Make your very own jacket

Sew along with me starting August 17

I’m so excited to host this online sewing class! We’ll sew the Ilford Jacket together, and as you will see below, there are lots of ways to customize this piece. It might more accurately be deemed a shacket than a jacket—somewhere between a shirt and a jacket. It can be a short, it can be long. It can be a stiff chore coat or a light weight layering piece. It can have a pencil pocket. It can have lots of pockets or no pockets. It can have placket sleeves or boxy sleeves.

I’ve made the short version twice in the past, but for this class I’m planning to make the longer version in a bright and bold colorful fabric.

Check out the Gallery below to see lots of different ways people have styled this pattern! What’s appealing to you? Let your imagination run wild…

This class is perfect for people who have some sewing experience, but less or no experience sewing with garment patterns. Moving through the process together will be a fun and supportive way to learn about everything from choosing fabric, to cutting fabric pieces accurately for your vision and your body, to trouble shooting wherever the sewing gets confusing or frustrating along the way.

We’ll meet Sundays 2-4 pm Eastern Time, and all sessions will be recorded.

Write to me with any questions at jen.willsea@gmail.com.

Soon I will get back to more antiracist-focused writing, but please know that I don’t consider my sewing to be unrelated to my antiracism work. For more on why I love to sew garments and how I experience garment sewing as a liberatory practice, see my last newsletter.

Gallery of Ilford jackets and shackets

From Instagram (search #IlfordJacket to find these and many more):

From Friday Pattern Company’s website:

Regular length jacket made with organic rust colored canvas, size medium with placket sleeves. Photo from Friday Pattern Company’s website.

Regular length jacket made with tan colored lightweight cotton canvas, size small, with placket sleeves. Photo from Friday Pattern Company.

Regular length jacket made with orange plaid cotton flannel, size medium with placket sleeves. Photo from Friday Pattern Company.

Longer length jacket made in cotton/rayon jacquard, size small, with boxy sleeves. Photo by Friday Pattern Company.

Longer length jacket made with polka dot cotton/linen canvas, size 4X with boxy sleeves. Photo from Friday Pattern Company.

I love this Ilford Scrap Jacket made by Brian Johnson. Check out this blog post about his process here: https://fridaypatterncompany.com/blogs/blog/scrap-fabric-ilford-jacket-by-brian-johnson-ambitious_bjohn

This is a screenshot of the paper doll file provided by Friday Pattern Company, which you can use to play around with little paper shapes to decide how you want your own jacket to look. Note all the fun pocket possibilities, including the pencil pocket. :)

Abolish ICE

Me, in dark brown pigtails and a navy blue sweater, wearing a black hat with the words Abolish ICE in orange and white.

It so happens that there is a session hosted by Soma SJ focused on MIGRANT JUSTICE/BEYOND BORDERS tomorrow. This is free and open to all. Just click the link at the appointed time and join:

WHEN: July 15th from 9-10:30amPT/ 12-1:30pmET/ 6-7:30pmCEST with Erika Lyla and Donaji Lona.

WHAT: Together, we'll focus on the theme of Migrant Justice/Beyond Borders, exploring how to resource into something bigger to help us do the good work of organizing, visioning, and healing for the sake of migrant justice. We will emphasize how we belong to each other and the land rather than borders or states.

WHO: The SomaSJ Practice Community is free and open to everyone. Bring your community, your team, or anyone you'd like to practice with. This is an embodied practice space with others committed to social and climate justice, to healing, to Land, and to a life-affirming future.

Zoom Info:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87572308308?pwd=oG5m0vOkP6H6eybBvE37a0fQXbtRR5.1

Meeting ID: 875 7230 8308

Passcode: 905463

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