Not Hobie, but not too shabby - Burda 7498

In the midst of working on my March mini-wardrobe, I took a little detour this week to finish Burda 7498. I'd cut it out a few weeks ago and found it buried under the pile of pattern pieces after cleaning up from last weekend's flurry of activity.

{Little did my co-worker know I was talking to him and taking pictures of me in my new jacket at the same time. Tee-hee.}


What I originally had in mind when I landed on this pattern was a Hobie-inspired babycord jacket. When I think of Hobie (I'm a child of the seventies), I think of those cute corduroy surf shorts that were crazy popular in the early eighties. I was originally going to modify Simplicity 2443, the ubiquitous Cynthia Rowley jacket that everyone else has already made. I wanted it in a dove grey babycord for spring. For whatever reason, I got cold feet about that pattern and when the new Burda catalog came out, I cut out 7498 instead.

I followed the instructions to a T, including sewing the sleeve lining by hand at the armscye. In my determination to follow the directions, I failed to test fit it at some very critical points, and what we have is a beautiful jacket that is one size too big. Everywhere, the shoulders, the bust, the waistline. It's all one size too big.


It's not unwearable at all, I just like my clothes to fit much more closely. I'm already tall (5'10" on a short day) and when I add width to the equation I end up feeling enormous. I have a vague memory of a man in college saying something to the effect of "cornfed, Midwestern bred Amazonian" but I try to block that memory as best I can.

I know, white isn't practical, right? I have two small boys. So I'll probably wear it a few times and then dye it grey. Right around the time that the edges turn grey.


The pattern is fairly easy to put together, with one caveat. The welt pockets are too tiny for my Amazonian hands. Seriously, I wear a size 7 glove so my hands may be bigger than some, but they aren't man-sized. And I can really only comfortably fit the first four fingers in these pockets. If I were to make it again, I'd extend the welt upwards by an inch.

I haven't finished the tiny little details. I need to find white hook-and-eye closures for the front and my one stop at Hancock's was a bust. I'm sure I can find them online somewhere. I also have plenty of hand-sewing of lining to finish tonight, the perfect task for sitting on the couch with the TV on.


All in all, it's a lovely pattern and a lovely finished product that I think I can actually wear. And I will probably still take a stab at creating the Hobie-inspired cord jacket later this spring.