Oldies: Retro jackets from tablecloths

I sewed these retro jackets about 8 years ago for my son and my daughter wore them after him. I made the both jackets with matching caps out of old tablecloths I found from flea markets.

What I love about this kind of retro projects is the pattern matching. The big patterns from the 60s and the 70s are both a challenge and an inspiration. The look of the garment changes completely by placing the pattern pieces on the fabric in a different way.

The pattern for these jackets came from vintage Elsebeth Gynther’s pattern book called Ompele Lapselle (translated from a Danish book: Börnetöj du selv kan sy). I loved the pixie hood and the bias-taped-seams at the shoulders. I never actually owned the book but I did a short internet search and found out that it has been published in Finnish in 1980. The patterns were super easy to make and had a clear retro-feeling to them.

The green jacket is my favourite due to the unusual fabric I found for it. Most of the retro fabrics are florals but this had a pattern that suited so well for a boy’s jacket. Not that I was so worried about choosing only “boyish” colors! My son liked red a lot, so I also made him a red coat:

I went through my photographs and found even a third jacket that I had completely forgotten. This one is a summer jacket with no quilted and wadded lining and plastic snaps instead of a zipper. The fabric was an old curtain. However, it seems that in the picture the jacket is already starting to be too small for the little man wearing it.

I still have at least the green and the red jacket in storage. I was super proud having made these retro jackets and I got tons of compliments even from total strangers when my son was wearing them!

Thank you for reading and see you soon! Happy sewing!

 

Katja