Introducing the Rickey Jacket

We’ve all been there. The day comes along where you need to look like you have your act together and dress like a professional adult. You dig deep into the depths of your wardrobe the night before the big event, hopeful the right item will present itself. Closet conclusion: I am a college sophomore living in middle age woman’s body. A blazer! Oh, no, I just couldn’t pull that off. But here’s the thing- a blazer just has that knack of allowing you to fake it till you make it.  C’mon, who doesn’t look good in a jacket? We take these ladies seriously and now it’s your turn. Let the adulting begin! 

Sewing your own blazer is a rite of passage. It means you have made it far and are ready to tackle the next step (trust me, you are!!) For those seasoned pro’s, you know what I mean. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with the territory. But what about the scary stuff?? Let’s just get one thing out of the way-I’m not going to cheer you on to make welt pockets or vents because I legitimately hate sewing both. They are not hard, just fussy depending on the fabrication. So let’s not do them. M'kay? The Rickey jacket was designed to have the look of welts, but with a far simpler construction that avoids the usual traps of sloppy snipping or inconsistent seaming. But it looks good!  Vents: nope. Just a shorter back that eliminates the need and creates a modern angular hem. 

Additional features:

 -You have two options for collars- the traditional notch collar and a fun shawl collar that looks a lot more complex than it is. Each has it’s own distinctive look

-If you are still a bit afraid of tackling a pocket, that’s totally fine too and can opt to eliminate for a plain front construction.

-Jacket is fully lined. For the PDF version the lining is a separate printout so you can deal with cutting and taping as you go.

-Closure is for a single button- just a styling note- this should be worn open, so if you can’t do the buttonhole, no biggie. Or if you want to show off your mad bound-buttonhole skills, this is your opportunity!

-Rickey is fully lined and instructions provided are traditional industry/mass production method. But if you are feeling a bit intimidated you can insert with your preferred method. (But it’s actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it!)

-No more stress about what size range to choose. I have created the both size ranges to overlap in body widths. So no worries if you are between sizes. 

-Wait for it….wait for it…..COPY SHOP VERISON!!! This is true. It’s been a long time coming, but we did it! Hopefully I can make this happen for other styles as well, but give me a moment to catch up.

The Rickey jacket has been through a lot: a resurrection after a massive data crash where I was only left with a few pages of a hard copy printout and 2 years of progress only achieved at short intervals with a few different redesigns. She’s been through a lot, but it’s been a labor of love.. I hope that you love her as much as I do!

Please stay tuned for an upcoming sew along where you can ask your burning questions along the way. I am going to start in about 3 weeks, which gives you some time to get the Rickey Jacket going and see if you run into any questions, or you have time to get your fabric and have it cut and prepped.