It's official: vintage pattern Butterick 5384, with a few minor alterations (mainly length; I shortened it an inch), fits nicely. The double-breasted suit project is a "go."
Occasionally people write asking where they can find fitted men's patterns. Go to eBay and Etsy, do a search in under vintage 70's men's patterns in your size and see what's available. It changes all the time so keep looking, but that was the era of fitted menswear.
I'm very fond of my gold toile de jouy, but it has its challenges. It's stiff, for one thing (I chose not to pre-wash). It has very little drape. It's hard to ease. On a hot day (like today) it feels heavy. But it certainly makes a statement! Today I added the sleeves and front fish-eye darts and pressed the collar and facings. I still have to hem the jacket, hem the sleeves, and add pockets as well as a lining. But I've done enough to stop for a while (if I want) and start on the "real" project.
I'm deciding between these two fabrics, and maybe you can help. The first is a medium weight denim. It's softer than the toile de jouy, with more drape, but it has a similar weight.
The second option is this cotton-linen blend, similar to chambray shirting but stiffer. It's much lighter than the denim above and has that slightly rumpled look one associates with linen.
Online I found a few photos of double-breasted jackets in similar fabrics: Denim....
And chambray...
At this moment, I'm leaning toward the denim. I fear the chambray will lose its shape unless it's heavily interfaced, in which case it will lose its character. Maybe I'll save the chambray for something less suit-like.
And that's it.
I do hope your sewing projects are going well -- for some reason, everywhere I turn people are sewing knits. Am I the only person still using wovens these days?
Have a great day, everybody!
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