Bomber Jacket? Baseball Jacket? What is the difference? A review of Style Arc's Sharon Sweat Top.

What IS the difference between a baseball jacket and a bomber jacket in today's women's fashion? I don't profess to be a fashion expert but I kept seeing both terms used for what seemed to be the same or similar styles of jackets.

I did a little Pintrest search as "research" and came up with many similar jackets using both baseball and bomber jacket as search terms. Here are two very similar examples which were called different things.

This is listed as a "baseball jacket": (From here)

This one is a "bomber jacket": (From here)

I don't see much of a difference. Do you? After a lot of searching and looking at some really great jackets I've established that:

1. The terms "bomber jacket" and "baseball jacket" seem to be more or less interchangeable in women's fashion today
2. More "baseball jackets" than "bomber jackets" have snaps as opposed to zippers for the front closure
3. More "bomber jackets" than "baseball jackets" are made from or partially made from leather
4. "bomber jackets" sometimes have more pockets than "baseball jackets"

Some have raglan sleeves, some dropped or set in sleeves. Some use ribbing at the hem, sleeves and collar. Some use some other fabric (often with elastic inside at hem and sleeve cuffs). On some the bottom hem ribbing meets the front zipper and some have small panel of the fashion fabric on each side of the zipper at the bottom. There are many variations of the style above which are referred to sometimes as baseball jackets and sometimes as bomber jackets. 

In the sewing blogosphere I have mostly seen the style above referred to as a bomber jacket. There are many great patterns out there. I already sewed myself a lined version of Burda 7210 a few months ago as a Spring jacket. It's a great jacket which worked well for cool spring days and summer evenings but I wanted something different now. What I was looking to add to my fall/winter wardrobe was a fashion top version of the bomber jacket. I wanted something I could layer over a light top for indoors when it's cold out or even use as a very light jacket for days that aren't frigid (not too many of those unfortunately) Call it a more fashionable version of a sweatshirt.

 I found it in Style Arc's Sharon Sweat Top. It's not called a "bomber jacket" but it definitely fits the type of jacket I was finding in my Pintrest and Google searches. 

I made a few changes to the pattern. Most notably were the changes I did NOT have to make. I did not add any width to the waist or hip of the pattern which is very unusual for me being that I  am pear shaped and usually need to add to the hips and waist of tops. I normally use two pattern sizes larger for my skirts than I do for my tops. I measured the flat pattern and compared it to some sweatshirt type tops I own and decided to skip adding any width at all. It seems the pattern must be designed to fit loosely below the bust. It fit me perfectly without alteration! I did take about 2" of length off the bottom (moving the pockets higher when I did that) and a bit less than that off the sleeve length. My ribbing must have been stretchier than the ribbing the top was designed for because I had to take a bit of length off the sleeve and hem ribbing. I also adjusted the collar size slightly in this version, making it shorter and narrower as I didn't like how the larger collar lay on me. (It looked fine on my wearable muslin made out of french terry so it may just be the fabric I was using)

Speaking of fabric, the main body is what I am pretty sure is Neoprene/Scuba. It is a beautiful teal color. I bought it from Kashi at Metro Textiles a few weeks ago. He didn't call it that but it feels just like the "scuba" fabric I have bought from online fabric stores recently. The sleeves are black Siera Faux Leather" from fabric.com. The ribbing (black as well) is cotton "Heavy Rib Knit" from The Fabric Fairy. The zippers are from Wawak, I always stock up when they go on sale. I like the metal ones because I can easily adjust the size with my set of mini pliers.

All the pictures are indoors because all the outdoor pictures I tried to take made me look awful. I need to work on the photography thing a little more. Only a LITTLE more because part of what made me stop blogging all those months ago was frustration with photography. Photography is not my hobby. I'd so much rather sew!

Here's an outdoor photo. This is a quick snapshot my 10 year old took for me a few minutes after I finished it. I'm wearing it over a bulky sweater so the fit is a little snug. It's focus is fuzzy but it shows the color better.

I sewed the Style Arc label in the back neck facing :-)

Sewing with a plan, but not "SWAP"

So when the cool fall weather hit for good I realized that my everyday wardrobe was sorely lacking. I have bought very little clothing since I started sewing again about a year ago. I'm not on the official RTW Fast, (though, I am seriously thinking about joining for 2015!) I just really enjoy wearing my own handmade clothing. They fit well and therefore look much better on me and are more comfortable. I also get to sew exactly the colors and styles I like. My necklines, sleeve lengths, skirt lengths etc... can be exactly where I want them to be without being frumpy. And fabric shopping is WAY more fun than clothing shopping.

 Over the spring and summer I had sewn a lot of dressier clothing which I definitely have a use for. Even though I am a SAHM/WAHM Mom I dress up every Friday night and Saturday for Shabbat. In addition the Jewish calendar is FULL of holidays. The Autumn alone has Rosh Hashana (2 days), Yom Kippur and Sukkot (9 days!). But I cannot live in heels, fancy dresses and pearls every day (guess I wouldn't have been a good 50s housewife lol). So I sat down in the last week of October and sketched up this:

Two "mini wardrobes". Each consists of a skirt, two tops and a jacket or cardigan. The bottom right 4 garments have all already been sewn up and worn more than once.

Here's a shot of the skirt I posted on Instagram while I was sewing it:

I LOVE the fabric! It's this Neoprene from Emma One Sock.

I took a week long break from the "planned" sewing to sew a skirt for my daughter but last week was back to the plan and I have already fit the pattern for the jacket at the top. It is the Style Arc Sharon Sweat Top, here. (Yes, I am still loving Style Arc patterns!) The "muslin" actually ended up semi-wearable (and by that, I mean waiting for the school bus or working in the kitchen) and with a few pattern alterations the Sharon Sweat Top is going to be a great wardrobe staple for me. I may end up with with another one or two this season if other patterns don't call to me first. So many patterns... so little time...

On photography and blogging

So suddenly it's the middle of November and I haven't published a blog post since the middle of January. How did that happen?

Part of what's been holding me back has been photo taking. I mean, what's a sewing blog without pictures of what you're sewing? But I have NEVER been a photographer. Ask my mother in law. I never send pictures of the kids. Not because we don't love her. She's a great mother in law and grandmother. Just because I just don't take any. I'm more of an "enjoy the moment" person not one to  constantly snap pictures. I'm the mother who goes outside to play in the leaves and the snow with the kids but forgets to take pictures of them playing outside. So of course there is no visual evidence that my bigger kids ever played outside in the snow. Now that my big girls are tweens they have their own digital cameras and started taking pictures. ALL THE TIME. It's a bit annoying but also inspiring. It's great to finally have pictures of family outings and even just every day life. We're not talking super high quality photos here, just every day snapshots. And they're nice even though not  professional.

So I started snapping pictures here and there using my new Samsung phone. Because if I have to go get my camera it's NOT going to happen. And some of the pictures were actually not bad. They weren't sewing pictures, though. Then Sewvember came along and my Instagram feed was inundated with lots of fun sewing pictures. I jumped in with my own photos on day 4 or 5 and have been having so much fun since. I've realized that my pictures don't have to be perfect; even though so many of the sewing blogs have such stunning, professional photography that it really blows my mind. So I've invested in a little tripod with bendy legs (I can attach it to a chair, my deck railing etc...) that grips my phone and a $5 Bluetooth remote for my phone and now I can actually take a decent self portrait that isn't in a mirror. Yay!

Here was my first try:

It has a snazzy little frame I added from my phone's photo program and I did the background blurry thing on there too (I don't know any photographer terms lol) It's not the perfect angle but I'll get there soon I hope.

Oh and the top I'm wearing in the photo. That's one of the 52 unblogged garments I have sewn since January 19 when I last blogged. Yup 52. I've been a busy, busy sewist this year! No, I'm not going to go backwards and blog them all but I'll try to be a better blogger from now on.

That's all for now!