On the sewing machine: Black boucle jacket

I'm not even going to say how long this jacket has been "in progress." It's too embarrassing. Suffice it to say that it's been sitting in the sewing basket for longer than it ought to have, long enough for the Butterick pattern (5644, if you're curious) to have gone irretrievably out of print, and it's high time I finish it. It's a good thing that the style isn't too dated. It's a classic cut that should last practicaly forever, or at least as long as my figure lasts, and there's no saying how long that will be now that I'm d'un certain age.

The shell is a black wool bouclé, light weight and somewhat drapey. It's supported by layers of wool interfacing and lined with purple lining fabric. Black, purple, and white pretty much describe my wardrobe color scheme. The jacket will be hip-length and nipped in at the waist.

Construction for a tailored jacket takes time, especially when I follow the instructions from an old Time-Life series book that gives all the inside secrets for suit jacket construction. I didn't go the whole route, which includes wool interfacing, haircloth over that in the front, and a flannel cover over the haircloth, all held together with rows of padding stitch, which is a loose herringbone stitch. I did tack the wool interfacing to the fabric with padding stitch to give the drapey fabric some body.

What's next: finish sewing the body lining, attach the upper collar, sew and line the sleeves, then attach the sleeves to the jacket.

Piece of cake. ::faint::