The Uptown Girl Jacket

Well Winter has well and truly arrived. It's been freezing here this last week so I'm pleased to have finished my daughter's new Winter jacket.

It's the Uptown Girl Jacket by Make It Perfect. I have a real soft spot for this as I bought the pattern when it was released a year ago and at the time, had never used a sewing machine or sewn anything more complicated than a softie (by hand). I remember telling my mum 'I am going to learn to sew and will make it for Sweetpea next Winter'. And here I am!

The pattern is deceptively simple. The construction is pretty straightforward and it actually takes longer to cut out all the fabric than it does to sew it up. It has a few lovely design details that really add to the overall look, like the gathers.

As it gets pretty cold here I made a few amendments to make the jacket more practical. Firstly, I used a wool/cotton blend batting instead of the recommended adhesive pellon (thanks Jen for the tip) and secondly, I included fastenings all down the front instead of just one button at the top, to keep Sweetpea extra snug.

I had intended to used buttons and buttonholes as the fastenings but my machine would not cooperate - the jacket was too thick with the batting - very dense - and the cotton canvas fabric I used (more on that later). So after MUCH to-ing and fro-ing, I decided to use magnetic snaps, with fabric covered buttons on the outside of the jacket for decoration only.

The snaps worked really well. They were simple to put in (although they would have been simpler had I decided to use them when constructing the jacket, rather than afterwards, I got to know my unpicker pretty well), they're strong, and they're simple enough for my two year old to do up and undo.

I used fabric from Japanese designer Hokkoh's Market Fresh collection: Market Flowers in Pink for the outer and Playful Dots in morning for the lining. It took me ages to decide whether or not to buy these fabrics. I loved them online, but was worried the pink would be too bright and that the cotton canvas would be too stiff and heavy for such a small jacket. I was really delighted when the fabric arrived. The colours were more muted than expected (in a good way!) and the fabric was really soft, but durable. It washed up beautifully too.

I really love this jacket... So much that I've gone out and bought Sweetpea a parka to wear to daycare, as I can't stand the thought of this jacket getting covered in paint, as her daycare clothes invariably do!


The finished jacket. The covered buttons are decorative only.


I used magnetic snaps (intended for bag making) as the fastenings.


Detail of the snaps.


Love the lining!


Sweetpea trying it on for size.