Minoru Jacket with zip pockets and a fully lined collar

This is definitely one of my favorite makes. So much so that I'm writing it up right away, finished and photographed yesterday. This is the Sewaholic Minoru Jacket with added zippered pockets.

The details: I used water resistant Supplex in Dry Rose from Rockywoods Fabrics. This was great, you can pin it and rip out stitching which I did a lot. The lining is from Joann and it's a cotton sateen jacks print from Gertie's new collection. It's lovely fabric, not as slippery as would have been ideal, but it works and it was easy to sew with. The zippers are also from Joann and are water resistant. I used 7" zippers for the pockets. The thread is Mettler thread, I picket it up while I was at a sewing class for the new machine I got a couple of months ago (it's a Bernina 560 and I LOVE IT). The piping is store bought black Wright's piping.

I made a straight size 8, that matches up with my bust measurement and seems to fit me pretty well in Sewaholic patters, if a little big at times. For this jacket it is a tiny bit tighter across the back than I usually wear for outerwear but it's totally wearable. I'm not sure if the piping added some stiffness and bulk to the seams or if I just need to go up a size. Speaking of the piping. I now own a piping foot. Yeah, it was a challenge to do that with my zipper foot and I want to make the Carolyn pajamas with piping so I made that investment and got a used foot at my dealer while I was there for class.

I made this jacket a lot harder on myself than it needed to be by making a couple of changes to the pattern. The good thing about being late to the sewing party is you get to see a lot of other versions of a pattern. I knew going into this that the raw edges would be visible from inside the collar. I did not want that so I cut another collar lining piece and placed it right sides together on top of the collar lining piece attached to the outer shell, after inserting the zipper and basting the hood in place. Hopefully the picture below helps someone else who wants to do this. I did some googling but didn't come up with any pictures so I had to work it out on my own. If you do this, when you attach the lining to the outer shell all your raw edges will be concealed inside the jacket. I wish the pattern had just been written this way but it does add a little more bulk to that area. My fabrics were very light so it didn't matter much to me.

My hood has buttonholes so that I can insert a drawstring there to cinch the hood close once I source that. I pinned the hood into the collar and marked where I wanted the drawstring holes to be. I also cut a hood out of lining fabric and lined the hood. I sewed the hoods right sides together then stitched at 1" away from the edge to form a channel (oh and I understiched the lining). Then inserted it as instructed.

I also think a jacket needs pockets. I saw a version of a minoru with zip pockets and most of my favorite store bought coats have this feature. To do this I sewed up the outer shell and then tried it on. I marked where I wanted my pockets to go at this point and then I drew a 7" by 1/2" rectangle. I was totally flying by the seat of my pants with these pockets so I cut a rectangle of lining fabric for each pocket that was 8 x 12.5 ish. Yeah so I bought 2 yards of lining fabric and after cutting the hood that is all I had enough for. Thankfully it was big enough. So at this point I basically followed the instructions for inserting the zipper in the collar. You sew the pocket to the coat around the rectangle, cut it open, push the pocket to the wrong side, insert the zipper, and then fold the pocket right sides together and stitch around the pocket bag. I put the coat on and saw the pockets would peak out, so I eyeballed where I would need to chop them off but still be able to put my hands in. Then I sewed a diagonal line and pinked the edges of the pocket. They are really far from perfect but I love them.




Like I said I love this jacket and have wanted to make it for a while now. The sleeves for me are a great length, I feel the fitted waist is flattering, and the sewalong is a great resource. I used the machine version of attaching the lining to the sleeves and while it took me forever to wrap my head around that and it was super fiddly, I'm glad I found that tip. I think it will be a nice strong seam.

This was a bit of an intense make for me. After sewing up the body with the piping I was trimming seam allowances and cut right into my sleeve! Thank goodness I had enough fabric to cut another sleeve but I spent some serious time taking apart that body. Really it scared me to the point that I barely trimmed anything else. Then my zippers didn't want to attach nicely, I almost ran out of lining fabric, and I made it through with maybe a yard of thread left.

That may not be a big deal to some, but I got this thread like 40 miles away from my house so lesson learned. Just buy two spools. I did use black thread in my bobbin at times since my lining was black and the hidden seams are done with peach thread. It was intense at times but I am so happy with the results. I can see myself making this again at some point. I think it would be awesome as a real snow coat with a thin water resistant outer layer, some kind of insulation, and then a cozy lining.