The Canvas Jacket - Wardrobe By Me Patterns

Posted on 4:30pm Sunday 27th Feb 2022

I bought The Canvas Jacket pattern by Wardrobe By Me a while ago and thought this would look great in this gifted Robert Kaufman Brushed Cotton Flannel from Minerva.

Their brushed cotton flannel fabrics can be found here.

Robert Kaufman Brushed Cotton Flannel

However, as the fabric is lighter than expected I thought I’d try lining with fleece to give some stability and obviously some warmth, hoping it’ll be perfect for jumping in the car and running errands. The fabric is shirt weight and great for a checked shirt but on this occasion I wanted a warmer jacket. It washes well and only requires a light iron. I ordered 2.5 metres of this 1.42 metre wide fabric due to the required pattern matching and could probably make the jacket with 2 metres if no matching is required.

I researched fleece weights and decided upon micro fleece that is around 200 grams per square metre (GSM) or less, is thinner and lighter to touch, and not too heavy against the brushed cotton fabric.

As the fleece and check fabric are different weights, I decided to underline the jacket rather than make a lining. I like the process and effect of underlining where the main fabric and lining are cut as identical pieces and placed wrong sides together, basted or overlocked, and then treated as one piece of fabric. The Canvas Jacket is unlined so thought underlining would allow me to still follow the pattern exactly, once the fabric is prepared considering the weight differences of the fabrics and reducing some of the bulk around the seams. I ordered 1 metre of 150cm wide fleece but could have done with about 1.25 metres. Unfortunately, the company I ordered from didn’t sell part metres so I used some offcuts of navy Ponte to line the under sleeve rather than buying more and having left over fleece fabric.

I did the following for the underlining –

- Cut 0.5cm extra around each pattern piece to allow for the extra thickness
- Instead of two main fabric yoke pieces plus the underlining I used fleece as the inside yoke piece
- Cut the front and back bodice pieces 2.5cm shorter to reduce the bulk of the hem
- Trimmed the fleece flush with the seam allowance of the cuff openings and folded the main fabric over the fleece before stitching, again to reduce bulk
- Stitched the front darts separately on the fleece and main fabrics rather than as one piece, trimmed the fleece dart to a 1cm seam and pressed it open. The front jacket dart was stitched as per the instructions
- Lined the pockets with fleece to give the same stability.

Inside of a navy jacket showing the fleece lining and stitching around the pockets

After making a toile I made the following alterations –

- 2.5 cm (1 inch) full bust adjustment
- Lowered the bust dart
- Graded out a size from the underarm to the hips
- Added 2.5cm to the length
- Added half cm added around all pattern pieces to make it more oversized as a layering piece & to accommodate the fleece lining

Sewing pattern pieces pinned on to blue checked fabric with a pair of black dressmaking scissors

I’m pleased with the pattern matching and there are just a couple of places that are slightly off, hopefully no one will notice!

Front piece of a blue checked jacket showing the matched pattern on the pockets

The top stitching gives a nice finish & for the finishing touches I wanted the effect of metal buttons, like on denim jackets, and found some 20mm navy buttons with an antique silver metal insert.

A lady standing in front of a fire place wearing a blue checked jacket

The stripes do match at the front edge but it’s just the way I’m standing :-)

A lady standing in front of a fire place showing the back of a blue checked jacket

The Canvas Jacket pattern has great instructions and a YouTube video showing every stage of the construction and it comes together well & quite quickly. Even though it’s a straight boxy fit I graded out one size from the underarm to the hem & I usually have to make this alteration over my hips. Overall, it is a good fit and the shoulders, back and neck fit well using size 14 upper bust measurement for sizing and adding a full bust adjustment. It is a nice length.

A lady sitting on the arm of a chair wearing a blue checked jacket and jeans

I have two more planned, one with some grey and pink check suiting fabric that I’ll make longer with a curved hem and some stretch denim to make a denim jacket. I’d like to try and replace the collar with a jersey hood for a more causal effect.

This jacket is so comfy, and I’m really pleased with the fleece underling which is my favourite way to line a garment.