Letterman Jacket by Fairytale Pattern Designs
/The bundle is now live - which means it is time to share the very last pattern - the Letterman Jacket by Fairytale Pattern Designs. This is such a great back to school staple - it is a classic design, but leaves room for tons of fun.
Andrea is back to share more of her sewing prowess, her adorable boy, and all the deets on this pattern......
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Hi Andrea here again from Boysterous. For my second pattern review in the fabulous Boy's Bundle I was lucky enough to volunteer for the Letterman Jacket. Not something I would normally put my hand up for TBH – I immediately go for the younger boy, 'cutesy' patterns but for some reason this spoke to me. I was a little apprehensive to start. I have never actually had an issue with sewing with knits but I know a lot of people do. Also Australia is not known for its variety and choice when it comes to available knit options. You can have any pattern and colour you like...as long as its black and plain or white and you guessed it...plain. So guess what I went with..... OK I'm being a little facetious ….I found navy and cream too.
The first thing I noticed when I printed out the pattern was that it had a black and white basic illustration of the jacket on a plain white page - I don't know why but I love that! All my PDF's are stored in a filling cabinet with my ridiculously, awful writing (I'm not kidding I should have been a doctor) trying to explain what's in each folder. I can just stick this page to the front of the folder and know immediately where things are – other PDF designers take note.
Assembling the pattern was easy and came complete with that 'hallelujah' moment when all the lines match up.
I was a little stumped at the first stage of the jacket trying to work out how to make the pockets work but I had started at about 9pm and was already tired (my brain works from about 11 – 11.30am and if you miss that window of opportunity, that's it!) Once I had them figured out the rest of the jacket was an absolute breeze. Everything matched up perfectly – at one point I even called my husband through to acknowledge the 'matchingness' of everything – he was not quite as excited as me but it was inferred in the roll of his eyes. I think you know what I mean though – quite often I find a cuff will be too big for a sleeve or a collar wont fit a neckline. Honestly though, it came together beautifully.
One day when I have some free time (yeah right!) My goal is to make one of these for each of my boys with their name on the back. I think that would make a very cool photo.
Speaking of the name on the back I looked up 'letterman font' in Google printed out a free one and then used my photocopying skills to make it the correct size.
Some key points:
- The Jacket can take on many different looks and can be made in fleece / sweatshirt or denim/ corduroy/ bottom weight fabrics.
- Charts of fabric requirements, cutting guide and finished jacket width and length are provided
- Sizing start at a 4T and goes to a 16 (my older boys love this)
- The initial preparation ie finding/cutting and appliquéing the lettering took some time but the jacket itself I would say is an under 2 hour project
- I would say it is an advanced beginner pattern ( depending on your thoughts on sewing with knits) – also I added button holes to mine as was unable to find heavy duty enough snaps so used jeans buttons instead.
Mr. COOL - Letterman Jacket paired with the Field Research Pants
Awesome pattern, awesome jacket that is all!
