Now it’s getting sunnier in Berlin I’ve been dying to make a lighter coloured jacket that is lined as it’s still super cold. I’ve been seeing cropped wool jackets everywhere and decided to take the plunge and make something a little more complex.

Choosing the pattern

The stacker jacket by Papercut patterns is a beautiful everyday jacket that can be made in a variety of fabrics for different looks. I bought this pattern recently as it’s fully lined (which caught my eye) and felt like a nice challenge of a project that wouldn’t be super difficult. Working with lining can be intimidating but I was flawed by everyone’s stunning versions on Instagram and thought it can’t be that difficult?! This pattern has a super chic collar detail, dropped shoulders and two pocket variations. 

Choosing the fabric

I decided to use a nice cream wool fabric that I literally bought in the first few months of learning how to sew. I’ve saved it for so long because I wanted to wait for the ‘right’ pattern but I bought 4 metres of it and thought this would be great to make 2 jackets/coats and decided the wait was over. At the same time, I also bought a gorgeous champagne coloured lining and they look beautiful together so I thought that would do! You can use corduroy, cotton, linen, wool or anything that is more medium weight for this pattern and I’m super happy with the fabric that I chose. 

Construction

I decided to cut out size 2 for the jacket as I wanted it to be loose but not super oversized and think this fits me really well. The general construction of this jacket is super straight forward and the instructions really do break down each step into manageable chunks. I always serge all edges of pocket corners before folding in as I find this provides the neatest finish inside and this is literally the only change I made when making this up. I used black weft interfacing instead of regular interfacing and it worked out surprisingly well! You can’t see any black through the right side of the fabric and it adds a nice stability whilst remaining flexible. I like how roomy and big the pockets are, for me there more of a decorative feature rather than usable as they sit quite high (because It’s cropped jacket) but it’s a vibe I’m super into. 

Making the collar and attaching was really easy – it gets pretty bulky with wool when you’re at the point of attaching the lining to the top of the jacket but my ordinary machine managed to handle it fine! I found easing the sleeve to be nice and easy and it fits beautifully. I would say that for some reason the arms are a little short on me and I’m not sure if I attached the lining wrong or my arms are just a little longer than what the pattern was drafted for, but I really like the look and will just adjust this next time I make this! Sewing the mitred corner was much easier than I expected as in the past I’ve had trouble with this. I think this is because the pattern pieces are very intuitive and I managed to do it on my first attempt!

I chose these pretty brown buttons for the closure and love the contrast against the cream. I definitely sewed them too close to the edge, but hey, who in earth is going to notice that other than me! I can’t recommend this pattern enough and am already thinking of my next make! I’m thinking white corduroy….

All in all, a very successful make that I know i’ll get a lot of wear out this spring/summer. I’m planing to make more of these types of crop jackets too as I don’t want to over wear one piece and it gives me more of an excuse to buy fabric!