Dandelion | Lotta Jansdotter Pilvi Coat

Ever since this Dandelion fabric was brought home, all the other projects in the queue have been pushed aside to make a new unlined jacket.... even though summertime temps are in the 90s F.  I'm so glad I did!  I love it!

There's something about a dandelion in its full seed state that captures one's imagination in the same manner my lovely fabric captured mine. 

You may remember the Dandelion fabric purchased a few months ago from All About Fabrics, a fabric textile outlet in Williamston, South Carolina.   All About Fabrics only sells to the general public 3 days each month at their store,  but I found the very same Dandelion print fabric online at Fabric.com and they have plenty in stock.  Hmmm, their care instructions says 'air dry only'.... I've already washed mine in cold water in the washing machine and dried in the dryer and all turned out well.

When I first saw this corn yellow dandelion screen print on cotton slub duck, I immediately knew it would be a Pilvi Jacket from the book Lotta Jansdotter Everyday Style. If you click on the book's link, it takes you to Lotta Jansdotter's website where you can see photos of the jacket and her other designs.

Such a cute jacket!  The Pilvi is a raglan sleeve unlined jacket in either a short jacket version or a long jacket version.  I tacked the top corners down to give it a 'collar' look. 

I wanted a car coat length that was somewhere in between the short and long version..... so that's what I made.  Used about 1 1/3 yards of 54" wide fabric.  Hardly any scraps left over at all.  :)

My measurements were a solid Small at the time, so that's what I sewed with no fitting modifications.  In hindsight, I sort of wish I'd cut an X-Small in the bust and waist grading to a Small at the hips.  Anyway, a boxy jacket with the option of sewing down the top two front corners of the jacket into a sort of 'collar point'.  Which is what I did.   1/2" seam allowances are included in the pattern.  Nice!!!  She also has you top-stitch all the facings down which I also like. 

Definitely see the boxy shape in the back.  I really like the 3/4 length sleeves.  A lot!

I also top-stitched the raglan sleeve seams. 

Just so hard to see the white on white.  She does not have you understitch the neckline facing, but I did, as you can see a little of the seam here.  That's just one of those things you really might want to do regardless of what the pattern instructs.  The neckline 'collar' is tacked down with white button craft thread that totally blends in with the fabric and I like this so much more than using a 'button' or some sort of ornament.  Think it makes my jacket look like a sort of 'collared' jacket, without the collar.

When making an easy project, like this one, I like to work on skill sets that may be new to me..... so this project was all about hong kong seams and enclosed seams using a piece of yellow gingham that had been in the stash for as long as I can remember.

Don't you just love the yellow gingham against the yellow dandelions?!

This jacket was an utter joy to make!

With the exception of how to enclose the pockets with hong kong seams.  That was a head-scratcher for me and I simply could not figure out the mechanics at all.  A quick Google search turned up a photo of the inside seams of the gorgeous Vogue 1493 Koos van den Akker Kimono Jacket .....

Photo Credit:  Vogue 1493

......and this beautiful shot from Meg Carter, of McCall Pattern Company, personal make of the same Vogue 1493 kimono jacket.    You can purchase this lovely pattern here, and it sounds like it includes instructions for hong kong seam binding the interior including the pockets.

Photo Credit:  Vogue 1493

All the other instructions turning up in my Google search were written in Russian and linked to Russian sites and I get really nervous clicking on those...... sooooooo I sent an e-mail off to my sweet friend Carolyn, who blogs at Handmade by Carolyn, knowing she could help me move forward with my project.  And she did.  She sent me a link to her Trench Skirt post (interior photo below) and told me to treat the pocket's side seam, and pocket bag, like it was being serged and use an enclosed seam binding technique instead of hong kong seam.  Click on her link to see the finished pretty skirt.  :)

Photo Credit:  Handmade by Carolyn Trench Skirt <3

So that's what I did.

Trying to show a little mini-tutorial of what I did.... I serged the front pocket bag to the front side seam, then hong kong seamed the back pocket bag to the back side seam.  This is because the 'back' of the pocket bag side seam is what will show when completed and I wanted to reduce bulk.  This is the point I'm at in the photo below.  Pin everything together and sew an enclosed seam binding beginning at the jacket's sleeve edge, around the raglan sleeve seams all the way down and around the pocket bag in one fell swoop. 

Pin carefully around the pocket bag but you can do it.

You can see a little crease at the top of the bend of the pocket bag.  I treated this turn sort of like I would treat the edge of binding a quilt.  It's funny how the two crafts overlap sometimes.  ;)

I also used a smaller pocket bag pattern that would fit my car coat length better.  Lotta Jansdotter's pocket pattern is huge and would make fantastic pockets in the long coat version but would've overwhelmed my little coat.  Also note how I tucked the bottom of the pocket in the hem.  Thought this would anchor everything well.... and it does.... sort of.  The pockets flap a little more than I prefer so am considering going back and top-stitching them down.

Really like the neatness of the underarm area.  Top-stitching the raglan sleeve hong kong seams down was huge in adding to the neatness here.

The jacket's instructions have you sort of turn up the jacket's bottom corner and I just really did not like the way that looked on my jacket.  So after fooling around with it for a bit, came up with a mitered corner application that methinks looks quite nice and neat.  Even was able to match up the hong kong seams here!

Something about working with such a 'happy' fabric and learning new skills combined to make a perfectly enjoyable project.

Couldn't help snapping this photo of one of our fields we'd neglected to mow where the dandelions have completely taken over! 

I'm wearing the Ottobre no. 10 Sculpture white linen top and the Ottobre no. 14 Loose-fit pants with the new jacket today.

Happy Sewing Everyone!  :)