Stiff as a board Tessuti Tokyo Jacket

I had initially ear-marked this fabric to go in the "swap" pile for our recent Sydney Spoolettes fabric swap as I knew I would never make a dress out of it as originally planned (woven dress + me = no thank you). Now that I've been sewing for a few years I do have quite a few pieces in the stash that are just not "me"...hindsight really is 20/20.  However, I did quite like the fabric and couldn't quite bring myself to part with it.

I have been keen to make another Tessuti Tokyo Jacket and this seemed like as good as any fabric as any to try it out in a bigger size. I knew the jacket would be quite stiff as it's similar to a cotton drill but it's REALLY stiff...which I suppose is not quite dissimilar to how a traditional kimono must feel when you have all the various layers on. I feel swamped and engulfed by the fabric!

I think this is one of those makes that looks WAY better in photos than it does in real life. In fact I'm quite chuffed with how nice it looks in these photos with a simple, fitted black midi-dress. I was going to donate this to Vinnies, but perhaps I'll hang on to it for a bit and see if an occasion pops up where I can wear it.

This was a fairly easy sew (partly as the fabric was so stiff), but like my first Tokyo Jacket (made in a very shifty fabric) the neckband gave me trouble...which is why the pattern tells you to baste the neckband before sewing it with your machine. The neckband kind of "grew", the result of which you can see on the right of the photo below -- it's not flush with the hem (which also happened with my first jacket...also not basted. I've learnt my lesson for next time).

Also, you can see the top stitching on the left is "on" the neckband; but on the right it's on the jacket. This is because I sewed from the wrong side and not in the ditch like the instructions say so I couldn't see what was happening on the right side...and also because I didn't baste the neckband down. Lazy me got what she deserved, but by this stage I was SO over the jacket and ready to move on to something else.

Once we're back into summer sewing I will make this pattern again with some fabric I bought a few years ago in Malaysia. It's softer, but not super drapey or slinky so should be easy to sew with but be nicer to wear.

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Pattern: "Tokyo Jacket" by Tessuti
Size: XL
Modifications: none
Fabric: something or other woven from Clear It in Melbourne.
Changes for next time: none, other than better fabric choice.

The 6 month Tokyo Jacket

I started this Tokyo Jacket back in April and finally finished it in the last weekend of August....as you do!

The fabric is from Tessuti (where else) and is a lovely, buttery soft, Japanese Crepe. Though, let's translate that statement shall we: the fabric looks and feels LOVELY = a nightmare to sew and cut! The fabric frayed like a...crazy fraying thing and at one stage I thought the whole thing was going to fray itself to death.

I started this jacket in one of Tessuti's "open classes" where you go along and sew a Tessuti pattern under the guidance of a teacher. In my class we had Silva teaching...she's the Yoda of the sewing world let me tell you!

The fabric took a while to cut out and when I came to attaching the neckband I realised I'd somehow cut it out WAY too short so I couldn't finish the jacket (not that I was anywhere close to that stage anyway). Sadly for me I didn't actually have enough fabric to recut the neckband but Tessuti VERY kindly set aside a piece of the fabric for me so I could recut the neckband another time.

I was going to finish the jacket at home, but after talking to Colette (who owns the store) I went back to Tessuti in August to finish the jacket. Silva was right when she said the neckband was the trickiest part to of the jacket and it would be better to do it the first time in a class environment. It was a bit fiddly to turn the fabric under and topstitch it down so the edge was encased and halfway through attaching the collar the collar started to "shift" and "grow" and "bubble".  It was pretty clear I was going end up in a mess! This is the benefit of the class - you look at the teacher with teary, puppy-dog eyes and she'll get you out of mess.



In my rush to finish the jacket in my second class I somehow sewed the cuffs on the wrong way so they couldn't be turned up as the pattern calls for. In the end I decided just to cut them off and hem the sleeves for a nice, clean (and easy) finish. If you know this pattern you'll also notice I've left off the pocket band...just to ensure I actaully finished the jacket this decade.

This jacket is far from perfect..and took me nearly five months to complete but I'm really proud of it. The fit isn't spot on around my shoulders/arms, but if I push the sleeves up it's comfy and wearable. Perhaps next time I'd make the sleeves shorter so I wouldn't have this issue.  I'm pleased that I stuck with the project despite the fabric being a bit difficult for me to work with. I have some fabric in my stash earmarked for a casual, summery version so watch this space...but don't hold your breath.