Grainline Cascade

Whenever Jen from Grainline releases a pattern, I buy it. She has fantastic taste and impeccable pattern drafting skills. Her Cascade Duffle Coat pattern was no exception to this.

I really like the simple lines of this coat. Although I didn't really end up making a duffle coat with her pattern, more a casual jacket.

Clearly I don't have much need for a very warm Winter coat living in Sydney. Although some people may disagree with me, I just don't feel the cold like some of my friends.

This jacket was an absolute delight to sew. I've read a few reviews of the pattern where people remark on how easy this is to sew and I have to agree with them. Nothing is terribly hard with this pattern. The collar fits perfectly, the pieces line up and the sleeves set beautifully.

I even fully bagged the lining for this jacket - a first for me - thanks to the help of Jen's great tutorial - yay!!

As you can see though, I did make a few changes to the pattern to achieve my look. For fit, I shaved a little off the top shoulder to accommodate my slightly narrow shoulders. The only other change I made was to omit the toggles (as they weren't the look I was going for) and to narrow the button bands slightly to better fit my buttons. I also omitted the zipper, as it really isn't needed for a lighter casual jacket.

The fabric is a grey and navy wool from The Fabric Store, which I picked up over the Summer holidays on sale. It has a irregular herringbone pattern with tiny specks of fuschia and turquoise. I lined the jacket with a poly satin from my stash, just so I could avoid going out again to buy fabric, which is always a minefield of temptation! I found the buttons at the Remnant Warehouse, which has a good range of buttons that don't cost the Earth. Speaking of buttons, has anyone noticed how atrocious the selection at Spotty is these days? And they got rid of all their tubes. Insane!

Anyway, I am super pleased with this jacket. It is exactly what I was after and fits perfectly. My only word of advice for those sewing this pattern, is I found the shorter length jacket to only just fit me in length, both sleeves and in the body. I am 163cm tall, so if you are taller than that, or have long arms, you may want to test the length prior to cutting your fabric.

I am contemplating making another casual jacket with this pattern this Winter. Perhaps with some cute Orla Kiely coating that I also picked up from The Fabric Store this Summer (you can see it here on Insta). 

Happy hump day!