Regretfully, I am very far behind in my blogging and reviews!  As you may recall, I started this project in the winter, and left a cliff-hanger regarding the direction I took with my “To Sherpa, or Not to Sherpa?”; and other creative process dilemmas post.

Well, I decided to NOT SHERPA … and create custom lining for the jacket.  This post documents the steps to create the lining.  The other major deviation I made was to fuse the facings to the shell, and leave a raw, unfinished edge.  I was looking for a very modern style.

The addition of studs and fringe was not part of the original plan.  They were an act of desperation to save the project after my iron went berserk pressing in the sleeve heads!  It short circuited and overheated within seconds, burning a hole right through my organza press cloth!

Once I recovered from the shock, I located my wool-safe carpet shampoo and proceeded to clean out as much of the stain from the wool as possible.  The faux leather was melted, so I went to JoAnn’s in search of gunmetal colored studs to cover the melted spots.

While I was there, I bought new iron.  Luckily, they happened to be on sale!

So as you can see above, the old Black & Decker did some pretty serious, instantaneous damage.  I’ve never seen that iron heat up so fast!  It started beeping rapidly and the display started glowing.  I pulled it up to look, and that’s when I saw a huge hole in the organza!

The photos below show the salvaging process.  I made a fringe out of the scrap, using wonder under to fuse it to the yokes.  I painstakingly applied the pronged studs by hand.

For the sleeves, I did a traditional faced hem; however I finished them in a non-traditional sense.  I pulled the sleeves to the inside of the jacket (between the lining and the shell.  I carefully attached the lining, as shown in the steps below, before turning them out.

Once I managed to salvage the outer shell, I turned my attention to the fusing of the inside facing to the shell.  I wanted a strong, modern unfinished edge.  To accomplish this, I applied wonder under to all of the facing edges, as well as to any seam gaps.  After it was fused to the lining, I removed the protective paper and pinned the outer and inner shells together, keeping the pins inside the seam allowance.  When the fusing process was complete, I trimmed the seam allowance away to leave a crisp raw edge.

Below is the final result of all of the work that went into this project.  It turned out as a very unique/modern piece.  The fit is quite good, but the style does lack some shape to it.  It could definitely be improved upon.  With some creative pressing and steaming, I was able to mold the wool quite a bit.

While this was a fun project, I don’t think I would make another.  I do recommend this jacket for a beginner who is intimidated by the other sport coat and blazer patterns out there.  This pattern is very simple to put together.