Yellow Jacket (Butterick 5335)

Welcome to my first blog post, and thanks for reading! I intend to post mainly about creative people and events that may be of interest to sewists and other visual artists, and details about my own creative pursuits, including sewing, illustration, and animation. I also love baking (and eating!), and have a fondness for self-help topics, so there may be some of that too!


From the pattern envelope, "Lined jacket A has pleated, raglan sleeves, pockets, gathered collar with casing drawstring and snap closures." I usually start daydreaming about what fabric would be perfect for an item when I look at the pattern envelope, but for this particular pattern, I really liked their color scheme of blue, white, and yellow. The outfits in the illustrations look very cheerful, spring-y, and classic. So I used yellow fabric for the jacket. 


The pattern states that the level of difficulty of construction for these garments is "easy". While there was nothing I found particularly difficult to do, it was very time consuming, not something you can just whip up in an evening. There is quite a bit of hand sewing involved when attaching the lining and putting the snaps on. My favorite thing about this jacket is the large, versatile collar, which can be worn down for a casual look. You can also close more of the snaps and cinch the drawstring for a more poofy, dramatic-looking collar, for a more formal look.

I made some changes to the pattern. I shortened the bodice by one inch to account for my short torso - however, once the jacket was finished I realized that it is already a cropped jacket and would have been fine as is. Shortening the length made it necessary to also change the shape of the pockets so they are not as deep, or else they will bunch up between the front and facing. Also, I intend to wear this as an outside, cool weather jacket, and I didn't think the 3/4 sleeves were practical for that. I added two inches to the sleeve length, however, despite the modification when made up my sleeve length looks identical to the pattern illustrations...go figure! I guess if you truly want to have full length sleeves, it would be necessary to add even more inches. 

In addition, as drafted, the belt that goes across the back of the jacket and ends at the side seams hangs way too low. I removed 2 1/2 inches to keep it from drooping excessively. This also helps to cinch in the fabric across the back since it is a little "boxier" of a jacket than the illustrations show.

The sleeves have a fancy, pleated detailing. 

Overall, if you have the time to spend, and want a spring jacket that has some cute details, I highly recommend this pattern.