The latest part of my steampunk costume is the jacket. It was going to be the blouse but that didn’t go so well so I moved on to the jacket which proved to be the easiest element (I’ve already done the skirt, bustle, and gun).
I traced around an existing jacket that I have and decided to just cut one piece to make it quicker. I then sewed up the sides and on top of the shoulders and tried it on. The jacket I had drawn around had darts in it that I had totally ignored so the fit was quite boxy, after adding the darts it would become quite a snug fit! 
I made the sleeves and hemmed them before sewing along the side edge which was a lot easier than the other way around. I made the top of the sleeve bigger than it needed to be so I could ruche it when I came to sew it and make a pouffy shoulder. It’s easy to do you just sew the edge of the fabric with a loose running stitch and then pull the thread until it’s the size you want. I created a tail for my jacket at the back so it would blend better with my bustle which is in the same fabric.
thebarethreads 