This jacket feels special for so many reasons: I bought the pattern while on vacation in Berlin, I splurged on this lush wool bouclé from Mood, the snaps were ordered from England, it was my first time sewing out of a magazine….I could go on! But I think the results speak for themselves. This jacket will make any outfit memorable and I cannot wait to wear it once the temperature drops.

For mysterious reasons, it is hard to find Burda Style magazine, in English, in the USA (their distributer went under, I think). So when we planned a trip to Germany, I was excited to pick up a copy, after hearing about the excellent drafting and stylish patterns for years. In Europe, you can almost always find sewing magazines in the newstand/magazine shops in train stations - ideal for snagging a copy to read on your train ride to another city. This jacket immediately stood out to me, I didn’t care about the obstacles of tracing or translating the pattern. I knew I would make it.

I had no idea how good we have it with Big 4, most of the patterns in this magazine just have a terse paragraph of instructions. This pattern, however, is a featured pattern for the issue, so there are proper written instructions with illustrations, filling 3.5 magazine pages. But they’re in German! I found them in English online here. According to the size chart, I am size 42, but I measured the pattern pieces before tracing, and decided on size 40. I am 5’8” and almost always lengthen bodices, but I made no fitting changes to this pattern. (What a treat!)

Once you get those darts in, the shell of the jacket goes together quickly. I think the instructions are good, but if you have made a jacket before, you will likely know to add a few steps to improve the construction. For example, after sewing in the facing, you are instructed to clip seams, but not to understitch. I understitched all the facings, and then trimmed, graded, clipped quite a bit, as my fabric gets bulky. I also serged the hem of the shell, then pressed and basted up as instructed. Then I catch stitched the serged edge in place (not instructed), to hold it in place. Then I inserted the lining, attaching it to conceal the serged edge. I bagged the sleeve lining, which was probably the most fiddley bit of making this, and that still went pretty quickly.

The fabric I used is a wool bouclé from Mood in Manhattan. Believe it or not, I went in there, wearing my big orange dress, with a plan to buy black wool for this project. Ha! But I saw this bolt, and started dragging it around…until I realized I couldn’t leave without it. I lined the jacket in rayon bemberg, which tbh isn’t my favorite fabric or lining, but it is ideal here: lightweight, non-static, cool to the touch inside a warm wooley jacket. Because of my fabric choice, I pressed on top of a fluffy towel, with my silk organza pressing cloth, steam, and a clapper (one of my favorite sewing tools!). The towel prevented the bouclé from getting compressed.

The magazine has 2 versions of this jacket: one with large buttons & buttonholes, and one with snaps. I used decorative snaps. One thing to consider: if you use buttons, for the small interior button, you would need to make your buttonhole in the facing before lining the jacket, or maybe even sooner. These gorgeous flower shaped snaps are from Textile Garden in the UK - they have some of the best, most special closures. I couldn’t find anything like these snaps locally or on Etsy. Shipping to the USA was quick.

Have you ever sewn a magazine pattern? I hate tracing patterns, but the drafting and style of this jacket were so great, I am hooked (I’ve already traced off 2 patterns from this issue!). If you make this jacket, I hope this was helpful - you are gonna love wearing this special piece. Happy sewing! XO, Martha