ACA Jacket

My version of the Cutting Line Design "A Cute Angle" Jacket is more-or-less complete now.

The fashion fabric is a silk matka, probably from fabric.com. A generous sewing friend was cleaning out her sewing room and offered this for free. It was a little challenging to sew but I do like the color scheme and I think it is a good fit with this pattern. The lining is an inexpensive China silk from Vogue fabrics.

Sewing challenges included...

• Lining - The pattern is unlined but silk matka really needs lining, I think. Louise Cutting suggested creating lining pieces to attach to the facing, and then attaching jacket to lining at the neckline after completing each. I had to try some other things before I realized, yes, there is a reason she is the pattern designer and I am the customer. In the end I pretty much sewed as she suggested. I did have to play around a bit with the top-stitching that holds the back pleat in place. Without lining, this is done after the facing is put in place. The top-stitching does not show much on this matka, so it was possible to start and stop top-stitching as the assembly required.
• Fabric - smells when pressed with a steam-iron. Not always easy to penetrate, even with new needle and nice glass-head pins. Strange fabric. I should probably burn it. This was sort-of a trial piece, but I do hope to wear it some.
• Shoulder pads - I have square shoulders, less pronounced than when I was slim, but still quite square. I'm never confident in my selection of shoulder pads. I may replace these with smaller petal pads. The current shoulder pads are intended more for a high set-in sleeve, I think.
• On-going - the fabric is slightly saggy in front. May decide to let out the facing a tad. Also I like these fish buttons, but the fish slip around and look sickly. And it may be a bit big around the middle. That can be tweaked with a new placement for the button. Not sure yet. Ideas welcome!

But I do love this pattern -

• Asymmetric front and back.
• Great opportunities for top stitching.
• Fabulous pattern drafting
• Classic, yet a little different