Little French Jacket No.2 (and a big fat fail)

I've been beavering away at my second Little French Jacket for the past couple of months...

and I was making good progress until I was side-tracked by the release of the Holly Jumpsuit, which jumped to the front of the blog (here), before my other finished projects.

I was so pleased with the first Holly, I made the wee adjustment to the back crotch curve, went fabric shopping especially and picked up this lovely viscose for a long pant version.  In the weekend just gone, I got it all stitched up enough for a quick fitting .... and then this

This pile, my friends, is my first UFO in a long time!  I believe it has got everything to do with the fabric choice.  It is too big, the crotch almost hangs down to my knees and it looks like a sack!  So for now I'm gonna consider this a big fat 'fail' and move on with my Little French jacket.

I'm not far away from finishing - I've just got the pockets to attached and the sleeves to set in.  With this Jacket I've decided to put four pockets on, like this ... the bottom pockets need bringing up by about 1/4 inch.

The fabric is like a cotton boucle, that I picked up off Trade Me (NZ version of eBay) from a sewer that was having a clean out.  When it arrived I really wasn't sure if I liked it or not, so I put it away in the stash and never thought much more about it. 

When I was ready to attempt my second Chanel inspired jacket, I still didn't think I was ready to cut into my really nice wool boucle, summer was coming and this cotton jumped to the top of the 'reasons why' list.  If it didn't work out then I wouldn't cry for days! 

What do ya know, it has actually begun to grow on me... when I started I didn't have the lining or the trim so I didn't really have a clear vision in my head of what it would look like.  When it was time for the lining, I must have looked at every possible lining option in The Fabric Store before it became obvious that this pink polka dot crepe de chine was perfect.  I'm not a polka dot person, so mentally I think I counted it out before I actual picked it up and placed it with the swatch I took with me.  It was the perfect match - don't you just love it when you surprise yourself with fabric choice!

I cut all the selvage from the fabric to use as trim ... note to self: cut off all trim after placing pattern on fabric and before cutting them out.  Why you may ask, because instead of two long continuous pieces of trim I had a few odd lengths and had to look at joining them in discrete places on the jacket.  Finding trim was another major shopping expedition with fabric swatch in hand.  I picked up this lovely black, white and gold trim, that was the perfect width to go over the selvage, from Made Marion 

So at this stage I'm feeling a lot happier about this jacket than I am about Holly the sack!  I think it will be the perfect colour to wear with a nice pair of jeans ... hmmm I can see it fitting into my wardrobe now :-)