Home Blog My Minoru Jacket!

My Minoru Jacket!

by Jessica

I grew up learning to sew because of my mom, grandma, and various family friends. I remember sewing doll quilts, an ugly stuffed animal “wolf”, and fabric dolls among other things. While in college I did more construction and sewing like fully lined curtains and padded head boards, and since I have been out of school most of my projects were baby shower gifts from burp cloths to floor poufs. I have always done some minor fixes to clothing like shortening a dress, making a pillow case smaller, or sewing on buttons but nothing crazy intensive. I also learned lots of other things like crocheting and knitting, but lately I have been on a sewing kick. I have been wanting to expand my skills since I feel in the area of clothing construction I am still in the beginning stages. My mom taught me to be resourceful, take things one step at a time and believe that I can accomplish things when I set my mind to them.  Below are pictures and information about the jacket that I sewed.

I decided to make the Minoru Jacket Pattern from http://www.sewaholicpatterns.com/. I read her blog and LOVE every stinkin pattern she comes out with. I think we have similar body types, and so what she designs tend to appeal to me even if I would choose different patterns or colors. She also had a Sew-a-long on her blog which is the only reason that I branched out and decided to tackle something this large and complex. You can find her sew-a-long here http://sewaholic.net/sew-alongs/. She does step by step pictures of how to make the jacket which made it very doable, and this also makes it easy to pace yourself by sewing only for 30 minutes a day for instance. If I just had the pattern, I don’t think I would have been able to finish this coat, but that is because of my lack of knowledge not how the pattern was written.

After reading all of the reviews of her pattern testers and others who had finished their jackets, the bigger complaints were the fit wasn’t want they wanted and the sleeves were too long. So, I decided to make a muslin so that I could see if the jacket would fit since I wanted this to be pretty fitted. I seriously think I have orangoutang arms because most people shortened their sleeves by 2-3 inches since the coat is designed to be a bicycling coat so the sleeves need to be longer. I didn’t have to shorten them and they fit perfectly! I also wanted a chance to almost complete the jacket to work out most of the kinks and mess up on the muslin not on my nicer fabric.

Here is final Jacket without the waist cinched and not hemmed yet.

I got my fabric from JoAnn’s after determining that I wanted a thicker cotton fabric so it would hold its shape, be easier to sew, and wouldn’t wrinkle very easily. I lined the coat in zebra lining. I was wanting a patterned lining so it was either solid colors or zebra, so I grabbed it up. The collar either lays down or can be worn popped if you are so inclined.

Here is the back with the collar popped and the hood still in the collar hidden by the zipper; you can also see the cinched waist line.

Side view with the hood out.

The only place where I deviated from the pattern was that I lined the hood in the zebra lining. If I sew another one, I might make it one size larger, add in seam pockets on the front and line it with thinsulate or something so it can be a winter coat, the only reason I would go a size larger would be so that I could wear thick sweaters and it wouldn’t be tight while wearing those.

Here is the lining and the inside pockets which are closed with velcro.

Thanks to my willing photographer, Grant, and my mom who gave me my beautiful Bernina sewing machine, her time, and her patience in teaching me! I have already purchased another pattern from http://sewaholic.net/ and will be making the front cowl shirt next http://www.sewaholicpatterns.com/product/1201-renfrew-top. That top looks way simpler and isn’t lined, but it also doesn’t have a sew-a-long so maybe in a few months, I will have one of those to show off. I am still drooling over her http://www.sewaholicpatterns.com/product/1203-thurlow-trousers pattern, but never having done anything similar to shorts or pants, I might need more work before I try some of those CUTE shorts! I have almost the exact pair from Old Navy that they don’t sell anymore, and I would love to have pairs in a few fun designs!

You may also like

14 comments

Sarah August 12, 2012 - 7:27 pm

WOW! The jacket looks awesome! Great job!

Reply
jrwarfield August 12, 2012 - 7:35 pm

Thanks Sarah!

Reply
Simon August 12, 2012 - 8:55 pm

Wow, I’m impressed! By the jacket and the modeling, of course.

Reply
jrwarfield August 13, 2012 - 6:46 am

Thanks! You crack me up, something tell me I shouldn’t quit my day job! ;p

Reply
Lou Ann McKinney August 12, 2012 - 9:47 pm

I’m impressed. It’s a really nice jacket. You did well.

Reply
Irene August 13, 2012 - 12:32 pm

Jessica, die Jacke ist dir ganz toll gelungen! Ich freue mich, euch bald zu sehen!
Liebe Grüße!

Reply
Mom (Wow) August 14, 2012 - 6:58 am

You did an excellent job! It fits perfectly and great job on the pictures.

Reply
Jenny October 11, 2012 - 7:59 am

Great job! Your mother-in-law was bragging about your talents to me at work and I had to check it out. Love the fitted look.

Reply
Dave Densmore February 12, 2013 - 9:55 am

Saw this on Facebook, shows you how often I get on, and my lack of skills in using it.

Nice job Jessica! Great looking jacket, and you really do make a great looking model for it.

Not that Grant didn’t do a great job, but FWIW, with a tripod, which you really should havea already, and Nikon’s remote, you could take self portraits. Just in case!

Reply
jrwarfield February 12, 2013 - 10:08 am

Dave,
Thank you! We will eventually buy a tripod and a remote since it would be so helpful with pictures and also if we ever want group photos when Family is visiting! That is the only problem with Camera items, there are soo many that look and are wonderful and useful!

Reply
warfieldfamily – My Renfrew Top! May 31, 2013 - 7:57 am

[…] it is time for my next sewing project! My first clothing item that I sewed was my Coat, and the next item I wanted to sew was the Renfrew top. Both of these patterns are from […]

Reply
Rikki April 12, 2014 - 6:16 am

I see that I’m a little late posting a comment here. I just recently purchased this pattern and have been scouring the net looking up reviews for it. I *looove* your version! I think the colour looks so great on you, and the fit is very flattering. I’m glad to see that you, as somewhat of a beginner (though it sure doesn’t look it!) were able to sew this jacket and have it look so great! P.S, love the zebra lining too!:)

Reply
Lyric September 2, 2014 - 1:42 pm

I really like this jacket on you ’cause YOU’RE cute as a button. The zebra lining . . . girl shut up; you rocked it! Sew glad I stopped by your blog (thanks to the link you provided in your commentary on the pattern).

Cheers,

Lyric
http://www.sewlyricallyvintage.wordpress.com

Reply

Leave a Comment