McCall's 7694 - Wool Tweed

 

 So I saw this fabulous Moto Jacket Pattern,  McCall's 7694 and knew I had to make it, does that ever happen to you?  Pattern in hand I headed to Mood Fabrics and started my search.  Wool tweed is what I had in my head to make this jacket and I found, Bordeaux and White Speckled Wool  Tweed, which is almost sold out so act quickly.  If this is not your colorway, don't worry, Mood Fabrics has a great selection of wool tweeds.  While at Mood's site, I went searching for a separating  zipper and found the perfect tan color.  Next up for all my supplies was lining, Italian Grape Polyester Charmeuse.  With all my supplies on the way, I anxiously waited for the fabric delivery.

  I went with a size 12 for my Moto jacket, adding an inch to the sleeves and a 1/2 inch to the length.  My sleeves might seem a bit long to some but being tall with long arms, I really prefer my sleeves to be longer.  The 1/2 inch to the length probably wasn't necessary but I just liked the insurance policy of just a bit extra length.  Seems silly but when you usually add at least an inch to every garment, not adding anything seemed not quite right

  Wool is one of those fabulous fabrics to sew, beautiful to press, easy to sew and just looks fabulous when the garment is completed.   It is a fabric I don't use quite often, only when I make coats.  Each time I sew with wool, it is a reminder how much I love it.  Now Mood has such a great selection of wool, you can find any kind of wool you want. I did want to interface my jacket correctly and asked a fellow blogger for help, Beth of Sunny Gal Studio, gave me great suggestions and pointed me in the direction of her blog post on interfacing.  Beth's advice was amazing and so helpful, once again the sewing community is the best!

 I interfaced the front (all four), side front, yoke, collar,under collar, and cuffs.  I then reinforced with more interface the welt pockets and the applied a small strip to two of the front pieces. This moto jacket's description  states " loose-fitting, lined jacket and vest have front zipper, back yokes, back pleats, and length, sleeve and pocket variations. I love so many of the details of this pattern, the back pleat and the interesting shape of the back yoke

Even though the jacket states loose fitting, do watch the measurements of the bottom band, that is a tighter fit and really doesn't have lots of extra room.  I do thing the curved back hemline has something to do with the fit around your hips.

    I did carefully mark the corners and curve of this back yoke and took extra care in clipping to the stay stitching.  

    The way the back of the jacket has a great curve and extra length  

 The details of the zipper, collar and the snap

    One thing I did find with sewing this jacket, was setting up a plan a sewing on it for over a week.  I tried to set a goal each time I was in my sewing room.  I love how the wool tweed looks in this style and the contrast of the zipper is a nice accent.  When ordering online, the contrast is easier to go with than the exact match.


I ordered my snaps from Amazon, Dritz brand and the color to match the zipper teeth.  Now, it took me two days to get up the courage to install these little things.  They were so easy but all I could think is doing something wrong and these things the size of a nickel could possibly ruin my jacket!

    The first night was fusing all the interfacing and then I made one welt pocket.  The next night was the second welt pocket and a few more steps.

    I found this to be very helpful and I didn't try to do too much in one evening.  When I try to sew too long or too late, I make mistakes. The lining goes in beautifully and my Mood Fabrics' polyester charmeuse was easy to sew and press, plus this color is perfect for the tweed

    Here is the full lining

    I do find this jacket looks just as good zipped up as unzipped

  This is one time when I am happy there is a couple more months of winter, I want to thoroughly enjoy my wool jacket.

  I have to laugh at this picture, I look a bit smug, sorry, but I am really so happy how my jacket turned out.  I really love every single detail about it. Some other suggested fabrics for this pattern - melton wool, wool blends, faux leather, cotton blends. What would you use to make this jacket?  Do you have any plans for wool?

Disclosure - I receive a monthly fabric allowance from Mood Fabrics to make a garment.  These garment are blogged at Mood Sewing Network first and then I will blog here about this garment.