attention. The style is so versatile – you can wear it closed, or open.
My inspiration for this cropped jacket was a Ellie Tahari drape front sweater I saw on a recent ready-to-wear shopping trip. I loved the drape front, but hated the price tag. Honestly, it was several hundreds of dollars, and when you compare that to the cost of a sewn garment, me-made wins easily!
Nevertheless, it is a gorgeous sweater. It almost made me want to learn to knit (ha).
For my version, I used a sweater knit, a wool blend I picked up at Mill End Store. It has a moderate amount of cross wise stretch, just enough for a drapey jacket.My pattern is Butterick 5789.
This is a drape front vest or jacket and the front extends into the back collar. I made view D and cropped it significantly (six inches all the way around). In order to make the front closure, I added a button hole at the bottom corner of the drape front, then put a button on the opposite shoulder so that I could pull the ends up, criss-cross style.
It’s such a wearable jacket, I know I’ll put it to good use right away. Honestly, this was so easy too. From cut to finish it only took two hours. Of course, part of this is because the front drape isn’t finished with a facing. That means the wrong side of your fabric shows. That’s not usually a problem with a knit though, as both sides of the fabric are usually okay to look at. I wonder which look I’ll wear the most?
I hope you’re finding time at this busy time of year to sew a bit. I’m contemplating a few ‘sewn’ gifts this year, but thus far have done nothing but dream about it, and of course it is alot of effort at a busy time of year, which can take some of the fun out of it. What do you think? Are you sewing gifts this year?
Happy sewing and thanks for stopping by!
To make my shirt into a dress, I just added seven inches to the length. Because the dress is very unstructured, I will wear it with a belt made from leftover pleather. I also added sleeve tabs so that I can roll up the sleeves when the weather is warm.
To make the top look less tailored and more relaxed, I eliminated the collar and cuffs, and added lace sleeves and trim. To add the lace to the bottom of the shirt, I cropped it at the waist, then added a swath of left over lace to the bottom, hemmed with a machine stitch.
I like that it works with a collared shirt like this tie blouse, or over a collarless tee as well.
Because this sweater knit is pretty heavy with a bit of wool in the mix, I will likely wear it instead of a light-weight coat, so I made it really long. But I plan on making a shorter version with a shawl collar as soon as I can find another perfect knit!
I love the fact that there are so many great options with this pattern. I cut my usual size small and didn’t have any fit issues. I wanted a snug fit when buttoned, but if you want a looser fit, you might want to jump up a size.
This pattern is super easy and fast to sew. I think from cut to finish it took me about three hours. I used a serger to finish my seams, but a zigzag would likely work.
