The Trench – Christine Haynes Pattern

I’m on a stashbusting mission – spurred by The Quirky Peach, who launched a Summer Stashbust Challenge in June. I had intended to make The Trench from Christine Haynes‘ first book Chic & Simple Sewing but somehow never got around to it. A few years ago I had made two other versions of The Trench in solid fabrics (except for the bias tape, which was striped in one and houndstooth in another). You can see those versions here and here (warning – pix aren’t very good).

I’ve had three yards of this Joel Dewberry fabric, part of his Ginseng collection of cotton sateen home dec, since 2010 – yes, that’s a four-year delay! The image on the left is taken from Joel’s website so it has the correct color. Isn’t this fabric pretty? This is his Orchid design in the Jasmine palette.

It’s the fabric I picked for my first stashbusting projects. (Here’s my post on stashbusting.)

This is pattern is a TNT (tried and true) for me. It’s simple to make – with only seven pattern pieces to cu – front, back, sleeves, patch pockets, not including the bias tape. The only tricky part is the bias tape edging along the front edge and the neckline – you just need to be careful to catch the double-fold bias tape on both sides of the jacket. I didn’t do a very good job on the first one I made – my bias tape needed stabilizer. This is a medium-weight home dec fabric that didn’t need any stabilizer but it’s rather thick to sew at the beginning and end of the neckline where you have to fold over the ends.

I used size large and only made one adjustment – I made the sleeves about two inches longer because I have really long arms and didn’t want my sleeves to end too near my elbows.

This jacket has raglan sleeves, which means the sleeves go right up to the collar (think baseball tee). This style works well with my broad shoulders. I didn’t have to do any wide shoulder adjustments! My biggest challenge in making this particular jacket was deciding which color bias tape to use. If you follow me on Instagram (@csews), you may have seen all the variations – hot pink, green, cream, fabric – and then finally the winner – the same fabric plus hot pink bias tape. (Special thanks to the many sewcialists who chimed in when I was pondering my bias tape options!) I did a lot of basting and pinning before I finally got around to sewing the bias tape – and then I had to rip out and redo some of the neckline because I didn’t catch all of the pink bias tape. :/

Here’s a compilation of the IG photos. The last photo is of one of my patch pockets. I put a little bit of pink bias tape along the top edge of the pocket. I thought about putting it around the bottom of the pocket but I decided to keep it simple.

I decided to use the green bias tape for a Hong Kong seam finish for the side seams and sleeves. The Trench is an unlined jacket so I thought that would give it a nice look on the inside.

And I do like the look but – wow – it sure is tedious because you have to sew the bias tape to each raw edge, which means two strips of bias tape per seam. Then I ran out of bias tape and I had to buy another package (grrrr), using nearly 6 yards total!

Check out those seams!

I used hot pink seam tape for the sleeve hems and the bottom hem, which you can see above. And here are a few more photos.

I really like this jacket but I don’t think it goes with much of my existing wardrobe, so it’s not as versatile as I thought it would be. Actually, I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it but I was really fixated on making this jacket with this fabric.

I do have a few RTW things in a solid cream, such as this skirt and sweater but it’s not a color I wear very often. I have a lot of solid black in my wardrobe  so maybe I could wear that with this jacket in the fall. The large patch pockets are great. I can easily put my phone, keys, a small notebook, and more in these pockets.

Here’s a closer shot of the front – you can see the flat piping.

Finally, here’s  detail of my vintage beret. I got it at All Things Vintage in Oakland. It’s got eight sections, which gives it a nice round shape. It’s one of my favorite berets. Oh, and the lipstick I’m wearing is American Beauty by Besame Cosmetics. As soon as I saw it on Handmade by Heather‘s IG feed (@knitnbee) a couple of weeks ago, I had to get it.

Backstory of the shoot: I got up early because I knew it would be overcast in the morning and the cloud cover would be gone in a couple of hours and I wanted to avoid the hot California sun that would cast stark shadows. I walked to my shooting location, set up my tripod and shot about three test shots using my digital camera’s timer. Then the battery died! The one time I didn’t check the battery. Auugh! So I traipsed home, plugged in the charger for about an hour and hoped that would be enough power – luckily it was.

What are you making this summer? Are you using any stash fabric?