Cashmerette Club - Kimball Organza Bomber Jacket - 5102

Cashmerette - Kimball Bomber

The Cashmerette Club launched in February 2022. With membership, members receive access to one new and exclusive pattern each month designed for sizes 0-16 and 12-32 in cup sizes C-H as a downloadable PDF.

The Kimball Bomber Jacket was the first pattern released.

Made for curves with simple bust darts this jacket is designed for mid to heavy- weight woven fabrics such as duck cotton, canvas, sateen, brocade, jacquard or wool blend. 

I made 2 Kimball Bomber Jackets, one in sequins and satin and one in patchwork organza. 

What I really like about the Kimball is the fit for a full bust is excellent. The simple seam lines allow you to choose a busy or bold print without loosing the prints design impact to lots of vertical seams as a princess seam style Bomber would. It is also well suited to a complicated fabric like sequins which requires the removal of sequins from the seam lines.

Sequin Kimball Bomber

I used a reversible stripe sequin fabric for the front and back from Spotlight. 

From my stash I found a satin fabric in a navy with a slight stretch for the sleeves.

I used lightweight wadding for the quilted sleeves and navy ribbing from Spotlight and a heavy wet look satin for the pocket lining from The Remnant Warehouse. 

Universal interfacing from Spotlight to stabilise the sequins.

Interfacing ironed to the seam lines, bust dart and welt pocket.

I chose a the sequin fabric because I have always wanted a sequin bomber jacket. When I bought this particular sequin fabric online it was not made clear that the sequin part of the fabric was only 70cm wide but the whole width including the very wide mesh edge was 130cm. So I thought I was buying 130cm worth of sequins not just 70cm. The narrowness of this fabric then limited what I could actually do with it. 

The Kimball Bomber turned out to be perfect for my fabric. 
I cut out the pattern pieces with my 'cutting sequins' scissors and some safety goggles!

I hand tacked the position of the bust darts and welt pockets onto the wrong side of the sequin fabric. I used snips to cut off the top of every sequin within these areas so I would be able to sew them easily.

sequins removed from the welt pocket placement

I cut strips of light weight interfacing and ironed them on the back of the sequin fabric over all of the seam allowances to stabilise the knit fabric before I cut away the sequins. 

There was a lot of sequin snipping! I couldn’t unpick the stitching holding the sequins so snipping them and picking out the remaining sequin with tweezers was my only option.

 I removed the sequins from the seam allowance of all the other seemliness.

Because the fabric was stretchy I ended up interfacing the fronts and back with the Universal Interfacing (which I love because it actually stays stuck to the fabric) to stabilise the fabric and stop it sagging. 

Sleeves
I quilted my stretch fabric very carefully as I didn't want to interface it because it would add excess thickness. I used a variegated metallic thread with the colours pink, purple and turquoise for the quilting. I pinned the fashion fabric to the wadding and the lining fabric with safety pins. I sewed carefully through all the layers always sewing in the same direction to prevent skewing. 

Pockets
The welt pocket construction is explained in detailed diagrammed instruction. 

I sewed the lining as instructed, turned the pocket bag through and understitched the pocket bag seam to the seam allowance. 

Satin lined welt pockets

I carefully pinned the zip in place then I hand stitched the zip to the seam allowance and slip stitched the zip tape to the lining. I did not topstitch the welt pockets as the pattern recommended because of the sequins.

Bands
I used a navy heavy ribbing from Spotlight for the neck, cuff and waistband.

Lining
I sewed the jacket according to the instructions but added a lining which is not included in the instructions. 

Cashmerette patterns work really well for my body shape which is high bust X bust X waist G cup. I don’t have to make lots of alterations like I do for other brands. While this particular pattern is only available with membership in their new club there other patterns are available as PDF or paper and I’ve used a few successfully. 

Organza Kimball Bomber

I wanted a unique jacket to wear to a production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert in Queensland Australia where it is very humid. This organza jacket gave me the colour and sparkle without the weight of sequins and the metallic finish without having to use brocade fabric. I paired it with a simple black dress. I made a bag to match with hand made organza cup flowers from the left overs. 
The inspiration for this jacket came from a workshop I did on making silk organza Bojagi clothing.
What I really like about the Kimball is the fit for a full bust is excellent. The simple seam lines allow you to choose a busy or bold print without loosing the prints design impact to lots of vertical seams as a princess seam style Bomber would. It is also well suited to a complicated fabric like sequins which requires the removal of sequins from the seam lines. 

For the outside fabric I used A combination of mirror organza, silk organza, crystal organza, shot organza, crushed organza and satin organza. 

I created my fabric using patchwork techniques. I made a bunch of log cabin blocks from 1” and 1 & 1/2” strips of a variety of different colours and finished organza. I pressed each square carefully all under a cloth. 

I built up the patchwork organza fabric directly over the pattern piece rather than making a big piece of fabric and cutting my pattern out from that. I chose to angle the blocks rather than having them horizontal. This meant my “fabric” ended up on the bias.

 I also cut all the pattern pieces out of white mirror organza. After each pattern piece was completed I layer it over the white organza piece and pinned them together carefully easing the bias edges to the correct shape. I trapped some the lei petals between the layers of organza. 

I backed my patchwork fabric with white mirror organza.

I trapped some faux petals from a costume lei between the layers of organza.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
The only alteration I did to the pattern was to lengthen the sleeves 2cm. I should have made them at least another 2-4cm longer. 
I did not use ribbing for the collar, cuffs and waistband, instead I made casings from white mirror organza and threaded striped metallic elastic through them. 

I quilted the layers together sewing on top of the seam lines in both directions using a variegated thread. 

silk organza strip used to stabilise the welt pocket opening

pocket bag pined in place

welt shape stitched through al the layers

welt pocket cut ready to turn 

Pocket bag turned to the inside and topstitched

I used French seams for the shoulders, armholes, underarm, pocket bags and side seams.

I used the original Kimball pattern pieces for the shape of the bands but extended their length to fit the jacket as they would not be stretch out like the intended ribbing. I cut them from the white glass organza. 

Into these casings I inserted the amount of elastic to fit my size. 

For added interest I chose a striped metallic elastic for the  sheer casings.

I used an invisible style white open end zip and inserted it along with the zipper facing as the instructions suggest. 

Matching Handbag

Original bag was made of metallic pattern silk.

Lining removed from bag

Bag disassembled 

Left over organza fabric strips sewn together to create patchwork panels

Organza flowers made from different sized squares which have been melted with an open flame into a circle. Cups nested and sewn together with a crystal in the centre.

I sewed all the different cup flowers over the sides of the bag then reassembled it. 

Cat scan - approved!

I made a new lining with extra pockets and used the original handles .