Revisiting My Salamanca Jacket: A Box Of Broken Dreams Rescue

Do you guys remember when I made this Salamanaca Jacket from Itch-To-Stitch last spring? I skipped the whole muslin thing, and while my final garment was a size too small, I thought it was still wearable.

Except...

I never wore it. The cuff modification I used made the sleeves uncomfortably tight from the elbow down. Take that as a valuable lesson about measuring yourself properly and taking the time to make a muslin!

I put lots of hard work into those bound buttonholes, and I felt sad every time I passed it up to wear something else. Now that Jacket Season has returned, I decided to revisit this jacket and do something to make it wearable. 

I put the jacket back on yesterday and found most of my complaints stemmed from the fit of the sleeve at the elbow. It's too tight and restricts my movement. I needed to cut the sleeve off just above the elbow. But of course, what good is a short sleeved jacket in the fall? I still wanted to maintain the 3/4-ish sleeve length. 

Enter Sirena Dress from Itch-To-Stitch

I've loved those delicate bell sleeves since the pattern was released...so why not try a pattern mash up?

I started by measuring the circumference of the sleeve at my elbow, then I marked the seam allowance on the bell cuff pattern piece and measured that same amount plus 1/2 inch seam allowances.

The rest of the prep was pretty straight forward: cut 2 cuffs from my outer fabric and 2 from my lining. Fortunately, I had large enough scraps of both for the pieces I needed.

I used the directions in the Sirena Dress pattern to construct the cuffs. It's pretty intuitive: Stitch the side seams, tuck one inside the other with right sides facing, stitch the bottom and understitch to the lining side.

I put the jacket back on and marked my elbow with a pin. When measured flat, it was about 4.5 inches from the edge of the cuff. 

I marked that all the way around and then pinned the cuff on for a quick check before I started cutting.

I thought it looked great, so I went ahead and sliced off the sleeve at my markings and stitched only the pink suiting to the sleeve, all the way through both the lining and the fashion fabric. I left the lining of the cuff loose, pulling it out of the way while I sewed.

To maintain the same clean finish that is in the rest of the jacket, I tucked the seam allowance of the cuff lining in and basted it down to secure it. It was a simple matter to pin the edge so that it just covered the stitch line where the cuff is attached to the sleeve.

A little slip stitch to hold it in place.

And here it is from the inside: Nice and clean.

Now I can bend my arms and my lovely Salamanca Jacket is wearable again!

I've rescued a garment from my Box of Broken Dreams... What garment do you have that can be given a new lease on life with a little modification?

Box of Broken Dreams: Where My Mistakes Linger.