Thankfulness and Claire Shaeffer encouragement

Hi everyone, I've dropped off the face of this blog for a while. The good news is there are so many sew-along participants I bet it was hardly noticeable! As is said, "Life got in the way," first with my day job in mid-August, then with getting my son back into the swing of school, and now with just life in general. I've recently taken on my first custom sewing client, something that many of you have experienced (so you're either excited for me or rolling your eyes about the joys of working with custom clients, haha!), and I'm working on a couple of fall/ winter concepts for my little bitty clothing label. Haven't forgotten about my Chanel jacket, just haven't blogged about it lately. Next week for sure. I've got the pattern and I think I've found the right men's jacket to refashion.

Thanks to Cindy and Gail for holding down the fort, and to each of you for embracing the spirit of this great community and supporting everyone else with gracious comments and helpful advice. It's exciting to see so much progress, and to be exposed to so many neat fabrics and ideas across all the projects around the world!

And thanks to Ms. Claire Shaeffer, who once again thinks of us and offers news, helpful hints, and encouragement:

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Several weeks ago, I spent a week-end in SanFrancisco. Naturally, I popped over to the Chanel boutique and Britex.

I found some fabulous wool at Britex that I'll use in the Chanel workshop.

At the Chanel boutique, there were several details that I found interesting.
Many jackets fastened at the center front with buttons and loops or hooks and eyes.
Most jackets had no sleeve vent, but they had cuffs--much easier to sew.
One design had a self-fabric camellia on the pockets. It was easily 5" and quilted, but looked more like trapunto. This would be nice in white or pink.

Many of the new designs in the couture collection were shown with lace hose.

I've just returned from Chicago where I gave talks at the School of the Art Institute (SAIC).They have a hands-on collection where I found a wonder couture suit. The fabric was black wool with a diagonal design and it was lined with a blk/wht/grey plaid. The lining was invisibly quilted to the wool so it didn't show on either the face or lining sides of the jacket. I'll have to write about it to explain better.

Hope all jackets are moving forward nicely.

Claire

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