Grey Ribbed Knit Rigel Bomber

I've been meaning to sew up this pattern forever. It's the Rigel Bomber from Papercut Patterns and I've fallen in love with basically every version I've seen on the internet. Every time I've seen a new one I've hopped on over to the website and hovered over the buy button. I've always hesitated though as I've never been tempted by the bomber style in RTW and wasn't sure if it was one of those designs that looked amazing in other people and like lots of fun to sew but yet wasn't quite 'me'. Then Papercut had a Black Friday sale and and the pattern dropped through my letterbox about a week later...

I can't believe I've waited this long to make it. I loved constructing it and despite it being a trial version in non-ideal fabric it has rapidly come one of the most worn handmade items in my wardrobe. It is designed for woven fabrics but at the time of buying the pattern I’d recently picked up a piece of really interesting grey marl knit with quite a pronounced rib on a trip to the mythical knit warehouse in Tottenham. It was £1/m (as is nearly all the fabric there, I kid you not!) which is pretty much the perfect price for the first attempt at a pattern which you are apprehensive about because of all the new aspects and techniques. I figured the relaxed fit of the jacket would quite suit a knit and there’s not much stretch in my fabric anyway. It turned out so perfectly for this jacket I’m now having a hard time imagining making it in anything else. The rib adds a bit of interest, whilst the grey means it sees a lot of wear as it goes with just about everything in my wardrobe!

I put the question of what colour ribbing to use to Instagram as I just had no idea! Isn't it tempting when you are making a garment for yourself to go crazy with colour blocking, prints and contrast because you have the choice is all yours. Sometimes it's hard to reign in the creativity to make sure you end up with something wearable and that can actually be worn with more than one other garment in your wardrobe! In the end I came across this grey ribbing in UK Textiles on Goldhawk Road which is just a few shades darker than my main fabric so that those features don’t disappear into the bulk of the jacket. I’m glad I kept it simple and didn't go for too strong a contrast or add in a colour as it's meant that I have been able to wear this with EVERYTHING! It feels really cool and casual whether over jeans or a dress.

I was a bit apprehensive about the quality of both fabrics (especially the main knit as it was so cheap!) but actually it has sewn, washed and pressed really well and the ribbing has great recovery. I would say this pattern does work in a knit but I probably should have stuck with a woven for my first try at this style. I think I would get a cleaner, neater finish in a woven. Things got slightly out of shape around the hem and zip! I think I stretched things out when I topstitched these areas.

A knit fabric probably wasn’t the wisest choice either for my very first welt pockets! I am fairly happy with how they turned out in the end but I had to fiddle with them slightly to get everything to sit right. I would have been much more accurate in something nice and stable. These were definitely the trickiest aspect of the jacket construction wise. The other part which took some concentration was getting a nice sharp corner where the ribbing meets the main body of the jacket at the hem. I am really pleased with this part though. I almost didn't topstitch this area as instructed as I didn't want to risk messing it up but it does need it to sit flat.

The ribbing was actually easier to handle than I would have imagined. There’s no special techniques required as you simply cut the pattern pieces from the ribbing and attach them as you would any knit band or cuff.

Man was the right length zip hard to get hold of, and I was only looking for a pretty standard colour! I ended up buying about three different types and lengths from John Lewis where I could return them. It cost more than any other part of the jacket! Even though it’s a slight pain to stop the sewing process when you’re so close to finishing I’d recommend getting the point of inserting the zip before you purchase it and measure that front opening so you can get it exactly right. My zip options were either slightly too long or slightly too short so I went with slightly too short and eased it in as I thought that was better than stretching that front edge out and ending up with a dip at the centre front hem.

The pattern doesn’t include a lining and although I’ve seen many other bloggers add linings to theirs as I was making quite a casual version of this jacket in a knit I decided to do without. I think it absolutely works with just the facings apart from the fact that the welt pockets can look a little messy from the inside. Especially if you’re me and don’t think things through before you start and use a black fusible interfacing to stabilise the pocket openings because it’s all you have to hand in the right weight…O well, I’ll get over it! Next time I’ll definitely try to add a lining, Clare from Sew Dixie Lou gave some great tips on how to do this and keep the facings when she made her version and it looks pretty straightforward.

I sewed the whole garment with a narrow zig zag stitch and finished the seams on the overlocker where I could. I think I should have finished the edges of the pocket pieces before I assembled that part as it was tricky to do this neatly afterwards. Another reason to tackle lining it! I just used a straight stitch to insert the zip and for any topstitching as these were all in areas which didn't require stretch. To be honest this garment doesn’t need stretch in the stitching as it's not designed for it and the ribbing is placed where you need the stretch. However as my fabric has stretch and so gives a bit as I pull it on and off I didn't want to risk stitches popping when they didn’t move with the fabric.

Disregarding the lack of a lining it’s a great pattern which I’d probably say is an intermediate sew. I love the v-neck style and amount of ease in the relaxed fit. I’m not usually into very relaxed fitting garments as I’m on the petite side and feel like they can overwhelm me. I was between sizes on the Papercut size guide and after looking at some other blogger versions I opted to take a risk and cut the smaller size, XXS. I’m glad I did as I love the fit of this and the length too. I also love sewing a raglan sleeve; it feels like the garment is coming together so quickly! We’re heading into the perfect kind of weather for this jacket so I’ve got my eyes peeled for the perfect (woven!) fabric for my next version which hopefully I’ll now nail the construction of!