Making Butterick 6948

Making Butterick 6948 is what I did for one of my latest Minerva Fabrics projects. This is one of those wardrobe patterns where you can make several garments from one pattern. For this project. I only focused on the jacket.

The Fabric

This Minerva Exclusive Organic Cotton Twill is a stunning print. It’s called Parading Palms and the more technical name of the fabric is tencel lyocell twill in medium weight. There’s no stretch in the fabric.

Parading Palms fabric
Minerva Exclusive Organic Cotton Twill Parading Palms

This fabric is soft and has great drape. It would be perfect for something like palazzo pants, skirts, or jackets. I’m a Minerva Brand Ambassador so this was gifted to me.

The Pattern

I chose to use Butterick 6948 because I like the trench-style jacket look for this print. Also, because the design of the pattern is relatively simple, it’s perfect for a bold, large print.

Butterick 6948 pattern front

I chose to make View A, which is the shorter jacket with sleeves. It’s described as an unlined jacket with matching belt carriers button epaulettes and side seam pockets. I did not add the button epaulettes since I didn’t have the type of buttons I wanted for them. But with this print, they really aren’t missed.

woman wearing Butterick 6948

One thing I found interesting about this pattern is that it instructs you to interface the entire front facing. That’s quite a lot. I did it only because with the drape of this material, it probably wouldn’t hold it’s shape without it. But, if I were to make this pattern again from a stiffer fabric (one with less drape), most likely the wholly interfaced front facing would not be necessary. 

Back view of Butterick 6948

No alterations were needed to the pattern in regards to the fit.

The Fabric For Making Butterick 6948

This lyocell twill washes and dries great! Something I always do is wash my fabrics before I use them. That way I’m assured that once the garment is made, it’s clean AND I won’t have to worry about it shrinking.

Making Butterick 6948 front view

Conclusion

Overall, the pattern is easy to make. I only made this one item from the pattern, but this was certainly not difficult. I do love taking a straightforward designed patten and using it to make something stunning and/or unexpected. That’s an easy way to elevate your wardrobe and a sewing pattern.

The Cashmerette Glover Jeans Jacket

The Cashmerette Glover jeans jacket is a new pattern that is included in the Cashmerette Club. For those who may not know, Cashmerette is a pattern company that makes patterns for women with full busts that can be hard to fit. They have a wide range of patterns for women of all sizes.

The Pattern

The pattern is described as a classic jeans jacket with welt pockets, chest pockets and a high hip length. The sewing level is Intermediate.

Woman wearing the Cashmerette Glover jean jacket

Fabric and Changes I Made

This Glover is a size 14. I recommend checking the size chart and going with what best matches your measurements. Because I know how I wanted the jacket to fit, most attention was paid to the finished garment measurements as well as the actual body measurements. I don’t think the results would have been as good had I gone down to a size 12. One thing that I always pay attention to for jackets is will I be comfortable getting it off and on. When I considered that, I knew I wanted to go with the larger (14) size.

Front view of woman wearing Glover jean jacket

To really be sure of the fit, I did make sure to do a muslin before cutting into my fashion fabric.

woman wearing muslin of jeans jacket
Trying on the Glover muslin

The fabric I used is a black linen blend (medium weight) that I had in my fabric stash. There’s no stretch in the fabric.

Glover jacket back view

As far as the fit and alterations, I didn’t make any changes for the fit. There’s a pocket tab that I didn’t include. Also, the jacket has side tabs that attach with buttons. Those weren’t included either.

woman in jean jacket front view

Topstitching

As far as the topstitching is concerned, I use regular thread and not actual topstitching thread.
What I do, and this applies to when I make jeans or a jean jacket, is use the triple stitch on my sewing machine. If you have another machine, you can set that up with your topstitching thread. This will make things easier and faster since you won’t have to keep changing out the thread.

Glover jacket front view

Conclusion

This is a terrific pattern for a classic jeans jacket. It’s not difficult to sew although you may find the welt pockets a bit challenging. The instructions are well written and can be understood easily. There is a sew along online that should give you step-by-step help as well.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments about my experience sewing this pattern!

*As a Cashmerette Club collaborator, I received a year of All Access membership in return for sewing up this pattern.

Sewing Lessons I Learned In 2024

There are many sewing lessons I learned in 2024. They all came from sewing a variety of garments and working with some materials I’ve never used before.

Lesson #1

When I started the year sewing a black turtleneck as part of my “Back To Basics” sewing series on YouTube, I realized that having those basics are really essential.

Wardrobe By Me Trudy turtleneck

Having something that can go with so many other things can be the key to getting dressed quickly and confidently. It can also save you some money.

Lesson #2

I used a laminated fabric in order to make a raincoat. This is a project that had been put off for years. But here are some things I learned from this:

  • Use a nonstick foot on the sewing machine. This will make the process so much easier.
  • A new, nonstick needle can also make things go smoother.
  • Use clips rather than pins. You want to keep the pin holes in the fabric to a minimum.
Woman wearing rain coat

These are just a few of the lessons I learned while working on this project.

Lesson #3

Another sewing lesson I learned in 2024 is that it can be a good idea to sew something trendy.

I made the Seamwork Iggy pants. These are barrel-leg jeans that are trendy and fun to wear. I chose this pattern because it didn’t have a very pronounced bow or barrel shape. That was important because I didn’t want to look bow-legged.

Woman wearing Seamwork Iggy pants

Lesson #4

It’s okay, and probably essential, to sew something FUN! Now, sewing something fun can take on it’s own definition depending on the sewist.

For me, one of my fun projects this past year was this color blocked dress using Simplicity 9886.

Woman wearing Simplicity 9886 dress

This one took some planning and I needed to use my artistic skills to sketch it out before cutting into my fabric.

Another fun project for me was making this yellow dress.

Woman wearing Vogue 8847

This one I did as a Minerva Brand Ambassador. I just love this yellow and the pattern was easy to sew.

Conclusion

I think it’s important to have some fun while you’re being creative. There are ways to challenge yourself and I do this as well. I worked with faux leather for the first time in 2024. Just like the laminated fabric, that was a challenge that had been put off for a while.

For this new year of 2025, I plan to keep on doing the same. I’ll challenge myself to improve and learn and I hope you will do the same.