Trim issues

Here are some updates concerning my jacket.

The first thing I want to talk about today concerns some issues I had with my trim.

I first purchased some trim  I found a tidbit too thin for a Chanel style jacket. After much research concerning Chanel trims I stumbled on Birgitte’s exceptional blog where she explains how to make your own trim.

In the picture above you can see from right to left how mine turned out. First, I made a continuous bias with the fabric I used for the shell. I stitched it in the middle with a very short stitch length (1.5mm) and eventually topped it with the purchased trim. I then fringed the bias strip and inconspicuously hand sew it on the finished CF edge. It is not a very fast process but I spent so many hours in this project so far that I have stopped focusing on time.

Yesterday, I went to town to purchase so more trim but to my great disarray, the shop where I bought it run out of stock.

I had to find an alternative. My mind is quite set up concerning where I want my trim. That is along all edges including the hem. When I went to bed last night, the situation seemed to be hopeless, I could not figure out an ersatz trim and I had already trimmed the pockets and one of the CF edge. But as we say here :”La nuit porte conseil”. When I woke up this morning I had found how to solve that trim issue. The neck and hem lines will be trimmed with the fringed bias only. So that all the edges I had first planned will be trimmed without using another color or motif which would have been too much indeed.

The next step will be to hand sew the weight chain. I must say I am putting great expectations on the chain to improve how the jacket wears though it is already great to wear as far as I can say. The last but not least step will be assembling the sleeves and setting them in. One question I am asking concerning the sleeve is Do I have to make sure that the weaved plaid pattern (small scale) in the sleeve cap area matches the bust. So far I’ve been very careful to match everything and I think it is worth the effort but when looking around I noticed that sleeves are not always matched with the sort of fabric I am using.

Please, tell me what is your own opinion?

Got it!!!

My fabric arrived from Banksville. It was in a box in a plastic bag in a raging blizzard on my back porch. Since my ride home was one of the worst of my adult life it was a great treat to come home to find my fabric surprise. Did I start ripping the box open. NOOOO, first pour a litttle pinot grigio, (that drive was unnerving), prop myself up in a quiet room on a fluffy pillow and start to pick apart the tape. Yippee! Caroline and Lindsay have had some great posts and commentary on buying on line lately. I seldom do it. But I think I will again with this particular vendor, Banksville. It seems we each have our vendor we feel comfortable with and buy from them. It feels risky handing over the plastic and crossing the fingers. Swatching is the way to go IMO. So without further ado here it is:

I had a horrendous time getting the lighting and therefore color right. DD, an amateur photog, told me to take the picture in morning light outside. So, I draped the fabric on the back porch and clicked away. Oh, did I tell you it was 8º below? See, Dawn, your not the only nutty, brave stitcher out there!

The silk lining is a gorgeous taupe with a definite pink cast and the combo looks very rich. The boucle is pink, a pretty brown, taupe, and off white. Some of the threads glisten which I like and you can see that here:

I have decided that what I would really like is an edge to edge no collar jacket, the classic. Vogue 8259 is quite structure, IMO, and I think the collar gives it a more formal look that will not give me as many opportunities for wear. So still thinking about it all....Bunny

Miracles do occur!!!

Finally finished with this elegant piece, and what I find most about this jacket was how all my normal life took me away from it. There's no greater way to show a garment than through a little video....so here's the jacket finished with more pictures and verbiage on my blog!

So here's my little video - you'll have to turn up the volume as it was low. Also sorry about the rez....hopefully this will show up well.

Red Friday to suit

Yes, dearest friends, I can postpone the inevitable no longer: the suit is done, completed, finito! but to see it, you'll have to mosey down to my blog, because, with profound apologies to you all, I just don't have the time (or the patience, or the inclination) to duplicate posts across the ether. But, OK, it's only fair that you get a picture:



How and what did I do?
My bouclé was a really light and airy, fluffy, stretchy wool-mohair bouclé. I knew that to keep its shape it would have to be underlined. Fortunately, I found a perfectly colour-matched red poly organza for underlining. The jacket fronts & sides are underlined, as is the entire upper back all the way around the armscyes, and the entire hem. In retrospect, it would've been easier to just underline the whole lot instead of snipping here & there. A little info tidbit for next time, and yes, there's going to be next times! Each bit of underlining has been painstakingly stitched at 1.5 cm/ or 1/2" intervals, to the fashion fabric, to serve as a scaffold. I'm sure that otherwise the whole lot would just have stretched out of shape pronto! The skirt, BWOF 9-2008-120 pencil skirt, is underlined the same way. I had frightening visions of poochy backside after sitting on it for an hour or two, never to return to the desired shape; atomic-bomb indestructible poly underlining ensures that'll never happen. The sleeves however are NOT underlined. Instead, they're nice and skinny and totally flexible.

Both jacket & skirt are lined, the jacket with stretch silk charmeuse, the skirt with red heavy bemberg rayon, with thread tacks to keep it down, and a shiny down-to-there gold zipper for a bit of vertical interest.

I sort of quilted the lining, but only barely, by hand. What I mean is that the 3-piece sleeves were constructed with the lining, and the lining hand-quilted down to the FF at the lower reaches of the sleeve only. I bagged the body lining, prick-stitched around all the edges, and then used a modified bag-the-sleeve-lining technique to attach the sleeve lining to the body lining. The lining's quilted to the ff/underlining along all the seam allowances. I intended to also hand-quilt the lining down to the ff at 1" intervals, but was persuaded by hubby that this would serve no practical purpose. He's right, of course! What a relief, too. I did all the bottom hemming & chain attachment by hand, with lots of steam to shrink the wool hem into shape.

And, of course, all the trim was attached by hand. As were the pockets and the hooks. Chanel couture really tries one's patience, you know?

Pockets: there are the requisite four pockets, two big, two small. However, as I'm fairly generously endowed and don't need any more attention UP THERE, especially in a work setting, I chose to overlap my pockets somewheres-about my waistline (OK, a bit below my waistline). Each pocket is double-lined, so there's yummy silk on both sides of your fingers should you wish to slip them inside: my son went oooooh!!!! when he tested them. Yeah, more hand sewing - lining to pocket, pocket to jacket, lining to jacket. But it's kind of cute to have four super-soft change pockets about one's person.

Other than that? Hmm, that skirt is majorly Pegged. What that means is that for a really comfortable stride you'll want to either: 1. shorten it by 5 cm / 2"; 2. create a vent, slit, or box pleat at the bottom centre back; 3. un-peg it (stylistically, NOT an option! do NOT do this!!!). Don't get me wrong, I love it as is, but I couldn't outrun a caterpillar in it. A fuzzy fat caterpillar.

I promise I WILL post a live pic of the suit on MOI, and you'll find it on StraightJacket Muse, here. And I'll update this post for the in-action photos once I do.

ETA: The on-me blog entry is here and here, and the PR review is here.

Wanderlust to Chanel

After Wandering Aimlessly for the past month...I'm back and now ready to delve into the making of my Chanel jacket. I have finally decided upon Vogue 8369. There were several choices that I had been contemplating but I truly loved the V8369 due to the neckline and the longer length of the jacket. I’m 5’10” and am short-waisted with very long legs so the shorter version jackets that I’ve seen other participants make won’t work for me.

It has taken me a while to find this out-of-print pattern. The Vogue Patterns website does still offer it but only in the smaller sizes so I have been on a constant search since the past December. As luck would have it I was clicking around the internet the other day and happened upon Pattern Mania on Etsy and low and behold she had the pattern in the larger sizes and at a very reasonable price. I ordered and paid for the pattern on Saturday the 23rd and I received it today, Wednesday the 27th. Very fast and nicely shipped in a cellophane sleeve and shipping envelope. I’ll definitely purchase from her again!

I’ve also been compiling some reference and resource materials to aid me in my sewing of this jacket. I received “Couture Sewing Techniques” by Claire Shaeffer from my daughter for Christmas. What a fantastic gift!!! Prior to receiving this gift, I had purchased “Great Sewn Clothes” from Threads. I am now on the search for Threads Magazine No. 121, pages 34 – 40 for the “Inside Secrets of a Chanel Jacket” article by Susan Khaljie. Tough issue to find…wish me luck!  Any help in finding it would be greatly appreciated.

As far as fabric goes, for my first jacket I am starting with a boucle that I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics. I chose a fabric that had a combination of browns, golds and oranges. As always the picture doesn’t do the fabric justice. The jacket will be the perfect color for fall in New England. This is the first time I’ve chosen a fabric in these color ranges. I usually stick to mauves and purples...I’m trying to break away from the norm...walk on the wild side for once...if you can call this fabric wild.

Now that I have the fabric in hand I can now make a better call on the lining color too. I found a real nice silk on Fabric Mart that might fit the bill. Have to look into it a little bit more along with getting thread to match. In the mean time I’m going to look over the pattern instruction sheet and notes by Claire Shaeffer, press the pattern pieces and adjust them as necessary and then cut and sew the muslin.

I am now off and running...all be it very slowly!

TTFN ~ mimi o ~

Progress is slow but rewarding

Here is a quick run down of the progress to date.

Muslin completed, I cut two sizes smaller than called for, based on cutting out and completing another Claire Shaeffer pattern. As you can see it's very fitted, so I added to the back seam and a 1/4" to all of the pattern pieces. I also shortened the jacket and sleeves.


The first fitting
I found it to be a little big and boxy, so some adjustments were made to make it a little more fitted. Since this is my muslin, I found the fabric to be a little thicker that what I will be making next.. Since the adjustments were minor (I noted them on the tracing but did not make the adjustments on the paper pattern).


The lining has been hand quilted with silk thread, I followed the lines of the plaid on the reverse and found that in some areas the stitching came too close to the seamlines and had to be restitched. Leave yourself at least 2" from the side seams and 4.5" from the bottom (I had a 2" hem, and this gave me a little leeway).


Now it's at the lining assembly.

Just joined too and excited!

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Bunny and my blog is La Sewista.  I have been reading this blog since the start and finally feel I have the time to get started on this intense project. I will using Vogue 8259. It have been given to me on loan. I have traced ALL those pieces, oh my, onto heavy tracing paper. As soon as I get into town I will get the directions copied on large paper and then it will be off in the mail to the kind heart who sent it my way. I got my samples from Banksville Fabrics last week and must say I was pretty impressed with what they sent me.

I have made my final choice and as soon as it arrives in the mail I will post. I know I will have many questions along the way. I am going to do this pattern, View A, the couture method. Here's my first cry for help. I am v. petite, 5 feet tall, and have hips. I look at those sleeves, and they are beautiful, but I know that the buttoned vents loaded with trim will land right at my hips. I can see them adding bulk to me in an area where I don't need it. I adore 3/4 sleeves. Is there such a thing as a vented 3/4 three piece sleeve? I may go a straight 3/4 but if I can do the vent/buttons I would be happier. Has anyone done this? Thanks so much, and I will be posting as I go along. Great to see you here, Claire. Maybe we can egg each other on.......Bunny