Estelle by Style Arc

February

The last Sunday of the month is the REVEAL DAY for Sew my style 2018 challenge. This month we had an opportunity to choose from two different patterns, which were totally different in style. The first option was the Rumana coat from By Hand London. It is a beautiful long coat with princess seams, however due to this being the shortest month in the year I opted for the other option.

Estelle Ponte  Jacket by Style Arc company seamed like an easier and faster make compared to Rumana coat.

Estelle jacket includes a waterfall collar, which drape beautifully with the right fabric.

It also comes with a in-seam pockets, raw edges and mid leg length.

What drew my attention to this pattern is the front waterfall collar. It looks so effortless and I really like this style. I am not a big fan of raw edge look, so my fabric choice for this pattern was a little bit different then suggested in the instruction.

The pattern calls for a Ponte Roma knit or any stable knit to achieve drapes in the front collar, however I decided to use a fabric I had in my stash for a while. I got it from a local Fabric shop few months ago and I had in mind some sort of a cropped jacket. Not sure exactly what type of fabric it is, but my guess would be some sort of faux suede?

It was the first time I had the chance to work with this type of fabric and I have to admit it was not so easy. I had no idea how to sew it in the first place, so had to look online for some advice.

As you can see my version of Estelle looks a little bit different then expected hihih but I absolutely love how it turned out in the end. It comes without saying that the process of making this vest took me longer then should…..seam ripper got involved….that is why.

I had a go with original version first, but as you may guess with this fabric it looked awful. See for yourself and try not to laugh…

Did you laugh?

Ohh boy, what did I think ????

Anyway, I have learnt another lesson working on this project, which is totally fine by me. I have tried to sew this fabric in two different ways. The usual way, when you put both right sides of the fabric together and sew within your seam allowance. This is pretty straightforward, right?

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This fabric cannot be pressed so I had to top-stitch all seams. I decided to trim on side of the fabric to reduce bulk.

The other way is to do sew one side on top of the other, kind of like a sandwich,  so seam lays flat.

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This was more time consuming because I had to first mark the seam allowance and cut it  on one side. Next, had to place the smaller piece on top of the other piece (both right sides facing up) and top-stitch it. I found, this way to be more difficult, but I like the final look more. I could not use pins to hold two pieces together, so fabric kept sliding. I had to unpick some stitches, which left holes in my fabric. Note to myself, next time use some specialist glue.

Final thoughts

This pattern is great, and can be used and adapted for different looks. The only difficult part when sewing is attaching the collar. The instruction is limited and not very clear, so beginners may find it confusing. If you need more details, read Maddie’ blog, where she gives step-by-step tutorial. It is fantastic and it makes everything much simple.

On top of that what took me by surprise is that when you purchase a PDF pattern it ask you for a specific size and then you get size up and size down of your chosen one, so make sure you measure yourself right and do not make my mistake by assuming it will be fine, as they come a bit too big.

~happy sewing everyone~

Monika xxx