Last summer I wanted to make a new coat and, after researching some patterns, settled on the Sienna maker jacket by Closet Core patterns. I traced and cut out the pattern pieces, ordered some fabric swatches, picked and ordered a lovely fuchsia canvas fabric and then lost momentum after the fabric took weeks to arrive. Summer became autumn and the immediate need for a new summer jacket disappeared.

With warmer weather the need for a new jacket became more urgent. My old summer coat has seen much better days and I don’t really want to wear it anymore because it’s starting to fall apart in places. I used to have another coat, a favourite that I’ve probably worn for 20 years but the year before last I sadly managed to lose it.

So, a couple of weeks ago when both my children stayed with their grandparents for a couple of days I took time off from work and continued with the Sienna maker jacket that I had started last year (it felt a bit like a gift to my future self that I already had all the pattern pieces ready to go!). I don’t often sew garments for myself anymore. It just takes too long when I only have an hour here or there and when it takes months to sew something I lose interest in the project. With several days uninterrupted sewing time, I managed to get the bodice completed. It then took another 2 weeks to finish a couple of seams, set in the sleeves and sew the hems.

I made Sienna maker jacket view B with the sleeves from view C. Those sleeve pockets are just too nice of a detail to not include, even though I doubt whether I’ll ever use them to store anything. I sewed a size 8 and did not make any changes to the pattern fit-wise. The only thing I would change next time are the sleeves because I find them a bit restrictive when I lift my arms. I am not sure if this due to the pockets that add a bit of extra stiffness to the sleeves because that is where it feels restrictive or whether I would find the sleeves without pockets restrictive as well.

The instructions and illustrations were pretty clear and I also looked at the Sienna maker jacket sewalong posts on the Closet Core blog a couple of times because some steps had a bit more explanation there. For example, this was the first time I sewed a notched collar and it was helpful to see some photos of this step.