‘Cause This is Thriller!

Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!

Thriller jacket!
Thriller jacket!

Here’s Sidra’s Thriller jacket! Although it is not supposed to be a costume, I think it is appropriate to post it on Halloween.

As I’ve posted before, I made this jacket on Sidra’s request for his fall jacket. He wanted either a Thriller or Beat It jacket. The number of zippers on Beat It jacket looks overwhelming so I went with the Thriller one.

The jacket is based on Nectarine jacket pattern from Tamanegi Kobo, a Japanese pattern shop. I changed the closure to zipper and then drafted the three flaps for the buttons. The original Thriller jacket doesn’t seem to have zipper, but I think a zipper would be more practical for kid’s jacket. Sidra doesn’t have to use all those snap buttons if he doesn’t want to.

The sleeves are redrafted to be one piece instead of two pieces and the side piece is divided and added to the back piece and front piece. The collar only needs little changes as the shape is already similar. Then I drafted the V parts over the jacket. The quilted parts on the shoulders are just two layers of fabric stitched together while the collar has thin batting inside.

I didn’t want to make the whole jacket in (vegan) leather as it would be too expensive and I wasn’t sure of my skill in sewing leather. So  I use red cotton jersey with black vegan leather for the details. The jacket is lined with thin black cotton jersey.

It turned out to be one of the most challenging project that I’ve ever had! My machine hated the thick layers, especially around the top and bottom of the zipper. I didn’t know anything about sewing leather, and it turned out that I might need special sewing feet and needle to do it. The sewing feet kept stuck over the leather, resulting in uneven stitches length. Thankfully the leather is just for the details, so glad that I decided not to make the whole jacket in leather. When it came to the leather straps around the cuffs and the jacket bottom band, I just glued two strips of leather and only sewed the end parts to the red fabric.

Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!

Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!

I also had difficulty installing the snap buttons. The ones I initially used had prong rings with little teeth around them (the left picture). The tiny teeth are supposed to pierce the fabric and hold the button cap on the other side. But they just couldn’t stay put and the button came off when I tried closing and opening them. I finally took them off and changed to a different kind of snap buttons (the right picture). These are sold under the name ‘Dot button’ in Japan. They require me to pierce a hole through all the layers and hammered down the snap buttons from the other side. These ones did it!

Snap button with prongs Snap button (sold as dot button in Japan)

Thriller jacket!
Check out the welt pocket!

In my previous post about the jacket, I stated that that the welt pockets are fake because I failed when making them. Guess what? They are now real pockets! Sidra kept trying to put his hands into the pocket in the fitting session so I knew the jacket wouldn’t be too wearable without real pockets. Luckily, Sarai at Colette recently posted a welt pocket tutorial in the Anise jacket sew-along!

By this time, the bottom band is already installed, but I bravely unpicked them and carefully crafted those welt pockets! Even I admired my own perseverance! Thank you Sarai!

Sidra was ecstatic to wear the jacket. And even happier when he could put his hands in the pockets! It’s his day-to-go jacket now and every time he put it on, he would turn at me and said, ‘Thank you for the jacket, Mama!’ Those are the the little things that would be my answer when I wonder why I went through all this trouble for a jacket that won’t be wearable anymore in about two years.

The other day I got a bit upset when Sidra asked me impatiently,‘What’s taking you so long with the jacket? Isn’t it easy making them?’ Easy?? But then  I couldn’t really blame him. He had been waiting for me for days to finish that jacket while he’s used to see me making things a bit faster than that. Oh you need a new pair of pants? Here it is (handed the pants to him a couple hours later). You want a hoodie? No problem! Etc.

No wonder he thought that everybody is DIY-ing all the time. When I finally presented the jacket to him, he asked,‘Did Michael Jackson make his own jacket as well?’ 😀
Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!
Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!
Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!

Thriller jacket! Thriller jacket!

Pattern is based on Nectarine jacket size 130, PDF pattern (Japanese) from Tamanegi Kobo.

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