Coming Soon: BWOF 3/09 #114 Trench Jacket

The idea of a trench has been in my mind for a while now, but the right one just hadn't come along. I considered a BWOF from January 2008; then an Ottobre one caught my eye . . . but neither one stuck.

Burda's March 2009 issue wasn't one of their most fascinating as far as I was concerned. Up until tonight, I hadn't even taken the pattern pages out of the center of the magazine. But one thing it did have: trenches. Long, short, traditional, not-so-traditional. It took a little deciding, but I decided to go with #114, the trench jacket with BWOF's classic interesting pockets.

A few weeks ago, when I went to Jomar with Elizabeth, I got a piece of fabric on the designer remnant table. I almost didn't buy it, because it was about 6 yards of fabric, and they don't allow you to cut remnants. But it was only $2 per yard, and it was a really interesting raspberry/black iridescent raincoat fabric. It looks like silk or taffeta, but it's got a waterproof backing.

That was when the trench idea really took hold.

Then, yesterday, I went to New York (more on that later - it deserves its own post). We stopped in a little store that had signs proclaiming "going out of business forever" in the windows, which might have been more convincing had the signs not been discolored with age. They had some lovely fabrics in the back - wools and cashmeres and all kinds of goodies that wanted me to take them home, but my only purchase was two yards of black quilted lining fabric. The funny thing was, I didn't know what project it was going to be for - I remembered that a while back, I had wanted quilted lining, but I couldn't remember why. Since this was only $4 a yard, I decided I didn't need to remember why I wanted it; I should just buy it.

Good thing I did. I went to bed last night, absolutely exhausted, and found myself unable to sleep. Several new projects were swirling around in my head, chief among them the black raspberry trench that I decided was up next. I had found buttons and a belt buckle at Pacific Trims; all I needed was to pick out a lining. Bam! I sat straight up in bed, scattering cats everywhere. I had just bought a lining for my trench.

Tonight, after dinner, I went in and spread the pattern sheet out on the table and started to trace. Of course it was the red pieces; those are the ones I have the most trouble seeing, for some reason. But I got pieces 1 through 10 traced, and made up pieces for the tabs and belt loops, and noted the measurements for the belt piece.

Then I finally took a close look at the pattern. The irony, folks? It's an unlined jacket.

I's not anymore. After laughing at myself for not actually having read the instructions (though the description in the magazine says nothing about a lining one way or the other), I sat down with my pattern pieces and more tracing paper and drafted a lining pattern.

Who goes to all the trouble to make a trench without lining it? There are purposes to unlined jackets, I agree. I've made my share and I'm far from finished. But a trench is outerwear, which by definition to me should have a lining. Not to mention that my raincoat fabric would undoubtedly get a little sticky without some kind of liner.

After I got all my pattern pieces together and cut out, I debated actually starting to cut into the fabric, but I restrained myself. It was after 10:00 p.m., and we all know what happens when you start cutting after 10:00 p.m.