The Tabula Rasa Jacket: A Blank Slate of Potential

I love the idea of a ‘blank slate’ pattern. A pattern that’s designed to facilitate versatility, uniqueness, and uncomplicated customization. And, the Fit for Art Tabula Rasa Jacket  is just such a pattern!

Built on an interesting premise, the Fit for Art pattern company technically only carries three patterns: the Tabula Rasa Jacket, the Tabula Rasa Knit Tee, and the Eureka! Pant’s Pattern. But each pattern has the potential for endless variations! 

As the name ‘Fit for Art’ suggests the pattern pieces themselves are designed with not only an excellent fit, but an artistic approach in mind.

This jacket comes with two different front pattern pieces – one for a small bust and one for a large bust – and two different side pieces – one for a straight waist and one for a curvy waist. At the same time, the side panels, and wide band encourage you to mix an match different fabrics. So you can easily tailor this garment to your shape and to your style taste!

I have made two jackets (so far!). The first one in our Lyocell Twill in Wine, and the second one out of two woven cottons from the Giucy Giuce Entwine collection. 

I loved making the first jacket so much that I decided to film a sew-a-long for The Confident Stitch YouTube Channel. Here are a few things I cover throughout the process:

Although I didn’t notice it when sewing my muslin version of this jacket, the curve you can see in the back hem in my burgundy jacket demonstrated the need for a high-round back adjustment.

In Part 1 of my four part sew-a-long, I demonstrate how to do this adjustment on the Tabula Rasa. It’s a great technique for those of us who love to sew, but also spend our days in front of the computer! You can use a high-round back adjustment on any pattern. 

In Part 2 of the series, I walk you through sewing the darts and the underarm seams. (You can see in the pictures above that my bust dart method varied from one jacket to the next!) In addition, I demonstrate how to sew the underarm to the side panel, which is an unusual (but fun!) feature of this pattern. Then, in Part 3 of the series, I demonstrate how to set in the sleeves.

And, finally, in Part 4, I show you how to attach the neckband and hem the jacket. A sometimes overlooked step, hemming and finishing is particularly important with a loose woven. So I cover both these steps in the final video!

All the techniques I cover in the Tabula Rasa videos are applicable to other projects, and will help you become a more confident sewist! I hope you enjoy them.

Just head over to The Confident Stitch YouTube channel to watch the entire series, and subscribe to be notified whenever we make a new video!