Another Marcy T Winner - #1 of 2

If I combine my Marcy and Katherine Tilton patterns and pretend they're a single designer (which they definitely are NOT, albeit there are design similarities), I'm pretty sure that at this point I've made up more of their patterns than any other single designer.

I must like what they do.  :)

This time it's Marcy's V8088, now OOP, and I'm SO glad I have it!   I made up my version of the jacket using a freebie fabric from one of my local sewing groups.   LOVE the fabric print, and even though it's almost certainly a poly/nylon sort of blend, it's thin and fairly breathable, and besides I LOVE the fabric print!  (did I say that already?)

I meant this fabric as a practice piece, and sewed it muslin style (i.e., sloppy basting stitches, unfinished edges), but ended up liking it so much that I took it apart, made my alterations and sewed it up 'for real'.  The results have given me an outfit that is getting a whole lot of wear lately!

The rusts, deep sagey blue-greens, beiges and burgundys coordinate with a lot of other pieces in my wardrobe, and anything that dresses up jeans just a little is a winner in my book!

The alterations:

1.  Shortened it by about 2".   Be careful here!   What I thought about shortening the back was wrong - it's deceptive.  There are triangular side pieces that can easily throw you off - I shortened the back and ended up needing to eliminate the 1" hem on the back piece in order to have it meet the sides.  Definitely do a muslin if you want to change the length!
2.  I cut in the armscye (which is also an oddly cut piece) by over an inch for my narrow shoulders.   I did not change the sleeve cap at all - cutting in the armscye and leaving the sleeve cap as is sometimes works out fine for me, since I really dislike sleeve puckers.
3.  The sleeves have a facing that is turned back to form the cuff.   After I sewed the facing on, I sort of liked the look of turning back the cuff, but leaving the facing free to hang down.   So I sewed a hem on the end of the facing, essentially re-designing the "cuff".
4.  I didn't use any contrasting fabrics or embellishments; and I used a decorative stitch to finish the hems and edges (the pattern just calls for a zig-zag)

This jacket has garnered a lot of compliments, no matter what I pair it with - a definite winner!

I immediately set to work on making a version in what was to be my Final Fashion Fabric - it's another winner, but I don't have pics yet.   That post will be coming up soon....

Isn't it fun when a muslin/practice piece/toile ends up being a wardrobe winner?   Have you had unexpected successes like that?   Feel free to link your success stories in your comments...I'll add them to the post, if you would like :)