Chanel for the Generations

Hello:

I’m Doris of Mpressive Threadz Studio and I am excited about the sew along. I have been thinking and strategizing about this jacket every since I signed up a week ago. I immediately started sketching my jacket, trying various pocket options. I searched online fabric stores and trim shops. I went to the library and got copies of the articles “Inside a Chanel Jacket” and “Shortcuts to a Designer Jacket” that appeared in Threads magazine. While I enjoy hand stitching, I agonized over whether I wanted to thread trace all the seamlines of an entire jacket.

Yesterday I thought about generations and how a Chanel jacket might translate over the various generations in my family. Suddenly I thought about my mother and her Aunt Dot. Aunt Dot had a black Chanel inspired skirt suit with white braided trim and pearls that my mother fell in love with. My mother took a horrible picture of Aunt Dot at a family gathering and got the bright idea of “blackmailing” the suit from Aunt Dot. She threatened to show the picture to everyone if Aunt Dot didn’t give her that black suit. Aunt Dot gave up the suit. My mother died a few years ago and that suit was in her closet. I chuckled when I came upon it. I know Aunt Dot loved my mother dearly and that picture had nothing to do with her giving my mother that suit.

I asked my daughter did she know about classic Chanel jackets. She Googled it right away. I pointed out the highlights of a Chanel jacket and asked her if she would wear the jacket if I made her one. “Sure,” she said. So I plan to make two jackets, one for each generation. I will use the classic Chanel techniques for my jacket and the shortcuts for my daughter’s jacket. I think it would be fun for the both of us to go to New York and shop for fabrics and trims. I am very interested in what she will select.