Yanaka Jacket in Scrappy Remnants

I've been wanting to make a Yanaka jacket for a while! I love the silhouette and the relaxed design; cropped or shorter jackets usually look best on me so I knew I'd have to make this one. I considered making a quilted jacket, but realized that a simpler print mixing version would suit me better. This project was made for the Liesl & Co. Ambassador Circle but was also inspired by the PatternReview Print Mixing Contest that ran in January (and if you're a PR Member, you can still pop over and vote for my jacket until Feb 10 if you'd like!) It will be shared on the Liesl & Co blog shortly as well!

This is an ideal pattern for print mixing or colour blocking, as there is a centre back seam, sleeve gussets and facings that can show if you fold the collar down. Lots of opportunity to use smaller pieces and show off those pretty leftover bits. And I have lots of pretty leftover bits! I use a lot of cottons and linens in my sewing so I got out my scrap bins and pulled out some of the larger remnants. I trialled a bunch of different combinations but finally decided on five floral prints that all fall within the same colour tones and scale. One of the prints (on the sleeve gusset) was just a cotton from my stash, but the other four prints werer remnants from other projects -- Butterick 6725, Butterick 6655 , the Itch to Stitch Celeste, and the Sew Different Harmon Top. 

I came up with a placement plan, but these fabrics were all fairly light/fluid. The Yanaka pattern recommends a medium to heavier weight fabric to support its shape, so I interfaced all the pieces with a medium weight fusible interfacing before starting construction. I knew that the standing collar, the front points and that wee back notch needed to be sharp, not floppy. Interfacing them prior to construction allowed me to use these particular scraps.

I didn't make many changes to the actual pattern. But there were a couple. I shortened the sleeves, actually by a little too much. In the end I didn't want to take any length out with a wide hem, so I made a 2" wide sleeve facing out of the cotton I used for the sleeve gussets (these were non-interfaced) and hemmed the sleeves that way. This also gave me a clear surface to stitch the lining on. I've added back some of the length to the sleeve pattern so I don't make this mistake again.

And I did also make a lining for this -- the jacket pattern is unlined, but with all my interfaced innards I wanted it all covered up nicely. Because of this I finished all my seams with a quick pass of the pinking shears since they'd end up invisible anyway.  I added in a 1/2" centre back pleat to give more movement room, and the lining was also a scrap!

The most notable change I DIDN'T make was that I did not shorten the body of the jacket at all. I almost always shorten above the waist but this time I liked the finished length and didn't want this to be too cropped, so left it as drafted. I really like how it turned out! It's really comfortable and the fit is great. I love the chance this pattern offered to use some of my beautiful print scraps to make a one-of-a-kind jacket. The lines of the design are just made for it!

Scraptember!

September seems to be the month of scrappy sewing over on Instagram -- I am still intending to sew along with #scrappySeptember via the Make A Garment A Month group. To that end, I've been trying to decide on a project!

I do love to use up my larger offcuts by putting them together into something else, and I especially love print blocking, when it's done right. I don't sew with too many solids so don't do a lot of solid colour blocking -- just because I don't have many of those scraps to work with.

I was thinking about some of the ways in which I might use some of my larger remnant pieces for this September's scrappy challenges, and that led me to investigate which patterns I already own that might fit in well with this technique. It turns out I have quite a few. So I thought I'd share them with you for inspiration. If you have any patterns that you find helpful for this kind of project, please share them in the comments.

Kwik Sew 4260

This is a pattern that I just bought; couldn't resist the silhouette or the scrappy potential!

Kwik Sew 4016 

Now this is a pattern I've had for a very long time, and I've made View A before. It might be time to try the short sleeved View B and use up a few interesting pieces of scrap fabric.

McCalls 7132

I just bought this one is our local fabric store's amazing moving sale. I had missed it altogether so was happy to pick it up now that I am thinking of scrappy sewing. It's made for lightweight fabrics but I'm thinking that maybe some velvety bits might work too... 

McCalls 7466
It's obvious in this pattern that View D is specially created for scrappy goodness! I can imagine it in wild print blocking -- that would be fun. There is a denim version like the pattern cover over on PatternReview; someone actually made this one and it is so fun.

Vogue 9081

Another pattern that I just picked up in our local sale. I'm not a huge Marcy Tilton fan, but I'm willing to give this one a try. I really like the simplicity of View C -- maybe this one could use up some of the larger solids in my stash, of which I have only a few!

McCalls 7361

This might be perfect for some of the smaller pieces of lightweight fabrics like challis or crepe in my scrap pile. I like a nice oversize pullover top and this one looks cute to me.

Vogue 1484

I've had this one for ages, a pretty Zandra Rhodes design that I bought thinking of a Christmas dress. But many holidays have come and gone and I still have not made it...Perfect for those glitzy bits!

Butterick 6033

You can't quite tell with this one unless you look at the line drawings, but there are

 multiple  seam lines here to help you break up the fabrics you choose. I think it would look 

nice with some subtle scrappiness in the fabric choice.

Butterick 5821

Obviously the jacket is the leftover fabric project in this wardrobe pattern. You could make

 all the other pieces and then use the leftover bits to make a matching jacket. 

Or just make a jacket  on its own with all the remnants currently in your stash. 

Any of these patterns would be fun to try! Maybe it would reduce my scrap stash.

Then of course, I might always try a Bargainista copy of my favourite Dior dress of the past few years:

Take a look at the whole show for more inspiration!


What about you? Do you like print blocking? Colour blocking? Do you like to save and use your scraps?