A Pleasant Surprise

The first thing I ever made from knit fabric was a dress that looks pretty good, except that I miscalculated how much the fabric would strech, and the top of the dress is too large. I couldn't figure out any way to fix it other than to wear a jacket over it. I want to make a jacket that looks like the view on the bottom right below (Butterick 5567) , but without the extensions on the sleeves:

The fabrics I want to use are silk lined with Bemberg rayon. The silk looks as though it'll be fairly easy to work with. The rayon doesn't. So I wanted to try a practice version of the jacket before cutting into the silk and rayon.

The pattern was for an unlined jacket, but since I want to line mine, I cut a lining using the same pattern as for the jacket. I used the instructions for making a vest in Sandra Betzina's Power Sewing.

For the outer layer I used some very nasty cotton fabric I got at Jo Ann's -- it was cotton that must have been made from very short fibers. It was coarse and didn't drape well. I lined it with some soft pima cotton from an old sheet. The soft lining made all the difference in the world. The two fabrics together drape nicely, and the soft inner layer gives a luxurious feel to the jacket.

Here's a view of the lining:

I'll definitely wear this jacket.