A Jersey Shirt Jacket

The trend for shirt-jackets has been growing all autumn and it's the perfect layering garment for January through to March. So when I saw this bonded jersey fabric from Rosenberg's I knew exactly what I was going to make, a relaxed over-shirt style using The Lounge Shirt pattern. This double-layered jersey fabric is fluid and cosy at the same time. The inner grey marl layer is viscose and elastane - smooth to the touch and adding drape. While the outer navy layer is a slightly heavier knit with some wool content. I prewashed my fabric on a 30º wool wash and found that there was no real fraying to the cut edge.

I made a few style changes; first I went for a straight sleeve without a cuff. To achieve this I placed the reversed under sleeve pattern piece over the upper sleeve pattern piece with a 2 cm overlap at the sleeve head, levelling up the bottom of the two pattern pieces and smoothing the line at the sleeve head. See the illustration on the left.

I decided on two pairs of pockets, simplifying the shape of the pattern pocket to a simple rectangle, cutting two top pockets 16 cm x 18 cm and two bottom pockets 20 cm x 22 cm. All four pockets have a 3cm turn at the top and 1 cm seam allowance on the other three sides. So the finished pocket sizes are 14 x 14 cm and 18 x 18 cm. I interfaced the pocket flaps along with the collar and front facings.

I started by preparing the pockets as instructed in the pattern but I did not place these on the shirtfronts until the shirt was constructed. I made up the shirt and when it came to finishing the hem and the front facings, I created mitred corners for neatness. Then stitched the facings and hem in place. I positioned the bottom pockets along the hem and facing stitch lines with the top pockets 6 cm above, again inline with the facing stitch line.

The fabric is 140 cm wide and available in alternative colourways on the Rosenberg's website Here. The size 12 required 2 metres. Sizes 14 - 22 would need 2.5 metres. I also used 2 x 12 mm and 6 x 16 mm buttons.