Linton Tweed for a Drawstring Shrug

 A few new summer jackets!

Marcy Tilton refers to her current Vogue 9190 designs as drawstring shrugs but I think they are great, easy summer jackets rather than simple shrugs. I have been wearing them far more than I initially expected and that is a great feeling. In all my adult years of sewing, I cannot recall sewing a jacket without padding, interfacing, and lining. The jackets in this post are completely unstructured though drawstring buttonhole openings have a 1" square of interfacing to be accurate. While I will return to sewing more tailored styles in the fall, it was a refreshing change to temporarily relax my sewing.

 With a closet full of couture fabrics made into formal garments, I am looking for ways to enjoy nice fabrics in my casual wear. I purchased a lovely Linton tweed last summer at http://www.lintondirect.co.uk/shop/online-store.html. The cotton blend fabric is black and soft white with yarn slubs in pastel shades of blue, yellow, orange, and pink.  The fabric has wonderful texture and is quite heavy for cotton suiting. I boldly threw the fabric in the wash machine and dryer, and it came out sans wrinkles or shrinkage. Not only is the jacket highly wearable, I don't need to fear accidental spills and stains.

Fringe is one inch wide and shows the "wrong" side of the fabric with thick white yarns. I hand tacked the fringe to the finished jacket. This jacket is View C.

I used a cotton/lycra houndstooth knit scrap for the drawstrings which adds to the casual feel. The three pattern changes I made were (1) lengthen the jacket three inches in the back only, (2) cut sleeves on bias, and (3) add a horizontal bust dart to clean the upper chest area. 

The same jacket in white. This white cotton stretch woven jacket was not lengthened but you can see the side bust dart I added. It's extremely rare for me to not add a bust dart to a garment. I am a B/C cup and I find that most garments lay nicer with dart shaping.

Mood Fabrics sells this lovely lightweight animal-print knit at http://www.moodfabrics.com/phillip-lim-striated-cheetah-printed-cotton-jersey-309855.html. I made View A with the horizontal bust dart but no other changes. The pattern includes the contrast sleeve cuffs which improve the hang of the sleeve nicely.

Thanks for reading my blog. It is fun to be blogging again and I am thoroughly enjoying chatting with many of you. Please write when you get a chance! My son is helping me update the blog layout so there may be a few changes in August which will improve readability.