HP Riviera Boulevard Cardigan Jacket

First, I have to say that I am so touched that you guys missed me! Believe me, I have missed you too! As some of you have speculated, I did not get a job, sigh. But, my sewing classes are going well so that makes me happy. I just love my students, they are so much fun that I look forward to class every week (as I hope they do!). Things have just been busy so I’ve been spending my precious spare time sewing rather than blogging.

I did finally finish my HP Riviera jacket and LOVE it! I’ve had this pattern since it first came out and am so mad at myself that I’m just now getting around to making it.

I used a yummy wool/lycra doubleknit that I bought from Nancy Erickson back in 2003. Oh, how I love working with wool! It practically sews itself. I did prewash this fabric by hand with Orvis (from the local feed store), air dried and then steamed thoroughly before cutting. I seriously doubt I’ll be hand washing this jacket but I could if I wanted to. The fab buttons came from Cynthia’s Fine Fabrics and I used Pro-Sheer Fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply.

The jacket goes together very easily and quickly. The first thing I did was to construct the pocket flaps. The horizontal flaps are constructed as you normally would. Because my fabric was thick and spongy, I did all of my topstitching at 3/8″ vs. 1/4″ (which looked skimpy and cheap).

The vertical pockets are sewn on two sides only. The top is left open because it will be caught in the yoke seam later.

Pocket construction is very simple. First, the vertical flaps are stitched to the fronts:

Then, the pocket bags are stitched on top of the flaps,

so you end up with this:

The other pocket bags are stitched to the side front:

then the front and side front are sewn together at the top and down the lower front. Any topstitching alongside the pocket flap should be done now, before the pocket bags are sewn shut.

Here’s the finished pocket (before pressing):

Here it is pressed and topstitched. As I mentioned before, the area in front of the flap is topstitched before the pocket bags are closed up. Once the pockets are stitched up, the topstitching below the flap is completed.

The body of the jacket has been put together. Now it’s time for the collar!

I know some people have expressed confusion over the HP collar but it’s really very, very easy. You are instructed to sew to the dot but I found it better to just keep on going all the way. I have done it both ways but prefer this way. The seam allowances have been trimmed and graded in this photo – I forgot to take one before I did that but you can use your imaginations. Please notice that I am not a Chicken Clipper!

I then pressed all three seams open over my trusty point presser

and then turned right side out.

I staystitched just inside the dot on the jacket front and clipped to the corner. Then, simply match up the two dots and stitch your inside corner.

Voila! Very easy!

Here is the jacket with the facing partially attached. I always attach it in two steps to make my life easier.

I did make one small change to the pattern and that is to add a hem allowance rather than using facings. Mainly, I did that because I really wanted to have a mitered sleeve vent. If I was going to have a hem at the sleeve it stood to reason that I should have one on the jacket body as well. I didn’t take any photos of the sleeve construction because I figured everyone already knows how to miter a sleeve vent – and this post is already so long-winded!

Because my fabric is pretty stretchy, I had problems making horizontal buttonholes. I finally achieved success by fusing a 2nd piece of interfacing with the stable grain on the horizontal and cording the buttonhole. I only had cordonnet in white and black but red Pearl Crown Rayon came to the rescue and worked just fine. (Excuse the blue chalk, this is my sample.)

Wow, that was a very long post, wasn’t it? I’m sure it’s the longest I’ve ever done but that’s what I get for leaving it all until the end. I’m headed back to the sewing room to finish up my HP Mighty Aphrodite tee – I’ll write about that this weekend. Auf Wiedersehen!

10/16/10 ETA: I realized last night that I neglected to mention anything about sizing and fit – sorry! I sewed a straight size 6 (which I need through the shoulders) and needed no alterations except for my usual forward shoulder and a little extra width through the bicep (I blame you for that, Jackie Warner!). Shocking, but true.