Classic French Cardigan Jacket: Sew Along Part 1

Lining and Shell fabric

 There are a few fashion staples that have lasted the test of time. The classic french jacket, brought to life by trailblazer Coco Chanel, is at the top of this list. The magic of this jacket is hard to deny. It should fit like a dream and work in all occasions and for all personalities. It can be paired with a ball gown to attend an opera or it can be thrown over a tee shirt and a pair of jeans to run to the grocery. It is simple in design, but complicated and rich in construction. It is the perfect juxtaposition. In the next few weeks (hopefully, not months or years, but with a young child, who can say), I want to take you on a journey with me as I build my first.

After weeks of obsessive, and I do mean obsessive, research and study on everything from fit to sleeve reinforcement. Every free moment, and even those that where allotted to a different task, I watched and rewatched online videos, googled pictures, watch tutorials and read and reread articles on the subject. I was thinking about it so much during the waking hours, I even dreamt about it at night. It is actually quite remarkable the amount of information that is available to something so elusive. It took weeks, but I finally feel ready to tackle this spectacular wardrobe staple. I am combining a few different methods from what I have found on the subject, but I am starting with a pattern from the very talented Susan Khaljie. The online course Susan teaches is also very informative.

Susan's pattern is the closest pattern I have found because it includes the the elegant three piece sleeve. There could be sonnets written about the Chanel jacket armhole and, by extension, sleeves. Coco Chanel was obsessed with the proper fit on a sleeve and it shows in her work to this day. It is said that she would fit and refit a sleeve many times to achieve the desired fit. As a designer and seamstress myself, I can agree with her wholeheartedly that the importance of this portion of the garment can not be underestimated. A proper armhole and sleeve not only impacts the fit and wearablity, it impacts the the overall look. The proper shape can take the ho hum to stunning. It the case of the this french jacket, the secret is to keep  the armseye high and the shoulders narrow. This gives the jacket a cleaner, streamlined look. Since the actual sleeve pattern has three pieces, there is more opportunity to create a narrow sleeve that still allows for movement and without creating drag lines.

The three piece sleeve

After determining the best size for my shoulder width, I started tracing that pattern pieces to my muslin. I have sewn for myself for many years and I am keenly aware of my "unique structural difference", as I like to call them. I have narrow shoulders, a large, high bust, and a long torso, so when I cut out the pattern I left plenty of fabric in these areas to use in the fitting. 

After tracing, marking, and cutting out the muslin, came the thread tracing. This portion was very straight forward and certainly made fitting the garment easier. Knowing what I do about my "structural differences", I did my first fitting with just pins. You can see just how much I had to add to the bust line in the picture below. The pink thread line is the original pattern. The red pencil line is the new seam line. I only needed to add to the side front panel. This kept the princess seam crossing my apex perfectly. I am certainly glad that I had all that extra fabric! Because I also have a short length between my shoulder and apex, I was also required reshape the armhole. 

Adjusted front side panel and center front  

When fitting the muslin to get the right fit, be sure that the waist point starts high, the shoulder point is correctly placed and the armseye is high. For my muslin, I began bringing the waist in just below the end of the bust curve. This jacket is a second layer piece, so it should not be skin tight. There should be ease when finished. The shoulder point is at the edge of your shoulder as it becomes your arm. To find this point without a dress form, hold your arm straight out to your side palm down, run your finger from the other hand across the top of your shoulder until you hit a small dimple between your arm and shoulder. The shoulder side of this dimple is your shoulder point and the seam line should fall here.  

Next I will be sewing up the muslin and doing the second fitting. I cannot wait. Stay tuned.

XO Kathryn