Boiled Wool Belmore Jacket

I’m in the middle of a 3-day makefest to put together a whole new outfit (comprised of things I’ve been intending to make for months) for a concert that I’m attending tomorrow night!

My outer-layer for this outfit is this Muna and Broad Belmore Jacket in pink boiled wool from FabFabrics in Botany (I got the last of it, sorry)!

Fabric details: I ordered 2.5 metres of this pink boiled wool, and I think it’s possible that the shop sent me more than what I paid for (what a treat)! I didn’t bother measuring it before I started cutting, because I know that I have another couple of metres of this exact fabric on a roll! I have a decent chunk of fabric left over, and I recut the neckline after I wasn’t satisfied with the first one

My measurements: My current measurements are a 53″ low hip and I’m 54″ at my roundest point (around my belly). My full bust is 48″ and my upper bust is 43″. I am relatively short through the body, and have narrow shoulders compared to my other measurements.

Pattern modifications and Size: I used a straight Size E for this. The pattern modifications I made were because of boiled wool! I interfaced the neck band, with lots of steam. This caused the neck band to shrink (by a couple of inches on each end, and unevenly). I decided I’d just shorten the jacket to match the neckline, but when I attached it I realised that doing that would interfere with the pockets. So, I recut the neckbands and didn’t interface them this time. I then attached them to the fronts but realised that the length of the jacket had shrunk, probably while I was steaming other seams, so the new neckband was quite long and didn’t leave me room to do the hem. So, I took advantage of the non-fraying qualities of boiled wool and just cut the bottom hem off in line with the neckbands.

In these pictures I haven’t yet graded the neckband and given it all a good press, mostly because I was a bit concerned about how that might go down. I also haven’t fully decided what I’ll do about the internal finishing, if I’ll do anything at all!. Also, the arms got quite long (thanks to the knit nature of the boiled wool) so although I was intending to put some cuffs on, I’ve actually just folded them back and quite like that look!

This boiled wool Belmore Jacket is like being wrapped in a hug! I’ve been planning some kind of outer in this fabric for quite some time, so it was great to have an excuse to finally kick me into action!