This is something I made about two years ago, and is one of the things I wear most frequently, despite it not being perfect! It's made from a vintage mail order pattern, probably early 60s - sorry, I don't have the pattern number and am not going to look it out at the moment as my new sewing room is still a bit of a mess...
The fabric is a green linen blend, somewhere between olive and bottle green, nice and drapey, but I think there's a bit of synthetic in it too as it's surprisingly warm. The hot pink lining doesn't actually show through, it's just the camera flash picking it up! The sleeves are cut on kimono style and bracelet length. The shawl collar extends into small pockets at the front.
The jacket languished as a UFO for about a year before I finished it. I'm not entirely sure why. Possibly I'd just got frustrated with working with quite a slippery fabric, and I couldn't face doing the lining. It was interesting coming back to it as it was one of the first few things I made, and in that year it surprised me how much my sewing skills improved! I was very proud of how I'd sewn it when I first made it, but realised when I came back to it how I could sew it better. That was pretty satisfying proof that I was getting better!
The lining is sewn in by hand, and the jacket includes shoulder pads. I wasn't going to put them in originally as I have quite square shoulders, but they are actually really necessary to give some shape to the cut on sleeves. I plan to make a more polished version of this again at some point, and when I do I'll make it about an inch to two inches shorter so it hits at a slightly more flattering place. However, I still love this version, it's one of those items of clothing that always makes me feel happy when I wear it.
