MINERVA MAKES #23: FAUX LEATHER & CASHMERETTE CANTON MOTO JACKET KIT

I was delighted to be selected to join the Minerva Kit team earlier this year; my brand ambassadorship for Minerva has been one of my favourite aspects of my sewing journey, as I always love the wide selection of beautiful fabrics they gift to their ambassadors — especially in times when I shouldn’t splurge on new fabrics! Every month, Minerva releases exclusive dressmaking kits, which pair up a sewing pattern with a fabric that will work perfectly with it, plus any other notions you may need, like thread, needles, zips, buttons, etc. One of the kits available for autumn was the Cashmerette Canton Moto Jacket combined with supple faux leather and antique brass hardware, which immediately caught my eye. It was definitely more of an involved project, but I got stuck in and really couldn’t be happier (or prouder!) with my finished garment.

The Cashmerette Caton is a classic biker-style jacket, with all the pleasing little details I love in a moto jacket: asymmetric front zip closure, notched lapel collar, zip sleeves with gussets, and a lining. You can add zipped pockets to the hip-length version, or leave them off and go for the super-cropped version like I did. Cashmerette Patterns are always designed very thoughtfully to fit curves; the front princess seams with different cup sizes and back fisheye darts are great for tweaking the overall fit of the jacket, and there is a full bicep option to help you nail the fit of the two-piece sleeves. This is probably the first ever biker-style jacket in my life that I have been able to zip up all the way! Designed for mid-to-heavyweight woven fabrics, the Canton Moto Jacket works beautifully in boiled wool, bouclé, jacquard, denim, vinyl, and leather, with lightweight wovens, such as rayon or crêpe de chine, being recommended for the lining.

As I mentioned earlier, Minerva gifted me everything I needed to complete this pattern, including this faux leather and jacquard lining. The soft faux leather is 50% polyurethane and 50% viscose, and the woven backing makes this fabric very supple to work with. It was very stable and a dream to cut out with a rotary cutter, plus marking darts and dots with my white chalk pen on this fabric was the easiest thing ever (I am pretty sure this is just me, but I loathe marking with chalk usually — it always ends up brushing off within a millisecond? Is it me? Is it the chalk I am using? HELP). Working with faux leather means using specialist leather needles in your machine, which have sharp cutting points to puncture the thick leather. You do have to be super careful when sewing with this fabric and avoid unpicking, as this will leave a mark in your faux leather, as well as making sure to pin only within the seam allowances. I was also very, very careful to press this fabric with an organza pressing cloth and an iron on a lower heat to avoid any damage to the leather. Despite being a heavy-weight and tricky fabric, I really enjoyed working with this faux leather; so often, heavier-weight leather fabrics can make a finished garment look puffy and inflexible, whereas this faux leather jacket is pliable and softly hugs my curves. The lining fabric was also very pleasant to work with; usually, slippery linings are my undoing, but the jacquard nature made it easier to handle and sew. The paisley design of the lining is so classic and it is smooth enough to easily slip your arms in and out of this jacket.

I made up a size 8 using the G/H cup for the bust and opted for the cropped version; I already have an RTW leather jacket that is hip-length, so this super-cropped option is something a bit different for my wardrobe and works well with high-waisted jeans and flared dresses. The Cashmerette Canton pattern instructions are incredibly well-written; I was feeling a little intimidated by the 50-page instruction booklet initially, but on closer inspection, the instructions are broken down into separate chapters, which feels much easier to tackle. I did have to continually remind myself that the seam allowance was ½” though!
One area I particularly enjoyed was the process of lining the jacket; I really love how the back neckline facing meets the lining, it looks so professional. I have seen other patterns that use a lot of slipstitching in making a lined jacket or coat, usually for attaching the lining to the entire length of the hem, the lining to the facings, and the lining to the sleeve cuffs. Honestly, I always find this to be a bit puzzling — these garments are usually made in heavy-weight fabrics and need to be durable, yet the technique of “bagging out” a lining using your sewing machine is much easier and gives cleaner results (or maybe my hand sewing isn’t particularly up to scratch 😅). For the Canton, you only need to slipstitch a 6″ section at the hem — that is it. The sleeves are lined at the cuff by machine, and there is also an incredibly neat technique to finish the lining around the facings, but I would recommend watching the Cashmerette video tutorial on this technique, as it is a bit tricky to understand using diagrams alone.

It is safe to say this kit was a definite slow sew, but oh-so-worth-it. This is a fairly advanced project, but the instructions are so well written that it makes the pattern accessible for intermediate sewists. If you are ready for a bigger challenge in your dressmaking, go for the Canton jacket! I now feel confident to tackle another moto-jacket in the future — this Burda Style Jacket was on my Make Nine last year and I have a beautiful black sateen wool twill and some black silk organza earmarked for this project. I was feeling very hesitant about tackling such a difficult-looking project with some pricey fabrics, but now I feel like it will be much more straightforward. I would love to make another Canton moto jacket, perhaps in a hot pink wool bouclé or a blush pink suede… Let me know your thoughts!

Cashmerette Canton Moto Jacket
Size 0 – 32
Full Bust: 33″- 62″
Waist: 25″- 52″
Hips: 35″- 62″