A Jacket For Josh

Earlier this winter, when I was feeling uncharacteristically generous, I told Josh I wanted to sew him a new jacket. I picked out some wool and some rayon satin lining for Denver Fabrics, and once the materials arrived in the mail I set them in a pile in my sewing room and ignored them for several months. There are many good reasons for this. For one, sewing for myself is more fun. Secondly, Josh is a pain in the a** to fit. He won't sit still. He doesn't give meaningful feedback. And sometimes he takes off running because it's more fun to play chase around the house than have someone stick him with pins.

unrelated photo

Then last week, I begrudgingly admitted to myself that I should avoid purchasing new fabric for a while and make good on some projects I've planned. I started looking around for a suitable men's jacket pattern - not a suit jacket, but a winter jacket/short coat. And we all know how easy it is to find good men's sewing patterns. (And if you don't know, the answer is NOT EASY. IT IS NOT EASY AT ALL.) Then I discovered this pattern on Etsy...

Look at that sexy side-eye this guy is giving! I want the pattern for the expression on his face alone. Sadly, Butterick 2656 was going for $18 not including shipping (and still is) which is pretty steep for this cheapskate. Then I remembered that box of vintage patterns that I picked up off of Craig's List years ago, and how I shoved the children's and men's patterns aside as being totally uninteresting at the time. After rooting around a little I found them, and low and behold...

Simplicity 7744 - you are not as sexy as Butterick 2656. I don't know why, since your style lines are almost exactly the same, minus the elastic waist which makes 2656 somewhat questionable. Maybe it's because there is a little boy in the illustration. Thankfully, I know how to see past cover art. Josh does not, and even looking at the style lines he was dubious. Then I compared it to his existing Woolrich jacket (the one I am trying to replace) and discovered that it is almost the EXACT SAME, right down to the snaps at the hips.

Headless shot because it's Sunday, and we don't comb our hair or really try to to look presentable at all on Sundays.

The only differences I can see are that the original jacket has a regular collar and set-in sleeves, while Simplicity 7744 has a stand up collar and raglan sleeves. Oh, and S7744 has one-piece sleeves, while Josh's jacket has two-piece, but that's easy enough to change. So I painstakingly traced all the pattern pieces (to preserve the old pattern) and then whipped up a muslin.

Ugh. That photo is blurry, and I'm very sorry. It is easier for me to look at these two photos to compare fit, however, than to try to get Josh to hold still while I assess the fit. So far as I can see, the only issue with the muslin is that the sleeves are a little too big. In fact, when I laid the two jackets on top of each other, they are almost exactly the same.

So I'm feeling pretty lucky! This might actually be a fairly simple project. Except that I plan to complicate it by underlining it with old cut up sweaters... the ladies at Sewing.PatternReview said I could!

Anyone want this pattern when I'm done with it?