La Paz Jacket in heavy weight ponte

This is my second version of the Itch to Stitch La Paz jacket

I wanted a navy blazer in stretch for work. One that I could wear comfortably in the car and possibly all day in the office in cooler weather. I had been eyeing up one in the Boden catalogue for many many years.

I love Itch to Stitch Patterns. I find the fit excellent and the instructions clear and precise. Not all the patterns are to my style but there are some real gems.

The La Paz jacket is designed to be sewn in a structured knit fabric. It features a two-button front closure, front and back princess seams, two-piece sleeves, and double-welt pockets with flaps. There is a back stay for durability, and a back vent for wearing comfort. The pattern includes options for A, B, C, D and DD cups for a great fit.

The Itch to Stitch web site classes this an advanced sew.

This is the second time I’ve made this up, the first was a couple of years ago and unfortunately I choose completely the wrong size, not understanding the difference between my bra cup size and my dress making cup size.

The pattern actually tells you to choose your usual cup size, which is a D. But this resulted in a jacket which was too small but with more than ample bust room! It took me such a long time, 2 years ago. More research this time lead me to the Itch to Stitch site which helped me choose the B cup, as my upper bust is 1.5 inches smaller than my full bust measurement.

Anyway, then covid struck and I had no need for a navy work blazer!

This version was much faster, with my recent jacket sewing experience, but still an inordinate amount of time seems to go into the pockets! Then it’s pretty much plain sailing.

My measurements are 35inch full bust, 30 inch waist, 37 hip. I went with the B cup size 4 for a 35 1/8 bust, 29 1/2 waist, 37 1/4 hip.

I’ve come to realise during my recent jacket makes, I have short arms. I shortened these by 3 cm. To update the style of the jacket I lengthened it by 3 cm, but at the hip, not at the waist lengthening/shortening mark shown on the pattern piece.

It’s an unlined jacket, so I wanted the insides to look pretty neat without going to the trouble of binding them all.

I overlocked all the pieces before sewing them together because I found it was really tricky overlock the seam allowance of this thick ponte fabric afterwards. It was difficult to keep the machine foot exactly where it needed to be, just slightly onto the fold of the thick seam.

The fabric came from Fabworks in Dewsbury, but it was a couple of years ago, just after my mis-sizing disaster.

It is just what I had in mind.

I’m very pleased with the structural nature of the fabric. It doesn’t even look like a stretch fabric.

Personally, I think it surpasses the Boden one!!

So that’s jacket No 3! I’m already getting some much use out of my Butterick 6862 and Green Crepe Blazer. Note – I did go back and shorten the arms on the green one by 1.5 inches!

Love, Lucie xx