/olive twill albion jacket

A good olive twill jacket is one of those things everyone searches for, right? Like brown boots and the perfect tee? Well, these were all true for me (and I'm still looking for/trying to draft the latter). I do have an olive twill bomber, but it's too big in a weird-bad way. And so the search continued...
Then as many sewers/makers do, I came to the realization that if I couldn't find it I should probably make it myself!

necklace: native clutter

Enter: Albion by Colette Patterns.
When I first got the pattern, I cut a coat out of coordinating wool and wool scraps I've had for 2+ years... and bought some flannel for the lining. No coat yet. I still think it will make a great winter duffle, but I guess I just couldn't get into making something for the cold when it was (and still is) on its way out. What I really wanted was this jacket I had first sketched out; my olive twill ideal!
 

My absolute favorite parts of this jacket are the toggles and buttons. This is true because I got to get my woodburning tool out of the closet and burn things. Admittedly, they still smell pretty singed but it's sort of nice. Reminds me of that extra care that went into them (and makes me want to make/eat s'mores).

I also changed the front and back of the jacket to include patch-style yokes and a rain flap instead of the plain yoke detail included in the pattern. I know the rain flap makes no sense on a duffel-style jacket, but I just have a thing for them.
 

The innard finishing got a little complicated (well, I made it complicated); I sewed Hong Kong seams, bias bound seams, flat-felled seams and combination Hong Kong/flat-felled seams. The latter were my favorite and inspired by my trusty twill j.crew blazer (as seen on the sleeve seams, lower left corner). I actually want to make more jackets for the express purpose of using this finish. It's fun and looks pretty nice, if I do say so myself.

I did end up entering this into Colette's Albion contest, just barely. There was a little scrambling to get it done just in time. You should really check out all of the entries here. SO much amazing work went into all of them! I'm just so glad to finally have the staple olive twill jacket I've wanted.


project notes:

PATTERN: Colette Albion

FABRIC: 1.5 yards quilting cotton for bias tape, 2.5 yards 100% cotton twill

NOTIONS: 2.5 yards 3/16" cotton bolo cord and wooden toggles and buttons I got for free 5+ years ago.