I made Merchant and Mills' Foreman Jacket for the first time over a year ago for David's birthday (read that post here). At the time I bought the fabric specially for that project, buying 3 metres, since for his size (36) they recommended 2.2 m (for 150cm wide fabric). The fabric was cheap so I was happy to buy extra and take no chances. I ended up with a lot leftover, so once I had made his jacket I immediately cut out another Foreman for myself (the pattern had actually been a present to me, so I had planned originally to make myself one, his birthday just came first!). I couldn't fit in another full size 36, and his jacket was too big for me anyway, so I cropped the body (front and back) and the sleeves all by 14cm. I also cropped the pockets, taking out a slither of their width in order to fit them onto the fabric. Because of this crop, I also only needed three buttons.
Fabric
The fabric David chose is a brushed cotton twill in a deep navy from Fabworks Mill and it's the softest fabric I own, it feels lovely. At £4 per metre it was an absolute bargain. The only problem is that it's very floppy so those big pockets don't hold up well, evident after over a year later. It also creases a lot (except for the collar which is interfaced). Perhaps I should have interfaced the pockets! Its soft drape brings a more casual look, which is still nice, but I was trying to recreate the classic utilitarian look which I think needs stiffer fabric like a heavy weight linen or a mid-weight denim/canvas.
While sewing my version, I thought to add little snaps to the inside of the pocket to help them stay up in the middle, I did this with both mine and David's and it helps his a lot.
The process
I always have a slight fear before sewing any kind of shirt/jacket because of the collars. I am scarred from my first ever collar which went disastrously, but was in fact saved in the end- it was this Butterick 6837 night shirt:
Since then, all my collars have actually been fine, but there's something about a shirt/jacket that feels innately more daunting.
It's actually been such a nice sew. I just went slowly and made sure I read the instructions properly before I jumped in, having sewn it before also helps of course. Part of my issue with collars is not being sure exactly what is required with sewing which bit where in which direction as instructions always seem to vary from pattern to pattern.
Maybe it's easier because I've sewn it before already, but it's nice that repeating a make over a year later reveals your progression and improvement! It can be a difficult thing to gauge otherwise.
Buttons
I had a few different wooden buttons in my stash to choose from. I had the same as David's, some that were the same size but a different shade, smaller ones, and some big dark brown buttons. I like all of them and just could not decide, which is so unlike me normally with sewing decisions, I know exactly what I want. I put a poll on instgram and the smaller buttons came in as the clear favourite:
I like to know people's opinions as it reveals to myself what I prefer. I did honestly like both, but I was “sad” not many people liked the big buttons, so I knew I would probably end up going with them... At the time I was finishing my dissertation though so I put off deciding for a couple of weeks.
Once handed in, I knew I had to face it and just sew some damn button holes. I still couldn't decide, I was so trepidatious because I worried I'd regret the big ones then be in a tricky situation with my huge button holes, if that wasn't an issue I wouldn't have been so unsure. I did a quick search of workwear type jackets and they all have small buttons, so I liked that the big ones would be a bit more unusual. I also realised, even if I change my mind later I could hand sew part of the button hole up for a smaller button and at the end of the day it wouldn't be that noticeable. I'm just a perfectionist and don't want to have to do this.
I enjoyed being able to use my metal expandable button marker for the first time to mark the position of the holes and buttons. Unlike David's, I decided that I wanted to have a top button so that I could do it all the way up.
The button hole I had to sew was the biggest I've ever sewn, it was a huge 4.5cm! It was longer than my button hole foot/maker, so I had to stop mid button holing and slide the foot forwards or backwards to allow me to keep going. Talking of buttonholing... I sewed two of the three buttonholes twice... twice! The first turned out wonky because I had to do this extending manoeuvre and didn't practice before hand, my fault entirely. The middle button hole was perfect first go. The top button hole was fine, but after sewing on my buttons I realised it was way too high up. Its positioning would have been fine for a normal sized button, but my extra large ones needed more space from the top of the placket. I got there in the end though, and I'm just glad that the placket was juuuust wide enough to fit my buttonholes.
Final Thoughts
Looking at the hashtag on Instagram, relatively few people have made this jacket, which is so surprising given it's actually really quite simple but such a cool design with its huge pockets, deep topstitching and sweeping, curved hem. Also, sadly, basically only men seem to be wearing this pattern, perhaps because it's marketed as 'MAN'S PATTERN' and called foreMAN. I'm surprised they didn't include this modelled by a woman too, I wish all patterns were just marketed as unisex! I suspect it's low popularity is due to its being menswear and also because M&M do another pattern very similar that people seem to be loving for the workwear vibe, the Ottoline, but this is more "denim jackety".
I'm really pleased with how mine turned out. I'm happy with the length and although the shoulders are broad, the soft fabric means this is not really an issue (for me anyway). I know I wrote in my first Foreman blog post that I had plans to make another in a stiffer fabric, but I haven't since, and I'm not in a rush. Although I'm pretty sure this is the only pattern that I could make out of the fabric in question, I have so many other things I want to get to first.
I don't have any more space for more clothes, but there are so many things I want to sew… And I've got my backlog of cut outs to finish too (this Foreman is probably the cut out I was most excited about making). Out of my cutout basket, I have an All Well Bucket bag I'd like to make, and a half finished Peppermint Peplum Top I'll finish because I started it, but other than that all the projects are very summery and so I will leave them until next spring.
Due to money, I'll continue to not buy any new fabric (bar a few remnants I bought this year and 1 special buy for my party Winslow Culottes), so I am slowly going through my (sizeable) stash. This is great, but frustrating sometimes because I don't have a massive variety of fabrics.
Having never really bought lightweight fluid, floaty fabrics like challis or viscose (I really dislike most of the prints you find in fabric shops), I find myself unable to make some patterns I'm dying to try like Named's Rae Pants. I got into viscose when I bought my first Atelier Brunette and discovered their beautiful designs, but given the price tag I won't be buying much of it. I actually plan to make a Solina jumpsuit for my graduation in February which will need to be out of something drapey and I've got my eye on some Atelier crepe. Hopefully I can save up for that one, I have nothing suitable otherwise.
I've just sewn two jackets and am feeling all Autumnal, I would love to now make an oversized linen blazer using either Burda 6463 that I bought a year ago, or a vintage pattern of my mum's (New Look 6502) but I won't make it unless I can use fabric from my stash- I really don't have the space (or money) for more! I don't have many linens that aren't scraps, so I'm thinking a rusty red that I was saving for this jumpsuit Burdastyle jumpsuit 113B. I think a blazer would be more wearable.
Pattern: Merchant and Mills' Foreman Jacket
Fabric: leftover Brushed cotton twill from Fabworks
Supplies: Interfacing, buttons, snaps for pockets.