A versatile blazer

A review of Friday Pattern Company Heather Blazer

Reviewed by MingMakes on 7th June, 2023

This was my second time sewing a jacket (first was the Sienna Maker Jacket) and my first lined one which is why it appealed. I love a lined garment, feels like a touch of luxury. I used an ivory herringbone linen, with a blue cotton polka dot lining, both bought while on holiday in Malaysia.

I sewed this on a 3-day workshop with Claire Tyler which was very helpful. I didn’t manage to finish it during the workshop but she provides us with her online video course to watch at your leisure (lifetime access). This meant I didn’t really have to reference the instructions very much as Claire led us through the process, changing some of the steps to get a better result. She also gave us various types of interfacing and tape relevant to our fabric.

Fitting adjustments

I had just finished the Sienna Maker Jacket and so I compared the finished garment measurements. They matched XS in the Heather, although my measurements put me at size M. I wrote a separate post on my fitting process for this blazer with photos of my toiles.

  • The sleeves were tight so I sized up from the elbow downwards to size S. 
  • I had a gaping front neckline so distributed the excess of 2cm into the surrounding seams at the shoulder, armhole and centre front.
  • I did an upper rounded back adjustment of 1.5cm and lower RBA of 1cm. 
  • I shortened the blazer by 6cm

Other changes

I handstitched the patch pockets for an invisible look instead of machine topstitching.

With Claire’s guidance, I sewed in the lining without bagging out, so handstitching it in place at the hems. We also added a pleat in the back of the lining for a bit of ease.

She taught us to draft and sew in a plastron but I’m not sure it was necessary for this style of jacket and my fabric. Others were sewing the Jasika Blazer in more structured fabric which it seemed more appropriate for.

This is a nice wardrobe basic, and goes with a lot of stuff in my wardrobe. The slightly crumpled linen makes it look casual. I’m not sure I’d sew another one again, partly because you only need so many blazers, plus I think I prefer a more fitted blazer. However, this has had a fair number of outings so far so this particular one has become a bit of wardrobe staple.

More photos and details in my blog post.