I got a cut beautiful fabric at Fabric.com's VW sale (Vera Wang) for $1.95 yd. Before it was on sale I coveted the fabric but at $1.95 a yd, can you go wrong. So, I quickly ordered some up. It arrived but was a few inches short- unfortunately, I needed every square inch. So, my fellow KC Pinhead and newly found friend Annette came to the rescue. She had some and wasn't planning on using it for anything: she gave it to me- THANKS again Annette. So, I washed and dried the wool. It felted some but improved the hand of the fabric. It is quite stretchy so I needed to take this into consideration with this pattern.
The pattern: Butterick 5297, View A (short version in red) photo courtesy Butterick.mccall.com
The fabric: VW 100% Wool Boucle
The lining: Ambiance dyed with Dylon Poly
Interfacing: Grid Weft pre-shrunk
I reinforced all the seams and hems with strips of interfacing. Due to the nature of the boucle, it was difficult to get good adhesion but eventually with a hot iron and lots of steam, it worked. Also, I used my walking foot to keep the layers from distorting. It worked beautifully (first time ever using it).
As you can see, the lining is far from uniform in appearance. Hot spots intensified the dye and cooler areas took up less. The color is more royal blue but still adequate for the lining. I thought I had red fabric paint and was going to streak the fabric but alas, I didn't have it on hand so this wasn't done.
This pattern has tons of ease- yes, tons. I cut a size 6, no FBA and still took out 5 inches below the arms across the side seams and back seam. I could have taken more and still achieved the desired drape and flow for the pattern. It is a simple, unlined jacket but since there is so much stretch and wool and I don't play well together, I opted to make a lining.
The lining was made based off the pattern pieces. I allowed a back pleat of 1.5 inches. The front was cut based on the front minus the facing piece and shortening 0.5 inch. This allowed for the 1.25" hem and a slight drape at the hemline. No extra facing was added to the collar and the lining was extended from there.
Back to the collar, the fabric didn't iron crisply and wanted to open at the seams with an unfinished appearance. I didn't like the idea of edge stitching or topstitching so instead, I hand-stitched at the turn to adhere the facing and collar in a more finished appearance. I bagged the lining as well. (See what happened below...)
Shoulder pads- I figure I have pretty strong shoulders without much drooping so I wasn't sure about adding shoulder pads. These pads are for dolman sleeves. You see how there is a cap that extends into the sleeve to better define the sleeve. The shoulder pad is about 1" thick at the top of the cap. The jacket is lined so a covered shoulder pad isn't necessary. 
Here's how it looks with one shoulder pad (sorry it's out of focus). Can you guess which side? (ahem, linebacker is not what I'm looking for!) So, it's time to pass these on to my mother who has a little more slope to her shoulders. I'm sure she'll be happy to get them. I like the way the jacket looks without the shoulder pads since it gives it a more sweater look.
Ok, here's a bagging gone wrong. I don't know if you can see but the sleeve is wrapped around the back of the jacket. I don't think the straight-jacket look is in either. 
So, back to my faithful seam ripper and the sewing machine. Here's a much better look at the lining. I love the look of contrasting tape at the junction of the lining and the coat. This is bias tape folded and stitched in place before the lining is added. I like to add a little chain at the top for hanging purposes. You can see how it looks in the blog post regarding the zebra coat.
Well, this has turned into a UFO and is hanging in the closet. Not much is left to do so this weekend I'll finish it up. This was one of those projects I started when the weather was really bad and I didn't work for a week. I think this wardrobe is going to called the depressed time wardrobe. Little work and crappy weather- who would want to finish it? Or maybe, I need to look at it a different way- finish it and it's over...
Gorgeous! I still have some of my cobalt boucle and have been seriously considering a coat from it. I think you may have convinced me!
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