In Michigan, Labor Day signals the end of summer. It could be 90 degrees and dripping with humidity, but it’s the last summer weekend. This past year, it was cool, a bit rainy, and feeling fall-ish. The weather had me thinking about more transitional garments and, probably the most versatile garment ever made is the oldie-but-goody jeans jacket. That stalwart of many wardrobes was the inspiration for my ninth riff on the Fit for Art Patterns Tabula Rasa Jacket (TRJ).

Solving a fabric shortage

I started, as I usually do, by scrounging around in my fabric stash. I found a large scrap, maybe 1/2 yard, of a heavyweight linen that was leftover from a pair of jeans I made in 2021. There wasn’t enough for my desired jacket, so I kept searching. I found one or two other contenders, but kept looking longingly at the black linen. After a few more unsuccessful passes at the stash, I wandered around the Web to see if I could find the same fabric again and, at that point, it occurred to me that I had only ever worn the jeans one time. I obviously never picked them. Hmmm, this project was turning into a remake as well as a TRJ riff.

Pattern layout

I pulled out the jeans and started arranging my pattern pieces to see if I could make this redo work. I needed the fronts, back, side panels, sleeves, some pockets, and a collar. When I was more confident that I could squeeze out the pieces I needed, I chopped off the jeans, opened the inseams, and started to lay out my project in earnest.

 

Fortunately, my jeans were of the wide-leg variety. One leg became the back with the flat-felled outseam positioned at the center back. The other leg turned…