I used to wear a lot of jackets, and really did not feel put together without one. But when I got seriously in into Lagenlook, I found that it was difficult to come up with the right jacket to complement that style. You need to accommodate what is underneath as well as look good on top, and that can be tricky.
A lot of my Lagenlook tops have a wide body, either because of a very dropped shoulder that goes midway to the elbow, or because of a kimono sleeve. While these can be squashed into a jacket that is fitted in the shoulders, the result can be looking very wrinkled when the jacket comes off. Then again a jacket that is loose in the shoulders as well as loose lower down can make you look huge all over.
In the winter, a wool or viscose/cotton top is not so prone to wrinkling, and I have been wearing waterfall cardis with relatively tight sleeves starting a little down from the shoulder. But in summer, with linen and silk tops, especially cuffed ones, the wrinkling is a problem. My rain parka and raincoat have a very wide armscye and look good overall, but I have not cracked the ideal jacket yet.
I made a start though with New Look 6249, which was reviewed by a nice lady called Jean in her blog here. I loved her version so much that I rushed out to Spotlight to buy the pattern. It’s quite a while since that happened, since I am a great fan of downloaded patterns, so you get an idea how much I liked it.
My own version is in jacaranda blue boiled wool. I love both the colour and the boiled wool, and the jacket has had a lot of wear since I made it. Jean lengthened hers quite a lot, but I only had about 1.7m of fabric to play with and could only manage to lengthen by 4cm. It took a bit of ingenuity (=breaking a few rules) to squeak it out as it was. The shawl collar had to be cut a little off grain, but with boiled will that really isn’t noticeable. There were only a few scraps left by the time I was finished, which is ok by me. The biggest pieces were not even large enough to cut a second pair of pockets.
Boiled wool is lovely to wear, like a soft, warm hug. It is also lovely to sew with, and garments are extra quick, because there are no hems or facings necessary. I decided to attach the shawl collar only along one edge, leaving the other loose, which makes the collar twice as wide. It is folded back to the outside and that has worked very well. I could still fold it to the inside and attach it along the other edge as intended by the pattern, but I prefer it the other way. Jean commented in her review that the pockets were a little high for her taste, so I lowered them in my version. The bottom edge of my pockets is only just above the bottom edge of the jacket.
Here are some pics.
Linked to Me Made Mittwoch