Woohoo! My bomber jacket is done! I’ve had so much fun making this alongside everyone taking part in Rigel Bomber January! In case you haven’t been following these posts, Kat, Mel, and I are making the Papercut Patterns Rigel Bomber Jacket during the month of January with anyone else who wanted to join in on the fun! It’s a little “sew-together”! I’ve had this pattern since it came out, so it was nice to have some companions (and a deadline!) to give me the nudge I needed to finally make it! So, here it is! I’d originally planned to look for something black with gold sparkles or glitter, but this wool herringbone caught my eye at Mood and I had to have it! It was the end of the bolt and there was just enough for the jacket… must have been fate! 🙂 I matched it to this burgundy ribbing, also from Mood. They’ve recently started to carry this ribbing in quite a few colors, in pre-cut pieces that are 38″ x 7″ ($9.95 ea). I just barely squeezed all the pattern pieces onto two pieces of ribbing. This is a heavier ribbing, like you would see in a sporty jacket, not a sweatshirt or tee, in case you’re curious. These colors are totally different than ones I usually wear, but they’re really pretty and have a sort of autumnal, collegiate feel. The zipper is a metal YKK from SIL Thread, my favorite place to shop for zippers. It’s $5 for a 22″ separating zipper, and they shorten them to custom lengths for an additional $1, not bad! I think my zipper may have been shortened a tiny bit too much- we had some confusion over converting the listed metric length to imperial measurements- so it doesn’t come up quite as far as I would like it to, but, whatevs. It happens! Since my fashion fabric is pretty lightweight, like suiting, I interfaced the center fronts before installing the zipper to prevent any waviness. This pattern is actually really quick and easy to sew! The welt pockets take some time to mark and sew, but that’s the hardest part and it’s over at the very beginning, so the rest of the project is a snap after that! Raglan sleeves are just so quick and easy… I definitely prefer sewing them over set-in sleeves! Speaking of sleeves, I lengthened them by 2″- I probably didn’t need to add so much length, but I like my sleeves on the long side. That’s the only alteration I made- it’s otherwise a straight XS. OK, let’s talk about the lining! I agonized over whether or not I should use this lining or not for a very long time. You see, the floral print is Liberty silk twill (!), a gift from the lovely and oh-so-sweet Dibs. She sent me a meter a few years ago and I’ve been too scared to cut into it because it’s just so nice! I really hesitated before using it because I wanted to make something special, but the print goes so nicely with the herringbone and I knew that I would be happy looking at it every time I wore this jacket, so I decided to go for it. Thank you, Dibs! I didn’t have quite enough for the entire lining, so I cut the sleeves from some poly charmeuse I had leftover from my final patternmaking project (my classmate worked in the cutting room for Vera Wang and brought yardage for everyone in the class to use… so kind!). I really like the way the two fabrics work together, and I’m happy I was able to use some fun stuff from the stash. 🙂 As I was putting the finishing touches on the jacket, I realized that it would be really easy to make one that’s reversible! I’ll have to try that sometime… wouldn’t that be fun? I wonder if anyone else has tried that! Alright, I think that’s all! Any other construction techniques or tips I used are detailed in the RBJ posts I’ve put up this month, so if you want more info on how I lined it or anything like that you can look there! Keep posting your finished bombers in the Flickr group or on Instagram, using the hashtag #rigelbomberjanuary. Reminder: Kat, Mel, and I will each pick a favorite jacket and the three makers will each get a free pattern courtesy of Katie from Papercut! Yay! Thanks so much for sewing alongside me! It’s been so much fun!!!