Handsewn Raglan Swing Crop Jacket

This is a definite crop jacket but very cute at this length.  Length is per original pattern design, and even slightly shorter than Alabama Chanin corset.  I couldn't lengthen it due to recycling t-shirts.   Due to the swing in this crop jacket, it does need the width of the 3XL (six required to create this jacket).  Pattern is V8146, cut to size 14, or a bust measurement they say for 90cm.  This is the first time I have cut a commercial pattern to what the packet recommends.  Normally Alabama Chanin jersey garments I can be like size 8 for a fitted torso.  But size 14 for a jacket was really good.  In fact, I had to do this because I bought what I had thought was the wrong size (14-16-18-20-22).  But turns out, on this first jacket, that 14 was correct for my broad shoulders... plus raglan and loose fit is probably pretty flexible.  I could have made it even bigger and it would probably be alright.

The back is a winner with the bow and the amount of swing in it.  It's not excessive, but I really like the movement it creates.  I'm not yet good at judging swing amounts, and I still prefer a pattern to work from that already has worked out all the proportions of flares.  I definitely still prefer to do work from a pattern rather than inventing and testing.  When you can buy patterns for around $5 on sale, it's pretty worth it.

Cute bow at the back and a beautiful amount of swing

Ten snaps may look over the top here but I prefer to have good closure/coverage

Ordinary looking here but better filled up with a torso

Backstitching the facing so that the cotton jersey doesn't roll on raw edge

Attaching the collar

Below photos show the pinning of the under side of the collar.  The top side and under side were identical pieces.  

I avoid reading instructions at all costs cos they just confuse me, aren't always relevant for the way I like to wing it, and will probably have many irrelevant sections when one works with jersey.

I feel the best way to construct a garment is just to fiddle.

Importantly, here, the attachment of the underside collar required a bit of extra thought.  Given that I am avoiding the top stitch look for this garment, I want the collar to fall correctly so that these "running stitches" aka "felled stitches" aka "top stitching" stays hidden on the underside.  The reason for this, for this garment, is that I just feel like these hand stitch top stitches can really detract from the rest of the garment.  They can feel very home made, too home made.   They are a visual in themselves.  It just wasn't necessary for the look of this cute jacket, and I felt that it would have detracted from it or added too much punctuation into the fabric.  In many heavily embellished garments you don't notice these, but for a plain garment, it is almost main thing you see.  They can be downright ugly if you don't do them well, and I haven't even bothered to do them the bestest on this garment.  So I applied these visible running stitches only where totally necessary, and actually used them in areas where them became no longer visible on the finished item.   The last but not least advantage is that it's simply less work to do.  Felling is a fairly time consuming activity because you have to go through double/triple/quadruple the fabric and you may have to do one stitch at a time.

So some keys for collar attachment, particularly the under collar, ie the very last step, is that I folded the raw edge inward more than what the seam allowance actually was.   This is to make the collar shorter on the underside, and therefore keep the upper side flat and not cause these visible running stitches to bulge out.

The second key is to pin like crazy.  The third key is to just try to make sure, with this last edge you're sewing, to cover the previous stitches used to attach the upper collar.  You can do this better as you release the pins nearby and sew.

Positioning the underside of collar

Attaching the under collar (final step of collar attachment)
Hide previous stitching at neck due to attachment of upper collar