This is the last of the 4 Jacksons I made at the same time a year ago. I do have more planned, though, so I hope you’re not sick of this pattern yet!
I don’t know if I have much more to say about this pattern to be honest. It’s the same as all of the other versions, size 10 with no cuffs and hem bands, with a straightened hem.
The fabric was from Fabric Godmother and is reversible. I decided to go for the spotty side, because I didn’t want to make 2 striped tops at the same time (alongside the first Jackson I made), but I’m not sure this was the right choice now, looking back. I obviously won’t unpick the whole thing and sew it the other way around, though!
I really do like the fit of these Jacksons. I’ve got some jerseys I’m going to use for some short and long sleeved versions, and I’m going to make them all the same as these ones (and of course the short sleeved version I also made last year).
As I’ve mentioned a lot on here, my love for Helen’s Closet’s patterns is still going strong! This is defo going to become my go to knit top pattern I think. Do you have a go to tee pattern?
Another day, another Jackson sweatshirt. I’m playing mega catch-up with my sewing from pretty much the last year – I want to get better at posting consistently. Though I do it for a while, then ghost my blog for like 4 months at a time usually!
Anyway, onto my latest make to make it to the blog (which I made ages ago!).
This is another Helen’s Closet Jackson sweatshirt, made to the same size and with the same adjustments as my first version, and my whale version. Namely I made the size 10, straightened the hem and added some (unnecessary) length to the sleeves because I didn’t want the hem bands or cuffs.
I managed to mostly match the horizontal stripes on the side seams – they’re not totally straight so I couldn’t match both directions.
The fabric is some fleece-backed sweatshirting from Hey Sew Sister, if memory serves. As soon as I saw it, I had to buy it – it’s the perfect shade of mustard imho.
The Jackson has definitely become my go-to jersey top pattern. I like the oversized vibe I’ve got by going up 3 sizes from my measurements. I’ve got one more to share that I made last year, and a bunch more planned. Sorry not sorry. I’m sure if you’ve read my blog for a while, when I find a pattern I like, I stick to it (*coughs* Archer, Kalle, Dawn).
Back in January I went to the Chanel exhibition at the V&A and it was really good. I’ve been to a few exhibitions at the V&A and I did enjoy this one. I actually didn’t know that much about Chanel’s fashions besides the obvious jacket and loose billowy trousers/loungewear she invented, so this was pretty eye-opening for me.
(disclaimer – I have not edited the below photos (as there are too many!) so apologies if they are a little wonky or badly lit.
This is one of the earliest surviving Chanel garments, from 1916! It’s the Marinière Blouse and is made from fine-gauge silk jersey, a fabric that was previously used only for underwear.
This dress is from 1919, as necklines were starting to go down and hemlines up. I didn’t think that Chanel would have made such intricate and pretty clothes – goes to show what I knew going into the exhibition!
I was surprised and fascinated by all of the intricate seaming work on some of the clothes – like this criss-cross of seams across this dress. She also had a fairly neutral colour palette, even quite early on (but with some bright colours thrown in, as you’ll see). I love how the seam on the body follows into the seam onto the pocket!
I love how she used the dress fabric on the coat lapels. And how the flowers have been cut out and sewn onto the neckline and hem of the dress.
And this dress had had flowers cut out and sewn on the top to make them 3D!
I don’t really wear dresses any more but I love this one, from 1934. I think the 30s was so glamourous, in a kind of effortless way, with the bias cut skirts etc.
A relatively early wool suit, from 1924-5. This is the kind of vibe I expected from Chanel to be honest. Though of course it makes sense that she also did more glam stuff and evening wear – her clients needed outfits for all occasions presumably.
Chanel often used embroidery on her simple silhouettes. It’s very difficult to photograph black clothes in exhibitions but I did manage this close up of some embroidery on a black dress from 1923.
There was, of course, a room dedicated to Chanel’s perfumes. I love how the design of the bottles has never really changed! And I’m not gonna lie, I really want this travel set from 1936!
This selection of evening wear from the 30’s looks so floaty and swishy and cool. It makes me want to flounce around in them! I guess the only limitation of an exhibition like this is you can’t see the clothes worn by actual humans, or in motion.
This black beaded dress even mentioned that motion was key for Chanel. It’s a shame they couldn’t put a video of the dress in motion. I understand some of the garments might be too fragile to be worn, but it could have been gently shaken so we could see the beading shimmering in the light as it moved.
Another dress I would have liked to have seen in motion…
I did wonder how they would tackle Chanel’s less than stellar behaviour during the Second World War, but there was a room dedicated to her conduct. The exhibition was sort of chronological so it came after this room of 20’s and 30’s dresses, but before the room of suits (which obvs was thematic instead). There were documents and a lot of explanation of what she did during the war.
There was a whole room of Chanel suits (though I only took videos really, which I can’t upload here – I’ll share them to Instagram, if you follow me there). It wasn’t quite as impressive as the room of toiles in the Dior exhibition, but it was nice to see them side by side and to see how the design did subtly change over time. And I love the pink stands!
Who could forget about the Chanel bag! They’re not my cup of tea, but iconic nonetheless.
Quintessentially 60’s suits! It was interesting to see where in her career she maybe pushed the envelope and where, as later in her career, she was more following fashion’s trends and silhouettes. The 60’s seemed to be very shiny!
Chanel returned to black dresses throughout her career. I like this one with the gold stripes.
Of course, this trouser suit is definitely an outfit I would want to wear!
I kind of loved this massive pop of colour right at the end!
Overall I really enjoyed the exhibition – and I learnt a lot! I did buy the book too, so I’ve got plenty of reading material and inspiration still to come. I found myself marveling at how something was constructed or patterned, or at the hand beading work involved in some of the garments. I also felt like this was a good sized exhibition – I’m sure it’s sacrilegious to say so, but I felt the Dior one was a bit too big. I found myself overwhelmed by the end, but not with Chanel, it was just the right size.
Did you manage to see the exhibition before it closed? What did you think?
I’ve made quite a lot of Dawns so far (4 pairs of long jeans and 2 pairs of shorts I think) and I made 2 more almost a year ago (I’m behind with blogging, what can I say?!). This is the first of the 2 (though they’re both pretty much the same).
I made this pair in black corduroy (it’s quite a big whale) from Fabric Godmother. I bought the fabric at the same time as the fabric for my coat! I did sew it up pretty quickly, last February. And since I’ve made the Dawns quite a lot, there aren’t any steps any more that trip me up.
I always use zips instead of buttons as I personally prefer how it looks – no matter how carefully I’ve done button flies, they still gape! I also prefer wearing zips as I find them less annoying to undo/ do up.
As with all my other pairs, this is the size 4. I always have to take a wedge out of the back seam, I think around 2cm at the top, tapering to nothing by the time I get to the middle of the pockets. I always use my original pair to measure the pockets too – as I read somewhere early in my jeans making that pocket placement can make a difference to how your bum looks! I think I did take these in a little too much, though, as I find them uncomfortable to sit in all day at work (without undoing the button!). I often over-fit trousers and while I do test sitting in them, a short test is not enough to judge if they’re going to be too tight. I just need to give myself a little more ease in the future!
I’ve been pretty much living in this, and the other (navy) pair I made at work since I changed jobs in October. I have plans to make some more work trousers over the coming weeks because I’m getting a bit bored! My office isn’t super smart, so I can wear jeans, but I also have plans for some new jeans as I have definitely gone off wearing skinny jeans once and for all!
I am going to try some other trouser/jeans patterns but I do love the Dawns, especially this wide legged version. I do like the vibe. I’m finding I want less and less to show off the shape of my body, and gravitate towards oversized and loose-fitting clothes. Is that just getting older and giving less of a shit about what people think, do you think? I’ll be 40 at the end of the year and I just want to be comfortable and the right temperature, if possible!
This shirt was a while in the making. I sewed it over the Summer but I was given the fabric by my aunt for Christmas 2021. She gave me some more, gorgeous fabric last year and I’ve cut it out but I haven’t sewn it yet. Not sure why they’ve both took so long!
I made this in my standard size 4 but with the reduced seam allowance, as I did with my last couple of archers. I did a mass cutting out before the Summer and realised too late that I could have traced off a bigger size. Next time!
The fabric feels like a liberty cotton – I’m not sure if it is a liberty print, but if not it’s definitely liberty-adjacent. I really love the colours in the fabric (though I had my eye on a minty coloured cardigan in uniqlo but they didn’t have it left by the time I was going to go and treat myself!
I did realise a little too late that somehow I cut the body out upside down and the sleeves the right way up in terms of the large flowers – though I don’t think anyone else would notice if I didn’t point it out. I’m also still not sure why the sleeves have ended up too long on my last couple of archers. Meh. It’s wearable so it’s fine. After I’ve made the last one I have cut out, I’ll maybe actually trace off a larger size and try to get to the bottom of the sleeve issue.
It’s kind of lucky that I like making and wearing shirt as I’ve recently changed jobs (I can’t remember if I mentioned that here before) and it’s a slightly smarter job than my old one – though not super smart. But at least I feel at least partly put together in a shirt – especially under a jumper in this chilly weather!
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