Nelly Jacket By Juliana Martejevs How I sewed Mine

The Nelly Jacket and Musing on why I sew.

Why did I choose to make a hand sewn Nelly Jacket? I will try to explain. When was the last time you even contemplated sewing a garment by hand? No me neither, never. I love my sewing machine I love the uniformity and the speed, I admire its stitchery talents, simply press a few buttons and I can have any decorative stitch I choose, However, lately I’ve been thinking about why I love to sew. Its because of the feel of the fabric in my hands and being able to turn something flat into a wearable garment that fits and moves with my body. The manipulation of change, of making something from nothing. Being up close and personal with the clothes I dress myself in. Knowing where they came from, how they came to be, the memories of making them. The successes and the failures.

sewing a Nelly Jacket By Juliana Martejevs — Nelly Jacket made by me designed By Juliana Martejevs

Hand Sewing the Nelly Jacket

Hand sewing is not, and never has been, my favoured method of construction, I am too clumsy, too impatient. Lately that has changed. I can see the beauty in it, the stitches made by my hands. The slowness too is important, time taken to care and relate to something special a handmade garment has all this and more.

The manipulation and change, of making something from nothing. Being up close and personable with the clothes I dress myself in . . . the memories of making them. The successes and the failures.
L.D.J

Nelly jacket close up in detail — Note the cat hairs the little monkey slept on it this afternoon!

Details Details.

The pattern calls for non fraying fabric ‘Loden Wool’ I translated this to mean boiled wool. The boiled wool I wanted was 100% wool and very expensive for a trial run on a new pattern. So instead I decided to visit our local charity shop, and purchased a very large mans coat made from wool and cashmere for £20.00 ! I had to adapt it by using some seams from the original coat, but it was a perfect alternative. Now I know the pattern is brilliant I will invest in some new fabric and make a longer version.

The Fit is oversized and roomy, which I prefer as I intended to wear it over jumpers and shirts. I cut a large, it came up true to size.

Instructions, are in video form, in German with English subtitles. Detailed and easy to follow, but in reality I switched it off and made it up as I went along. If like me you are an experienced sewist, you will find the construction very simple and self explanatory,

Blanket stitch. The hand sewing is easy and effective, bot as a decorative and a secure stitch. I did cheat and set my machine to sew some seams and then handstitched all around the front edge.

Pattern By Juliana Martejevs I bought my Nelly Jacket from the foldline as a PDF.