I wouldn't really know what it was like until I made it from fabric, though, so I decided to use a $2 church rummage sale orange linen tablecloth for a muslin even though I wanted to save that for something "special" but this seemed like the perfect color for a "Merry May" garment and I have got to start using the fabrics I like, not saving them until I no longer like them.
I wanted to use the hem of the tablecloth as the hems in my jacket body and sleeves so had to decide what length jacket would look best with the dresses I usually wear this time of year since I wouldn't be hemming the jacket after it was sewn together. That also determined the length of the sleeves but they actually ended up being full length even though I cut a lot off the TRJ sleeve pattern, something I have to remember next time I use this pattern.
I had to use some of my orange quilting cotton for the side panels so I would have enough linen for the rest of my garment (since it was a pretty small tablecloth), but didn't like the way that fabric looked with my much softer linen fabric nor did I like the way the jacket fit in size XL, so took it apart and cut a smaller size and was able to cut the side panels from some leftover pieces of the linen in that size.
I was pleased with the way my second attempt at my jacket looked when I added the front band (made from the same cotton fabric I first tried using as the side panels) after I cut the smaller size, but I'm afraid it doesn't look all that great in the photos I had my husband take of me this morning, since even though I've ironed this jacket a ton of times during construction and hung it on a hanger when I wasn't working on it, it still looks horribly wrinkled and the seams don't even lie flat, all things that probably have to do with the fabric I used, something that makes me wonder if my tablecloth was actually linen or a good enough linen to make a garment from. I think I read somewhere that if you wash linen too much, it becomes permanently wrinkled, though, and perhaps that's what happened with this tablecloth, but since it's just another 'wearable muslin", I'm not unhappy with the way it turned out.
Fit for Art patterns provides a pdf file with tons of instructions on how to make their Tabula Rasa jacket fit properly, but you are supposed to start with a literal muslin that you draw horizontal lines on where you can make adjustments by following their detailed directions, so I will be able to make changes to the pattern to perfect the fit the next time (and there will be a next time!) I make a jacket from this pattern.
