I set a pledge earlier in the year to make Paul more menswear. It’s a satisfying challenge to make garments for other people.

So far this year I’ve made him:

10 new t-shirts, a new Paxson sweater, a Suki Kimono, I’m not too far away from making him a button-up shirt.

This jacket isn’t on my challenge list but I wanted to show you a few of my past projects and my goals for Paul’s future wardrobe.

I have been looking for the right pattern to make Paul a bomber jacket.  I purchased McCalls 7637 with the view to make him a show-stopping jacket. Well, I think we succeeded.

The outer fabric is a Liberty of London cotton twill from The Fabric Store. I used a heavyweight ribbing remanent and a rayon blend for the lining.

Paul’s jacket is size Medium. I made a few minor changes to the pattern, I removed 2 inches from the width of the sleeve grading to nothing at the underarm.  I also removed 2.5 inches from the left and right side of the back of the jacket grading to nothing at the underarm. Both of these parts of the garment felt unnecessarily boxy. Paul loved that I took the time to fix the jacket to suit his style. Now we have a pattern that is perfect for him.

Compare the difference.

I also added very thin shoulder pads. This helps to give the garment structure and it sits on Paul’s body better than without them. The instructions for the lower band tripped me up. Thankfully a friend who had recently made the jacket talked me through the steps.

I hand-sewed most of the lining into the jacket. My hand sewing has improved a lot!

I added topstitching down the front of the zip, lined the pockets and added bar tacks for extra reinforcement.

I made Paul a cosy Paxson sweater as well. This fabric is fleece lined so keeps him snugly on cold winter days. I topstitched around the neck and cuffs which helps to stop the neckband from stretching out of shape

I hope you give this great unisex pattern a try. It’s great to see more companies designing interesting menswear patterns.