When I was younger and overweight, I wanted a black leather motorcycle jacket, but I could not find anything in the stores that fit me. So, I had one custom-made at a small leather shop run by immigrants from one of those Eastern European countries where the women use magenta hair dye.
When I lost the weight, the jacket no longer fit, so with a heavy heart I donated it to Goodwill.
Now today, I have developed the sewing skills to make one on my own. So when I got the itch for a new jacket – this time in red ultrasuede – I thought I could do it.
Ta da!
This is Simplicity 8174, a “Mimi G Style” jacket. I think it’s the best of the current crop of moto and bomber jacket patterns out there, especially if you have a curvy figure. It has nice RTW features, such as shoulder vents in the back, tab-and-button details (I used silver metal studs) and zippered pockets.
Its asymmetrical design features a zipper in the princess seam, so you need to sew one side of the jacket and then the other. This seemed inefficient to me, but I learned my lesson when I accidentally sewed on the shoulder yoke, forgetting that the zipper needed to go in first.
I made a few adjustments, and one I wish I had made. This has a rather high bust, at least for a woman looking at the back end of 40. So I wish I had moved down the bust point an inch. I also widened the bicep a tiny bit and made my usual forward shoulder adjustment.
I lined the jacket with silk charmeuse left over from a failed dress project. I had to piece the lining together a bit to get it to work, but I don’t think it’s that noticeable.
My husband likes it – partly because he thinks I now need a motorcycle to go with it!
This is stunning!! Love it😍😍😍
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I read your post on sewcialist this morning comparing indies and big 4s and nodded ‘yes!’to almost every line. And this jacket captured my interest and made me click on the blog link and read up.
It’s a fabulous jacket and the color is fantastic on you! AndI love your sense of humour! lol
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Thanks! It’s a great pattern
Please let me know if you try it.
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