Sew Along - The Ilford Jacket with Sew Got This

We were delighted when Alisha chose us to be part of her blogging team for 2022! June was our headline month and Alisha suggested making Carl a garment, which we loved the idea of. This also tied in wonderfully with Boys Sew Too @boyssewtoo

We always wanted to make the ever popular Ilford Jacket from Friday Pattern Company.

This pattern is so versatile and can be fully customisable, allowing us to develop how we want the jacket to look overall. It was really fun to sit down together and plan our make and the finished look.

Carl’s style is varied, and he wanted a simple, durable fabric to wear every day. Alisha suggested the plain cotton canvas in pickle green would make a great jacket, and she was right! When our fabric arrived it was just perfect - durable and really easy to work with, while maintaining its shape.

We got to work looking into the notions we needed which was some interfacing and buttons. We went for a medium iron on non-woven interfacing, which was the thickness we needed for our fabric. We went with some 25mm dark tan, wooden buttons which tied in really well with the colour pallet we were going for.

We decided on the boxy sleeve version for a more relaxed feel and started by measuring Carl’s overall garment size. He came out at a XL, this pattern goes up to 7X/32, and traced out the pattern. The fabric was then prewashed and cut to Carl’s size.

The first step was to make the collar for the jacket which was interfaced and pressed into shape. Followed by the assembly of the jacket by joining up with shoulders. We did fittings along the way to ensure sizing was correct.

The sleeves were clipped to test for sizing before laying out to attach. We found they were too small around Carls’s bicep and length was too short. So, these were recut taking in some additional measurements. This was the longest part of our make as it meant we had to watch the overall fit of the jacket with that newly made sleeves.

The sleeves were attached, and the sides of the jacket were sewn together. The jacket was starting to take shape and Carl really liked the fit of the jacket. The jacket was at the perfect length around his waist, so we hemmed the edge in at half an inch only. Any more and we would run the risk in being too short.

Now it was time to attach the collar. We took our time with this to ensure the collar was placed correctly and looked even at the front. It was slightly over on the right side, but we managed to help it stay in place with a small stitch underneath.

We opted to have two front pockets - this pattern has so many pocket templates that can be mixed and matched and placed all over the jacket which was just great!

We marked the placement of the pockets and after pressing the sides down they were stitched in place. We learned a lot from the pocket placement for the Katy Pinafore we made from Field Work Patterns.

Laying the jacket down to mark the button placement was the next step for applying five buttonholes spaced around six inches apart. We were slightly nervous about buttonholes! But marking out this part and using measurements really does help with placement and confidence.

We double checked this before Carl got underway. Similar was completed for the placement of the buttons. We marked out each of the buttons with its corresponding buttonhole and hand sewed each on.

Carl’s jacket was completed! We are absolutely delighted with the outcome.

This was a wonderful, easy to use fabric. We love how it’s strong and durable, making it perfect for such a great pattern. The colour is great for an all year-round garment and had just the right level of protection for the elements in Scotland.

We learned so much making this jacket. It is a great skill builder along with being fun and experimental. The different variations to what you can make is great, allowing us to use the pattern again in the future.

Thank you so much Alisha for allowing us to make this jacket and blogging for you at Stitch & Ink. Your selection of fabrics is amazing and some we use regularly for our other makes.

Laura and Carl

@Sew_Got_This