Go Chanel or Go Home

Back sewing

2011-07-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

This is the reason why I haven't been sewing for over a year! Georgia was born on Christmas Day 2010. She is an absolute joy to have and a very placid, easy baby.

I have almost got back to the size I was B.G. and I am itching to get sewing again. I love a SWAP (Sewing With a Plan) and I have been inspired to join the Artisan Square 6 piece Autumn Wardrobe sew along. The idea is that you sew 2 garments a month in August, September and October, all of which coordinate to form a mix and match wardrobe. Georgia goes to bed at around 6.30pm so I am hoping that this should be completely do-able. I am returning to work in September so I am planning a "career wardrobe". I have chosen 5 fabrics so far:

The two on the left are for skirts, the white is an Italian shirting, the black is a spotted chiffon for a tie neck blouse and the blue is a stretch wool mix for a tailored jacket. I still need one more fabric for another top but I will decide on that later.

Now I need to venture up into the loft for my patterns.....

Remember the Chanel?

2011-01-06T12:23:00.000-08:00

It is a new year's resolution to complete my unfinished projects and, from then on out, only have one project in cue. My UFO's include my in-progress winter coat, faux fur stole/cape, and, of course, my Chanel. Now I don't want to make excuses about my year long love/hate with my Chanel, but I am convinced that you can't make Chanel, with Chanel techniques, without a dressform. As soon as I got my Ivy for Christmas, the Chanel has been coming along..I love it. I have my jacket on the dressform while I handsew. I have so much control which I didn't have before. Presently I have all the fell stitches of my vertical seams and shoulders completed and I have catchstitched the hem and around the neck and opening of the boucle. Next up, hand stitch the lining to the hem and neckline. I really need to be working on the sleeves...can you tell that I am avoiding them?

I have been playing around with trims too-

~slow progress~

2010-08-17T02:23:00.000-07:00

All those rows of quilting have caused progress to be quite slow on my Chanel-style jacket - the thread ends need to be unpicked and restitched back into place after the shell seam has been sewn - and there is a lot of thread ends! Next time I will definitely take a more minimal approach to my quilting!

Here's what I did:

Unpicked the quilting threads, cut the panel seams (being careful not to cut the threads), and sewed the seam by machine:

Pressed under the seam allowance on the centre back panel, and lapped it over the seam allowance of the side back panel:

Handsewed the lining seam using a fell stitch with 3mm spacing:

This is how I sewed fell stitch:

Proof that I completed a whole seam in fell stitch! Now all those threads need to be stitched back into place:

I backstitched the ends in place, following the needle holes from the previous stitching, and it looks a little bit hand done, but close enough to the machine stitching for me:

Of course, on the right side there is an equal number of thread ends to be handsewn back into place too.....

And that is just one side back seam! I have completed the other side back seam, and will start work on the side seams shortly. See you next month.....!

A couple of things I learnt through trial and error:

Leave long thread tails when machine quilting.
Overlock panel seams once cut, to prevent fraying. (although backstitching the quilting threads does help to stabilise it quite a bit)
When machining the seam, make sure that not only the checks/plaid matches, but the quilting lines match too - I was half a quilting row out when I sewed my second seam.....

~my chanel jacket - the beginning~

2010-08-04T23:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I'm Sherry and I've just begun my Chanel-style jacket, after having the fabric for a few months! I hope to share it with you here as well as on my sewing blog pattern ~ scissors ~ cloth.

As you can see it is going to be a fairly standard shape, so I started from my existing jacket block with a princess line, which is a standard NZ size 10, and I graded it up to my measurements, which are a mish-mash of sizes between 10-14! I made a quick calico toile, and it fitted perfectly - I just need to rotate the sleeve forward slightly. I am after a cropped fitted look, so I will shorten the body to high hip level and the sleeve to 3/4 length.

Luckily I happen to have perfectly matching silk/cotton in my stash, and I will use this for the lining. I have 5m of this silk/cotton, so might even make a matching blouse just like Chanel used to do!

I played around for ages experimenting with trims - I unravelled threads from the cloth and plaited them, crocheted them, and mixed them with existing trims I own. But have finally settled on simply using the selvedge like in the above photo. The fabric reverse has a lot of black threads so it provides a bit of contrast, and the selvedge is pretty cute. The left and right selvedge is slightly different though, so I won't be able to use them together.

And I couldn't help myself, I had to immediately cut out the back blocks and start quilting to see how it would look!:

I machine quilted in the lines of every second check repeat, which amounts to quite a lot of quilting! But I quite like the effect - just like a Chanel handbag ;)

So I imagine I will be seeing straight lines for the next few days!

Chanel progress

2010-08-02T17:48:00.001-07:00

This jacket is taking shape slowly but surely. For a more detailed progress report see my post at My Fabrication

And eventually everything went together

2010-05-19T14:06:00.000-07:00

I reported the stitching lines on the fabric with basting thread and on the lining with tailor's chalk and then I cut the fabric and the lining keeping large seam allowances.

Then quilting the lining was easier than expected. I used a walking foot for this.

It is really important to keep the quilting lines an inch away the stitching line or it would be really challenging to sew the jacket by machine (don't ask me how I know....). To sew the pieces together, the lining seam allowances were kept away from the stitching line with pins.

Once the pieces were sewn together, the lining was sewn by hand, concealing the seam allowances.

And finally the hem and the facing were hand sewn:

I did most of the hand stitching during a looooooong phone call.

My jacket was almost finished:

I just had to choose buttons and braids.

I wanted to go for contrast, and I fell in love with a red braid that I bought without thinking twice. Once at home, I pinned my lovely red braid to the jacket:

The result was not exactly the chic jacket I had in mind... so I did not stitch the braid to the jacket and kept thinking about it...

Since my husband has a kind of "Chanel eye" for buttons, I asked him to choose some buttons for my almost done new jacket. I would have chosen white pearl buttons... he came home with black buttons instead. But he was right and I finally chose a black braid to complete my jacket.

Here you are my Chanel style jacket, what do you think about it?

A detail of the sleeve vent, the buttons and the black braid:

I love this jacket and I have been wearing it a lot during past two months!!!

You can't see the matching red shoes in this picure...

My jacket is finished

2010-04-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

I've worn it this afternoon. I can say it is very pleasant to wear and light as a feather. What I like best is the lining ...

and the functional sleeve vents and hand buttonholes

Nevertheless,though I made a muslin and I am not happy with the sleeve heads. I supposed it is because the sleeves are not from the same pattern as the bodice. The shoulders shoud be shorter I think, too bad realy. Another explanation is perhaps that the shoulders seams elongated because they have not been staystiched. This has just occured to me. Anyway I will have to do with this. I will try not to think about this when I wear the jacket. Here is what it looks like seen from the back

Here are some more shots.

I don't know if will wear this jacket a lot, but I learned a tremendous amount of things in the making. The whole experience was a challenge I enjoyed every minute. I wisht to thank Cindy and Antoinette for organizing this stitch along. I would love to renew that type of sal with another garment. I know that I would probably not have completed the jacket witout this blog.

...and the pattern. Oh, the pattern!

2010-04-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

When it was time to choose the pattern I recalled I had seen a Chanel style pattern on Burda Magazine 10/2009 - 128. I started working with it, making the alterations I usually need. I could not make it fit, no matter how I tried... It was probably a wrong combination between the checked fabric, the diagonal dart and the amount of fabric I should have added to make my FBA.

Then Burda Magazine 02/2010 was published and pattern 108 simply called me from the pages of the magazine.

I tried altering again the pattern from the October 2009 issue with no success, then I finally decided to try with the pattern from the February 2010 issue. It worked at the first try!!!

My idea was to distort the fabric grain as little as possible, so I transformed the vertical dart into an armhole princess seam and moved the back darts into the side seams.
I wanted the front pieces to overlap to have buttons (the original pattern did not overlap), so I separated the facing piece from the front piece and added the necessary amount to get it.
The sleeves, finally, were too close fitting, so they needed to be enlarged.

A lot of work, but I had a pattern for my jacket!!!

Here follows my pattern modifications:

armhole princess seam + full bust adjustment:

Full arm adjustment:

It was time to play with the fabric, then!

… et Voilà, ma veste Chanel!

2010-04-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Assembled jacket before Chanel finishing touches.

This is as far as I got last year before the heat wave hit Sydney and it was way too hot to be sewing wool. However, I have never considered this project a UFO. It has stayed out on my dress form and I have played with different trims, finally deciding on the dark purple from E.M. Greenfield (hand washed in warm water with mild soap to pre-shrink before stitching in place).

The final embellishments also included:

Making the pockets
Attaching a couple of small hooks for closure at front
Stitching the chain weight to the hem

Chain stitched in place along hem edge.

Chanel jacket showing trim and pockets at front.

Back view of Chanel jacket showing fit & shaping.

This was such a fun project. Thank you Cindy and Antoinette for setting up the sew-along and to everyone else for the inspiration and camaraderie. Now I'm looking forward to the cooler weather!

It was the fabric first

2010-04-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm Challis, and I have been reading this blog for a long time. I have been inspired more than once by the Chanel style jackets posted here and I just completed mine.

Before all, I would like to thank Antoinette and Cindy for setting up this blog and for letting me post here and I'd like to congratulate with all the nice people who post here.

Let's talk about the jacket then!

I fell in love with this black and white boucle during last Autumn, and I have been wondering what to make out of it since then.

That is when I first met this blog and I started reading and following... it would be nice to make a Chanel style jacket with the boucle, I tought. So the boucle I loved came home with me and my sewing adventure started.

Here follows another picture of the boucle, it is a blend of wool, polyester and lurex. Unfortunately the nice silver sparkling thread is not visible in the picture.

I cut a sample, to put in the washing machine. It came out perfect, so I pretreated all the fabric with the washing machine in a delicate wool cycle.

It was time to choose the pattern then.

Chanel trim - I think I finally have one

2010-03-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

Almost finished with the jacket muslin, but have stalled out because I couldn't find the trim for it. The trim was already in my stash, in a most unlikely place.

I've been prewashing fabrics, serging the ends and putting them through the dryer because I don't want to dry clean anymore. Besides the cost, the idea of petrochemicals used in the process just doesn't appeal to me. So in one of my free bundles from Fabricmart, there was a black 8 wale corduroy. I wasn't really sure what I would do with it, but prewashed it and ran it through the dryer. What resulted was a soft fringe along the selvage.

So I counted two wales in from the selvage and trimmed, then finished the edge with the serger. Since the wool on the jacket is a bit fuzzy, the corduroy side was too dark, so I'm using the wrong side. I'll have to plan the placement carefully because the there isn't enough to do everything I had planned, but so far I like the way it looks.

I'm happy I went through the entire process to complete the muslin because there will definitely be modifications made to this pattern. I'm not sure if anyone else has found this but the button placement on the three piece sleeve is a bit more "forward" than I am used to. If anyone else has made this sleeve and cares to comment, I'm all ears!

Please forgive the caving in of the jacket I really need to pad my dress form, oh and disregard the wrinkled slip under the jacket:)

Why I've reduced my activity.

2010-03-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

My husband has been diagonised with a transient ischemic attack due to a atherosclerotic plaque in one of the carotid arteries. He is in hospital waiting for the removal of the atherosclerotic plaque by surgery and he will have to rest for some monthes before he is able to work again. Of course my sewing and blogging activities will be slowed for some time. But I will still be reading my blog roll.

vogue 8259 three piece sleeve

2010-02-23T03:08:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the sleeve :

I absolutely love the result. The functional vent makes all the difference and gives the jacket a couture look. I do recommend this pattern.
Here are some close up views :

The buttonholes were hand sewn with Gütterman silk buttonhole twist.

Apart from the quilting, the lining was completely hand sewn with beeswaxed thread following Claire Shaeffer's very detailed pattern instructions. I chose a contrasting fabric for the facing.

Yesterday I just had to pin the sleeve to the jacket and put it on to see what it looked like. Wow I loved what I saw in the mirror. This sleeve pattern is very well drafted and has a unique line indeed. I am so impatient to finish this project.
Hopefuly my next post on this blog will show a picture of me modelling the jacket.

Enthusiasm and my lack there of….

2010-02-14T08:57:00.000-08:00

OK…I just haven’t been in the blogging mood as of late. So many other things on my mind and to do but today I am making myself sit down and write a few words about my Chanel jacket project. With a cup of coffee in hand and the Olympics on the TV please join me in my musing on my jacket.

Over the past several weeks I have acquired the pattern and resource materials to begin this project. Along with this I purchased the fabric and have now found the lining and thread that I want to use to quilt the jacket with. I am going to think outside the box and add my own spin on my jacket. I found the perfect amber colored lining to go with the boucle that I had purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics and while cruising around Joann’s the other day I came across this great variegated quilting thread that I thought would look great against the lining color and add my own flair to the project by tying the colors of the boucle on the outside of the jacket to the inside lining of the jacket. Here are a few photos of the choices I made for the fabric, lining and thread.

I’ve also traced my pattern off and adjusted it for my measurements. Being 5’10” I have of course added 2” of length to the sleeves and shortened the body by one inch. I also adjusted for my bust, waist and hips. It took me a great deal of time adjusting the pattern. To accomplish this task I used “Pattern Fitting with Confidence” by Nancy Zieman. I have never used her pivot and slide method so thought I’d give it a try to see how it would work on me. Needless to say it took me a whole Saturday bent over my table making my tissue pattern and adjusting it. Here are a few pics.

On Sunday I took the opportunity to cut the new pattern out of my muslin. I’m using the Vogue 8369 jacket pattern which has princess seamed front and side front pieces along with back and side back pieces. The jacket has a two-piece vented sleeve. This pattern doesn't have a pocket option so I may add one to it. I'll play that one by ear and test it out first to see whether I would like it or not.l As I cut each piece out I took the time to mark a full vertical grainline and horizontal lines at the bust and waist along with the various required markings for the pattern with a Sharpie black marker. Here are a few photos of the unsewn muslin.

Front and Side Front Pieces

Center Back and Side Back Pieces

Two-Piece Vented Sleeves

This is where my enthusiasm waned because my plans for sewing this past week were interrupted by a visit from my DD and her boyfriend and this weekend we went north for the Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake and today…here I sit writing this post. I am hoping that after lunch I will gain enough momentum to get myself into the sewing room to begin constructing my muslin. Wish me luck for I am finding it extremely difficult to remove myself from the warmth of the fire!

For your enjoyment some Winter Carnival Ice Castle pics.

Instead of "Happy Trails..." I'll say "Happy Sewing to You...."

Trim issues

2010-02-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-29T16:38:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-24T10:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-21T18:57:00.000-08:00

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

Am I too late?

2010-01-19T18:35:00.001-08:00

Holy Cow! I actually can't believe I'm this late....but I'm getting this done!

What is so interesting as I'm working and working a long, long time, I'm thinking, "How much do these run in RTW and even couture?" So I looked this up.

Here's the site that says they are $5,000 for off the rack (which I think is cheap), and up to $20,000 for custom. And let's face it - that is exactly what we have here...custom made Chanel Jacket. Here's is the jacket from that site: (this isn't my jacket).

Will post some pictures and other pictures here, cause I sort of developed some interesting techniques along the way!!

And I am pleased with how this is coming. I have to do some work for a client, and then back to my jacket!!

Jerilyn - Houndstooth Dentistry

2010-01-15T17:23:00.000-08:00

Or perhaps you'd take houndstooth to the Veterinarian? I'm not sure.

Upon dissecting the mens blazer that I will be using for fabric, I discovered 4 holes in one of the inner sleeve panels. My guess is that they are cigarette burns.

Here's how I repaired the damaged "teeth":

Step #1 -

I was able to salvage some black interfacing from the sleeve cuff, it easily tore away from the fabric, so I wasn't sure that it would re-fuse upon ironing, but it did!

Step #2 -

I stitched back and forth over the holes with black thread to prevent fraying. (the 2 larger holes are pictured below)

Step #3 -

Lastly, I used a small tight zig-zag with cream thread to mimic the original pattern.

It's not perfect, but I couldn't afford to lose any portion of the fabric, and it shouldn't be noticeable from a distance.

As for my muslin, it's as far as I'm planning to take it:

I added darts to the chest, and then fixed the arm hole to compensate for the darts. I'm going to cut my panels longer than the pattern/muslin because I think the length is appropriate as it hits unhemmed.

The next step is the most challenging... figuring out how to cut all these panels out of the original jacket! The sleeves had an inner panel similar to the pattern so they will go smoothly, but the back is 2 panels vs the 3 panels of the pattern, and the front... oh don't get me started. There's a small breast pocket on the original jacket that is making me pull my hair out, but I figure it's all downhill after surviving this (she says with the blind optimism of someone at the beginning of the this project).

I'll be sewing this weekend... will you?

Lourdes (ELMO)- Old Kid, new to Chanel Block

2010-01-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

My room mate from college had a Chanel jacket, I immediately asked her if I could see it and turned it inside out trying to figure out how it was made. Her version was black boucle, long sleeves (to wrist), princess line seams, side panels, a peplum, gold double C buttons and that chain at the back hemline. It was such a beautiful fit and she always looked elegant and very pulled together when wearing it... I WANT ONE!! So after many years, this will be my first, I'm starting off easy with two of Claire Shaeffer's patterns. My muslin is finished, and as Claire says "we need to warm up", so my first fabric is not my first choice, but it's really not bad, just looks more Armani.

It's the one on the left, the other is tropical weight... maybe for the next one.

The body.

The three piece sleeve.

Jerilyn - New Kid on the Chanel Block

2010-01-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is my introductory post... I'm definitely getting a late start, but too many stars aligned after discovering this blog, so I felt compelled to join.

I do a lot of refashioning which I share on my personal blog and a refashioning blog. I saw "Coco Before Chanel" a few months ago and was inspired to dress better, but then I came across this post by Mary Anna who said "For me it's more about sewing in the Chanel spirit. Taking a piece of menswear, and turning it into women's wear in a simple, fitted style." and I knew this was the challenge for me, the refashioning addict!

But as in most creative pursuits, there's a difference between having the inspiration to take on a project and finding the skills and materials! Before signing up I went to a local thrift shop to see if anything caught my eye. Nothing interesting on the Ladies rack, so I headed over to Menswear and there it was, calling my name...

The fabric is a black and cream houndstooth in tight woven wool.

When refashioning, the size of the original garment is crucial to the overall success of the project. It didn't have a size tag, but I'll take the Rochester Big Tall Clothing tag as a positive sign!

I had rummaged my pattern stash and found a few items suitable for undertaking the muslin, but before leaving the thrift shop I looked at their patterns... and what are the odds? They had an unused Vogue V7975 in my size (cost: 25-cents)! How could I not sign up after all that?

Trim me up, Scotty!

2010-01-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

As you might recall, Marji was in NY late last year, and she very kindly offered to find some trim for my yummy red mohair boucle. Thank you SO very much, Marji! I visited Mood myself just a week ago, and it's an eye opener. As the saying goes, there's no place like it!

Cap'n, I'm givin' ye all she's got:

So here we have four interesting possibilities - an all-black grid, two in red & black and very different from each other, and the fourth a very interesting one combining red with grey instead of black. I truly love that one for its out of the envelope colour combo, but want to save it for something either somewhat more orange or plain grey, probably the latter, to make the orange serve as an accent.

How do you like the plain black mesh? I think it needs something - the effect is a tad severe. Because it's black, I think I'll also set it aside for an easy match to something else.

WOW! This one's really a WOW, isn't it?! Baroque and Rococo and more! My only fear is that it might be a bit overwhelming on a jacket. But on a longer coat, it would really rock! Wouldn't it?

OK, we're down to #4, the proverbial last but not least. A bit more restrained...whew! I have enough to trim up four pockets, and probably the shoulders too - as that appears to be the Langerfeld touch in recent years...

What say ye, ladies? Let's put it to a vote: which trim works the best? Don't be shy - you already saved me from the icky heavy metal and the fuzzy caterpillar.
(you can click on any of the pics to get a closer look; the pics were taken in daylight). And, thanks, all!

buttonhole test

2010-01-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

Test a la chanel hand buttonhole

Right side view of the test buttonhole

Reverse side of the buttonhole

I used Claire Shaeffer's technique explained in Couture Sewing Technique (page 91) to make this test hand buttonhole.

Viewed from the outside it is an embroidered buttonhole with a bar and fan. On the underling side it is a bound buttonhole.

This method is time consuming, but it is meant to be nice to look at from both sides.

What I like best about the result is that despite the fabric it did not fray at all and I am very pleased about that. To avoid fraying I applied beewax on the edges before overcasting.

What I am not pleased with is the thread I used (cotton quilting thread) I know I should have used silk buttonhole twist and what is called gimp for the strand but unfortunately these are impossible to find where I live. I've found a british online store and I'll probably pass an order with them.

I intend to use these buttonholes for the sleeves vents which are meant to be functional. That's another Chanel traits.

parting shot:

two closeup shots of a vintage Chanel Jacket

I found them here. I suppose they are David Page Coffin's drawn from Behind the Seams The Claire Shaeffer Collection: Part 1 CHANEL

Chanel Quilting and Basting

2010-01-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. It has been awhile, and let me tell you...I am on a roll and excited about my Chanel. I mean, I have always been excited about my jacket and this sew along, but I have tried to make the jacket along with other sewing projects which didn't work. Now that I have enough winter clothes and the holidays are over, I am concentrating on the Chanel--just the Chanel! The deadline might have past...but the sew along is still going strong so if you are interested in still participating, please email me! There has been several new sewists who have just joined in the past week.

Today I finished quilting my pieces. I am sticking with the Susan Khalje's Thread 121 article.

1. I cut the silk charmeuse roughly the same size as my boucle pattern pieces. The wrong sides are together. 2. I pinned where I needed to quilt. The lines are one inch apart. I stopped two inches above the hem. Also, I left a bit more than an inch at the seams/edges.
3. Here you can see the quilt stitching on the charmeuse side. The walking foot has been a big help. No slipping fabric! Important to mention, do not backstitch when you are sewing the lines! Just wait...
4. The most time consuming part so far...was pulling the threads on the ends to the inside and knotting. I used a pin to help pull.

Right now, I am beginning to baste the jacket together! It is exciting to see it come together.

I pinned the silk out of the way with silk pins. Then I basted on the thread traced lines

Elizabeth, you are right. The seam allowances are so big that, I hope, it won't be hard to get a right fit! Be back soon!

FIRST FITTING

2010-01-04T13:23:00.001-08:00

I don't really understand how you can do a fitting on anything when you have an extra 10" of bulk from large seam allowances to contend with but despite that handicap I was pleased with the first fitting. I wanted this jacket to have more ease and since it was comfortable at this point I thought it would be fine once the excess seam allowances were trimmed. At this point I had quilted the lining to the fabric and machine basted all the seams. After the fitting I stitched the seams of the jacket body, trimmed the excess seam allowances and prepared the lining at the seams for fell stitching. Thankfully, I had not yet done the fell stitching, only basted the lining in place because when I put the jacket on again and it was too tight! Although I had heavily steamed the fabric before cutting there was still shrinkage from pressing the seams. Next time the fabric goes to the cleaners for professional pretreating! There was only one option and that was to rip out the center back seam and the side seams and try to gain about an inch through the jacket body. Ripping out 3 seams in this fabric took an entire afternoon. The fit is now acceptable but not what I really wanted. Before I cut the sleeves you can be sure the fabric will be steamed, steamed again and steamed some more. I am bad about holding a grudge, so for now the jacket is pushed aside waiting for the day that I can look at it again without being angry and enjoy the process.

I'm sew embarrassed

2010-01-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm so embarrassed....I should have finished my jacket by now, and had high hopes.

However all is not lost. I actually have a deadline (this means probably an all-nighter - oh and I LOVE my all-nighters when I get to sew all night long - no phone calls, clients, emails, messages - nothing to bother me!)

My fabric is here staring (OK, it's been giving me dirty looks all though this last blizzard....what are blizzards for anyway if you can't catch up on your sewing!), at me and I have my new labels and I'm dyin' to put them in sumptin' - anything.

But most of all I want to show my students what you can actually do with some gorgeous fabric and skillful techniques....all you have to do is know them and practice them, and voila...you too can have a couture constructed wardrobe.

So if this blog closes before I get the jacket done, I'll post it on my blog (hopefully it won't), but don't wait on me. Otherwise I'll feel guilty - I've already got enough guilt about my tardiness in finishing this jacket!!!!

;-)

IF THERE IS ANYTHING I'VE LEARNED

2009-12-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

it's don't settle! Whether it be shoes, a man or lining for a Chanel style jacket I have finally learned to have a little patience and wait to find exactly what I'm looking for. I know this blog is officially over but I had to find the lining I really wanted for this pink, gray and brown boucle. I wanted a print rather than a solid and it took about 25 swatches mailed from stores coast to coast, a trip to Nashville, OK City and NYC before I found it. Paron Fabrics came through for me with this brown abstract floral on a cream background and I am now well on my way to completing my second jacket. I am using Susan Khalje's techniques that I learned last fall in the class I took with her in ST. Louis. The pieces are all quilted, basted together and ready for a fitting. I am anticipating that the fitting will require some extra time since the last jacket was a much heavier wool boucle and I also want this one to have more wearing ease.

It has been fun to watch everyone's progress. I have been impressed by all the creativity, learned from the different ways problems have been solved and will miss logging on to see the latest. Bye for now.

Country Girl Couture: Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt

2009-12-20T23:54:00.000-08:00

There is one solution...magic corset undies. That beaded cardigan is just beautiful.
Country Girl Couture: Deco Vibe Flippy Skirt

Chanel

2009-12-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

The Chanel Knock Off

What did I learn?

This fabric, silk/linen/cotton- not so good for a Chanel. This fabric has the structure of a cloth diaper. This jacket could be wadded up into a small ball if so desired. And it just might. So, it does resemble an earlier Chanel that is more sweater weight than a structured jacket.
My next, true Chanel (months from now) will not have plaids. These were aligned perfectly and once the quilted lining was installed, this jacket shrank, moved, and shifted like you would not believe.
I think this fabric stretched. How can that be?
The quilted lining was a good experience. Laborious, but invaluable.
Trim disaster. I ran out of trim for the bottom of the jacket. Why is it that I can buy enough toilet paper to last my household until Y3K, but neglect to purchase an extra yard of trim, now sold out? So we picked a similar match and if you don't look too close.........

Highlights

The faux Chanel CC gold buttons D1 insisted on. They do look kinda official. Purchased from MandJTrimming NYC.
She loves it. Whisked away to college before I had the chance to take decent pictures.
I recall Birgitte from Bubblegum for Breakfast referring to her Chanel as a "ragamuffin". Amen sister. I get it.
Overall-I enjoyed the experience. It does not meet my sanity standards, but for a first run, it was a great education, and I have one happy customer...........

Quilting sneak peak

2009-12-16T02:57:00.000-08:00

I first want to thank all the ladies that are bringing me their support. I would never have been able to undergo this project without your comments. This SAL is fantastic and I am learning so much everyday.As you can see back sections are sewn including the quilted lining .

To achieve this I am following Claire Schaeffer's method in Couture Sewing Techniques

This book is invaluable.

After I quilted the lining the vertical seams were hand sewn with bee waxed thread

As is explained in Claire's book, one important difference between upscale Ready to wear and Haute-Couture is the huge amount of hand sewing used in Haute-Couture. For permanent sewing you have waxed your sewing thread before.

Ann from Ann's Fashion Studio sent me this great reference concerning tailoring techniques, including how to wax your thread. I know it is time consuming but I hope it will pay off. Furthermore, I find this hand sewing very pleasant to do.

Finished: Gold Chanel-Style Jacket for the Holidays

2009-12-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

Glad this jacket is finally finished, and just in time to wear to holiday parties. I plan on wearing it most often with a white-and-navy striped French sailor's shirt and jeans. Here are the details (apologies for borrowing this from my Lindsay T Sews blog post):

Fabric: Metallic bouclé from Mood Fabrics in NYC that is gold on one side and silver on the other; you could ostensibly choose either or. Supposedly this fabric is from Ralph Lauren. Lining is sheer white silk organza and the Hong Kong seams are finished in silk charmeuse, also from Mood.
Trim: A blue braid with gold accents from M&J Trims. I really wanted to find a bolder trim but my teenage daughter was with me at M&J and she has all the patience there of an antsy two-year-old strapped in a stroller.
Pattern: I guess I'd have to say this is my own basic design. It started out a few years ago as Textile Studios' Mandarin Collar Jacket pattern, but I've altered it so much it really doesn't resemble the original pattern any more. I wanted this design to be very basic and not very fitted, hence no darts or princess seams.

I added lined flap pockets (decorative only) that are topped with piping in silk charmeuse. The most time-consuming part of this jacket was hand-sewing the trim in place.

Here's a close-up of the fabric so you can see it has a split personality: Is it a gold bouclé, or is it silver? I loved the gold side a little more, but I didn't want to hide that fabulous silver beneath a lining. So I decided to use sheer silk organza as a lining because it let the silver peek through.

I treated the bouclé and the organza as one layer, first hand-basting the two fabrics together before any machine sewing to prevent shifting. I Hong Kong-finished all the seams with strips of silk charmeuse and then I catchstitched the seams in place to the organza. The outer edges of the jacket and sleeve hems were bias bound: I stitched the bias strips of charmeuse to the wrong side, then flipped the strips over and stitched in the ditch to tack them down. The raw edges of the bias strip were then covered up by the trim, which I hand-sewed in place.

I got the idea to treat the interior of this jacket this way from a gorgeous Prada jacket I fondled at Saks Fifth Avenue. The lining and the fashion fabric of this jacket were treated as one unit, and the seams were all Hong Kong-finished. The inside was as beautiful as the outside. Now if a jacket was going to be worn a lot I wouldn't necessarily recommend silk organza as a lining–it's just too weak a fabric, even when treated like a layer, to withstand a lot of exposed wear. But for a jacket like this one, which won't get worn a lot, it's fine.

Better Late Than Never…

2009-12-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

Through my recent web surfing activities I accidentally stumbled upon this blog and was just thrilled to see the topic of interest; a Sew-A-Long for making a Chanel Jacket, how lovely and exciting!!

I traveled through the accompanying links of the various participants and was pleased to see everyone’s projects in various stages of the construction process. Seeing that there had been a deadline I decided to give it a shot to see if the blog would be continuing and contacted Cindy to sign up

What luck…she mentioned that this sew-a-long would continue through the winter and I saw this as an opportunity to work on a great project and have a “some-what” structured time-frame to complete it in. I am looking forward to working on my jacket and receiving input…first up will be the pattern.

Please visit my post Mail Call…Another Sewing Goodie to help me decide. Let me know what you think and feel about your pattern of choice and any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Here are some of my choices:

Vogue 7975

Vogue 8369

Vogue 8259

Looking forward to hearing your ideas!

Thanks ~ mimi o ~

I am so slow

2009-12-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

This prject seems like a never ending story.
I've just sorted out fitting my muslin. Fitting the 3 piece-sleeves took ages. My sister pointed aout that the shouders were too long. So had to shorten them.
I thought I would feel better with a little bit of ease around the biceps line and add 1/4'' around the arm at the sleeve
Here's what it looks like.Plus the sketch my sister made to help me fiitting the sleeve end.

I know I am procrastinating because I am anxious about quilting the shell to the lining. So yesterday, instead of cutting the fabric and lining I read everything could find concerning this step.
I must say that Claire Schaeffer's Couture Techniques is realy helpful. Eventually I ended making a swap following her method :

1 Cutting rectangles for each section from the shell fabric and the lining fabric about 4in. bigger than the finished garment section

2 Roughly outline the section shape ont the right side of the rectangles

3 Lay the lining wrong side up and top it with the fabric side up aligning grainlines.

4 Pin the sections together on on the intended quilting lines.

5 With diagonal stitches baste between the pinned rows and remove the pins.

That's where I stopped.

Today I will machine quilt the sample and that's where I need your help, please.

Some of you are using a walking foot. What is it and can it be donne with a normal foot?

The dominant colour of my tweed is off white and the lining looks like hand painted splashes (does it make sense to you?) of acid green and deep purple. I intend to use invisible thread on the lining side because I fear that the off white thread that I want to use for the shell might be disgracious. Does it sounds correct to you? Do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Here are my fabrics. Forget about solid fuschia.

Marie-Noëlle

Finished but only just begun

2009-11-25T17:26:00.000-08:00

My jacket has been completed for some time now but I didn't want to post until I was reasonably satisfied with it.

The silk tweed fabric was beautiful – a gift sent from my friend Cindy - but I wasn’t happy with it. The braid around the neckline, front and hem of the garment didn’t work and I hated the boxy look of the neckline. This morning I the lights came on and I realized that my jacket would look so much better with the braid removed and the neckline turned back into a revere.

Now I love it. It hangs much better on my body than the dressform and the pockets are aligned. I'll post a picture of it on soon.

While I didn’t use the Chanel method of quilting the lining (my fabric was too lightweight), my silk lining makes this garment feel quite luxurious to wear. I didn’t use shoulder pads that the pattern asked for because I wanted a cardigan feel.

Why just the beginning? Because I want to apply what I learned on a winter Chanel jacket in wool boucle with quilted lining. And next time I’ll make a v-neckline or collared jacket which suits me better.

Finished and Grateful

2009-11-25T05:34:00.000-08:00

I finished and haven't gotten around to doing all the detail photos, but if you've seen the inside of one Chanel jacket, you've seen them all, right?

I couldn't have done this project without the help and guidance of Susan Khalje, both in-person at the Sit and Sew class in NYC and also with her wonderful Threads article. I will definitely do another, now that I've know how it's done properly, and where I need to improve for next time.

Job well done to all of you who have finished and to those of you with "works in progress". You will reach the finish line, it just takes lots of time and patience!

FYI:

Fabric - Haberman Fabrics, Royal Oak Michigan

Trim & Buttons - M & J Trims, New York City

Lining - Lace Star, New York City

Not a UFO but...

2009-11-24T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hello! The last month has not seen much progress on my Chanel jacket, although I have been playing with different ideas (still) for the trim and today bought the chain. It is almost finished and possibly would be if it were winter. However it is summer here, the fabric is wool and the weather is hot (like super hot) so I have put it aside for now. It will not be forgotten though ... I have it on my dress form with various trim combinations pinned to it and am so looking forward to wearing it in the Autumn. I'm still following all the posts, enjoying the reviews and will post again, if the sew-along is still open, when I pick up the project next. Thanks Cindy and Antoinette, this was a great idea and I've learnt heaps. It's been so enjoyable and fun to sew with such a lovely group.

Shabby chic: done at last!

2009-11-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

My #1 trial Chanel: finished and inaugurated at work, and then - in the middle of taking pics just now, it "unfinished" itself. As luck would have it, the bottom hook broke- OK, I broke it, wanting to first tighten it a tad, then un-tighten. I will, of course, replace it - and all the others, as these here, though a great colour match to the rest, appear have been designed with form but no function - they keep popping open. Arrrrgh.

So, do I love it? Ummmmmm.... I DO love the three piece sleeve with the in your face vent and buttons running up to the earlobes! I'm not crazy about the slightly rumpled look, or the fact that my chain is too light to give the hem a good downwards tug - I think I'll replace that too. I think I might eventually replace the trim, if I can find something better, as this thin little twisted cord is doing a terrific disappearing act (you didn't even notice it was there?! what did I tell you!)

I love my leather buttons! Isn't it nice how the little things can give us so much pleasure?

Chanel Deadline

2009-11-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

I am not going to make the Chanel deadline-but I don't think that is a problem. I am learning a lot and know what I am going to do differently when I make my own jacket-next year.

Thread tracing- I hand sewed each seam line with bright red thread. The entire time I kept wondering why this could not have been accomplished with chalk. If you know the couture reason, please let me know. I am sure it has something to do with perfection and quality..............

Quilted Lining-the next time I will be exact with my pins and inches. Thank goodness for the quilting foot. This fabric is bumpy and shifts like quicksand.
I am enjoying the process. D1 is very excited. I will be more meticulous with the next Chanel....

Sew Chanel, Sew Happy

2009-11-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

I certainly need a deadline to finish sewing projects so thank you for encouraging me to get this one done. I was heading to NYC on Nov. 7, a combined PR, Maryland ASG and friend visit so I wanted to complete this project...and happily, I did.

Recap, I used my TNT princess seam jacket pattern, Simplicity 4698, a tweedy silk, rayon, cotton blend I think from fabric Mart, the stitich and flip technique from Shannon Gifford's online class at Patternview.com, Ambiance lining and I followed the Louise Cutting article from Threads #121, the Master Class on raw edges. here are the results.

I spent weeks deciding on the trim since I was so taken with what the rest of you have done on your jackets. I bought ribbons at the Chantilly, VA sewing expo, in San Francisco at Britex and the beautiful Ribbonerie but ended up letting the fabric doing the talking. There were plenty of colors in thei tweed and every trim either seemed too contrived or cheesy looking. I loved the Louise Cutting technique, just 1" bias strips of the tweed stitich on then lightly brushed with nail brush. I will definitely use this idea again.

PART TWO OF MY CHANEL JACKET

2009-11-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

This is the top that I wanted to make specifically for my Chanel inspired jacket. This is McCall's 5708 that I made the protype of earlier just to try the pattern out.

Part 3 of the Chanel inspired jacket will be a matching pencil skirt. I'll come back to show pictures as soon as I get everything finished....until then HAPPY SEWING!

Can you believe it?

2009-11-06T03:51:00.000-08:00

My DH is taking me out on a (long overdue!) date tonight, and I really wanted to wear my jacket, so I have been hand sewing like a mad fiend for the last 2 days, but I did it! It's done!

Front

Side

Back

And my chain, of course. I took Digs tip and bought it at Home Depot, and it is great! I really love my jacket. Next time, I'll do it up right, but I'm still happy with my first lined jacket. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to sew along with the wonderful group. The inspiration and help has really been invaluable to me on this journey.

Thank you!!

Trim for the Chanel

2009-11-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am working on my Chanel jacket. I am taking a break from cutting out the charmeuse lining. More on that later...I was playing around with the trim too and decided to use a bit of fringe with the ric rac, velvet trim.

Here it is on the fashion fabric. I adore the pink! It reminds me when my girls were babies and we were surrounded by this soft, innocent color.

What do you think? And I am in need of advice...should I hand sew the velvet trim to the fringe then hand sew it to the jacket? I am guessing yes, but I just need a little reassurance! Thank you in advance.

Moving along...

2009-11-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

Since I am totally cheating and bagged the lining without quilting it, my jacket is pretty much constructed. Now I have to set aside my machine and start in on the hand work.

I'm happy how it went together so far, but I'm not sure how I want to place my trim. Right on the edge or offset slightly?
Every time I look at it I "decide" to do something different.

What do you think?

WIP : 3rd version of my muslin

2009-11-03T00:46:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, I tested my altered muslin. I made those alterations looking myself in the mirror as I had no dressform. As I expected the result was far from satisfactory.

Sunday, I brought the jacket to my sister who is a professional drafter. She was so helpful.
She pinned all that needed to be altered and I made a 3rd version of my muslin yesterday.
Moreover, my mother lent me her dress form, so that I can work more efficiently.

Here's how it looks like this morning

Today, I will work on the sleeves and hem lime.
I expect to cut my fabric tomorrow. I am so impatient to do so.

The trials of trim

2009-10-31T06:49:00.000-07:00

What's a Chanel jacket without trim? The classic (hackneyed?) trim for red is either gold or black. Or both. Last week I was THIS close to getting iron-on gold trim. At the last second, fearing it would look cheap on a casual day topper (trying too hard at best and street wear at worst), I paused.

In the spirit of the fall tweed version, I gave myself permission to use brown (brown being the new black in recent years) and gold colours to trim my orangeish red mohair. I have just the ticket in my stash: a brown/black/yellow/taupe houndstooth, waiting its own turn to be turned into a snazzy suit. Birgitte (bubblegum4breakfast) showed us how to use bias-cut houndstooth strips to make a very cute fringe. To tie these completely different colours to the FF, I looped two mohair weft threads together & stitched them on top. (the warp of this fabric is pure plain wool, and only the weft thread has mohair loops in it).

And, and,,and?? I find the whole effect altogether too fuzzy. So back to the drawing board. Black and gold.

So, today's options are:

gold iron-on trim
.
.
.
.
.

silvery iron-on trim
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

narrow black lace (it's white because the black sold out - and if the store doesn't re-stock, I can dye it, since it's rayon).

Hmmmmm.

Any suggestions?

Any ideas?

I FINISHED...

2009-10-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

...and although there were times that I thought I wouldn't make it, or that I had bitten off much more than I could chew... I did make it to the finish line. This jacket involed a lot of firsts for me. Of course I had never made a Chanel look-a-like; never thought about quilting a lining to my fashion fabric; never truly bagged a lining; hadn't used much trim, and never completed a challenge.

Three years ago I would have never even thought about starting a project of this caliber.

My Mother sent this beautiful boucle to me last September and I really had planned on making a Chanel suit from it last Fall. Well that didn't happen, but when this challenge came along I signed right up. Of course I experienced some feelings of remorse shortly after joining and even thought about withdrawing my name from the challenge. But I presevered and here is my finished project.

This was quite a challenge and I want to thank Clever Girl and Cindy for setting this up. There are plans for a matching pencil skirt and a dressy blouse made from the same fabric as the jacket's lining. I have learned so much from all of the people who posted here, and I will be making another jacket of this type.

I'll take pictures wearing it as soon as the skirt and blouse are made.

I'll be cheering everyone else on to the finish line...

Is this right??

2009-10-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that someone out there can help me. I'm underlining my fashion fabric with batiste to stabilize it, but this is the first time I've done this. Per Sandra Betzina's Threads article, I folded the pattern pieces along the middle on the straight grain to account for the turn of the cloth and then basted them together. In the diagram, it looks like I should have some little rim of batiste peeking out to be trimmed off, and that is what happened on one side of the pattern piece, but on the other side the boucle is overlapping!You can see on the left an edge of batiste under the boucle, but just the opposite on the right.
I was afraid that perhaps my boucle was stretching, since it is such a loose weave, but when I overlaid the pattern piece, it looks OK.

Any thoughts?

Fall colours inspiration

2009-10-26T15:27:00.001-07:00

I decided to make a wearable muslin. No, no no, not a wearable muslin - a wearable garment, a version #1, only out of a lesser fabric than my fuzzy, and likely to turn out to be one to fray terribly, mohair. Our gorgeous fall dictated my choice here.

I grabbed a fall-colours cotton or rayon tweed (burn test says no synthetic fibers) purchased a year ago at Ottawa's Fabric Flea Market for a song. There wasn't much of it and I was first inclined to have it as a wiggle skirt, but when the leaves turned this month it leapt up begging to be a jacket – and I loooove making jackets. I made it exactly to spec as above, but then took two 1.5” diagonal cuts out of the top & bottom of CF, to make two V-shaped openings, each about a third of the overall CF length.

This fabric came fully interfaced with black fusible knit, which must've been done industrially as the interfacing wouldn't budge despite laundering, steaming, or high-T pressing, and still had nice sideways flexibility. Great!

(the pic at left shows the jacket's completed, but not yet fully trimmed out. You will notice it has no pockets. I cut out one pocket, but would have to piece a second one, or make welt pockets. The strategic aka easy way out aka DH said, forget the pockets)

I didn't do any quilting on this pre-interfaced baby, though I did tape the neck line and CFs. This body is a straight out of the envelope standard jacket construction, with fashion fabric front & back facings and a bagged lining.

The lining's a nice weight sueded silk twill, dyed with brown Jacquard dye. This was one of my early stovetop dye jobs, and the result came out surprisingly mottled in reddish and golden brown hues. Making lemonade here, an ideal match to my fall tweed! I faced the lower sleeves just to the top of the vent with leftover black silk dupioni from another project. But a little hand-sewing was inevitable: the facings were sewn to the CF-SF SA's, and the side lining seams to the side SA's. Hemmed the bottom by hand & attached a gold chain (pssst: from Home Depot!) at the bottom, under the lining fold.

On to the decoration: that's always the tricky bit, isn't it? I brought a scrap of my tweed to this year's Flea Market to look for nice gold buttons, but I never could find the minimum 6 little + 3 big ones that matched or looked good together (I even considered the “unmatched vintage button mix” look). Lo and behold, I found a set of eight little and four big leather (!) buttons, with just the right mix of yellowish to reddish brown shades. So, four buttons on each vent (I even made a tiny buttonhole for each, in retrospect a ridiculous waste of my time since the buttons cover them completely), in keeping with the non-uniform colour scheme throughout, sewed on with variegated embroidery floss.

Still to finish: hook & eye closures and the large leather buttons on each side of the middle part of CF. Attachment of the twisted cord piping to highlight the neckline and CF. Advice solicitation: DO tell, should I continue around the bottom hem as well? Once all that's done, I'll post the jacket in action!

Better Late than Never!

2009-10-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying watching all of the beautiful jackets come together, and lusting after my own, so I decided to jump on board. I feel very out of my league in this august company (which is likely why I am so late in starting!). This will be the first time I have attempted a lined jacket, so I am planning to simplify it, so that I have fewer opportunities for error.Here is my pattern (New Look 6853). It has the shape, but the sleeves are only one piece. I've been reading and re-reading the two Threads articles in the sidebar, but I don't think I'm ready for all the quilting, so I'm planning to bag this lining as per the pattern instructions. My boucle is a fairly loose weave, so I will be underlining it with batiste. I have a trim that I am reasonably happy with, although it isn't all that exciting, so I'm still on the lookout for something more interesting. I'll handsew that and the chain weight at the hem.

Well, I'm excited! Here we go!

playing catchup

2009-10-26T08:13:00.000-07:00

I'm lagging far behind, but hopefully I'll have some time this weekend to catch up with everyone here!

These are my fabric and trim... I'm really leaning towards the fringed one, but I also bought a more subdued chenille trim as well. The fringed trim is from a tiny trim on W 39th street... can't remember the name, but it's shortly before Azymoon on the south side of the street between 7th and 8th. The chenille trim is from MJ Trim. It's black with a silver stripe down the center of it.

My fabric is a black and white wool blend tweed from fabric.com's sale of the Vera Lavendar fabrics. The lining will be a light tan/gray color charmeuse.

trim choice

2009-10-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

Due to some usal migraine, I haven't been able to work as much as I expected on fitting my jacket. However, I've made my choice concerning the trim and what I came out with is quite pleasing to my eye.
I will fringe some strips of my fabric an top it with a bought trim matching the colours of the lining. The bought trim is sewn with invisible thread.
The colours of the pictures are not true to the real ones .
I think that this option is quite Chanel-esque. Don't you,

Student's Jacket

2009-10-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

I thought I would get to work on my daughter’s jacket, but I was sidelined by a homecoming dress. However, my student is moving along. We have corrected her muslin and she’s cut her jacket. Today she started quilting the pieces. She’s confident enough to continue the quilting at home. Next week’s lesson will be sewing the jacket. Here are the fabrics and trim Kira chose and here’s Kira tying off the sewing threads between the layers. This is so exciting.

Progress report

2009-10-25T17:39:00.001-07:00

This jacket is taking much longer than I had anticipated but is nearly done. I spent a lot of time researching and receiving advice on how to do a quilted lining. In the end, I decided that this silk tweed was too fine for quilting. My lining is conventional but hand sewn at the armholes and the hemline.

The next obstacle came when choosing a trim. I went all over Sydney looking for the perfect trim. Defeated I opted for a fairly traditional trim from Spotlight which I used back to front to give this metalic effect.

The trim is only pinned in place to show the effect. Next up - attach the trims and finish the thing! Does anyone have a tip on how to mitre the corners of trim without unravelling and frayed edges?

I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL NOW...

2009-10-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

I was so busy with work and homework this week that I hadn't touched my jacket since last Saturday's all day sewing marathon. So my friends and I had a early Saturday evening dinner, had our show and tell session, and then preceeded to sew for about 6 hours straight. Quite progressive, but I still did a lot of work on the jacket today.

I did get my sleeves in yesterday, and guess what?, they match with the jacket front and back. I was so afraid that they wouldn't match. Could it be...that I have finally learned to match stripes/checks/plaids?

I don't know about all of you, but I cannot make this thing work! I've tried several times to no avail. I'll try again later, but in the meantime,

I learned of this magnificent technique in a post from Cindy at Color by Number. So sim1ple! So useful! I'm in love with this and will be using it A LOT! THANKS FOR SHARING CINDY! I used her technique to make the bias tape from my jacket lining fabric. Worked like a charm! So I enclosed the sleeve cap seam with my beautiful bias tape. Learning to make bias tape for this jacket also helped me accomplish one of the goals I set for this year.

I had to hem the sleeves because I forgot to bag them according the the Thread's Magazine article. Can we all say "LOTS OF HAND STITCHING". Now all that is left to do is to attach the trim and add the chain at the hem.

I had to decide on the placement for the trim; I think I like this placement best. And then decide how much of the trim to use, and where to place it. I really like the jacket and the trim, but I don't want to chance making it look gaudy. I'm thinking about placing the trim down the front, the neck area, and the faux pocket flaps only. Traditionally the trim is also placed on the sleeve and the bottom hem of the jacket, but I don't know. WHAT DO YOU THINK???

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now...

Late to the Chanel Party

2009-10-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

I am very late to the Chanel Party.

I originally signed up, submitted inspirational pictures and posted fabrics, and then went into hiding. That was my last Chanel post. I officially and unofficially withdrew. I lurked on the site, posted nothing, found courage and I'm back with a slightly different approach. I am concrete random at best. Always a plan. I just change it as I see fit.......So here is the final approach-I will see it through to completion.

Chanel jacket will be for D1. She is thrilled. Her requests were: furry trim,tight fitting, pockets,and gold buttons for sleeve vents.

A merging of 2 patterns. A Vintage 1961 Advance pattern, for the excellent sleeve vents and Chanel like qualities. Vogue 7975 for the basic shell. I will merge sleeves from Advance with Vogue shell .

Inspiration picture: Linda Evangelists in BWOF 9/2009 with her Chanel jacket
Fabric: Cotton/Linen boucle from emmaonesock with lurex strips throughout. Do these match or what???? I actually had this fabric in my stash.........uncanny resemblence.
Trims: one sided black furry from MandJ Trimming
Two edged furry trim with a skinny trim on top from M and J Trimming

Are "furry" and "skinny" couture adjectives? If so, I am using them like I know what I am talking about.

Chanel Literature: I will rely on these three books and countless bloggers before me.
Muslins to date: muslin front. Sleeve is very long and wide, shoulder needs some adjustment. Waist and bust look good.
Muslin Back: Big in the shoulder, arm, some work to do. General idea on track.
Next: Adjust muslin, and then cut out fabric and lining, and thread trace..... D1 won't be home from college for a couple of weeks so this will be a slow process.....

Oo-wee - I'm in!

2009-10-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

A late arrival here, and hi to y'all. I bumped into this delightful blog only last week - fortuitously perhaps, or more likely not, as I've been working on my own two Chanel-esque jackets these past few weeks, and have been looking for image & info ideas. Lo and behold - look what popped up right near the top. Your lovely, lovely, fun titled sewalong.

Some of you may remember me from the GreatCoatSewAlong, and what a fabulous learning experience that was. I will never fear padstitching, ever again. Oh sure, you say, that's why you're now making a Chanel jacket: no lapels or collar to padstitch! Ummmm......

I loooove making coats & jackets, and though I make all the other stuff too, they're definitely in supporting roles. With my busy work schedule, I just don't have the time to post about these lesser actors. But jackets, oh! there's something just so delicious about the smell of steamed wool and silk, and slipping on a nice jacket lined with sueded silk jacquard, with nothing but a little tank top underneath, feeling that silk sliding up my arms, yum!

My late summer efforts have been the Nannette Lepore knockoff (McCall's 5815 with bracelet sleeves, in cornflower blue wool crepe), the Vogue 1098 jacket in cream wool crepe, and this little Burda coat. I'll have to post reviews for the jackets, I know.... eventually.

So, on to the Chanel. I started this process a couple of weeks ago, motivated by the dropping temps and a wish to finally have a new red sweater-like jacket for casual Fridays at work. We're encouraged to wear red on casual Fridays, and it's high time for another version of red Friday. I just happen to have a 75/25 wool-mohair blend, purchased a year ago last summer from Dorr Mills in NH. A great place, btw, if you happen to be in the state and love wool as much as I do. Oh the colours, the tweeds, the herringbones! The weather was so pathetic this summer we didn't go, but next summer, for sure! But I digress....

I've known for a long time that I'd be making a Chanel jacket eventually, and have had both Vogues 7975 and 8259 for a couple of years. I'm using V7975 for the body, as I think its shape is less boxy than the other one, and V8259 for the tres haute couture three piece, vented up to there, sleeves.

The muslin: initially a straight 10. Took a 1/4” tuck just above waist in the centre back piece, tapering to nothing at side seam. Lowered the back neck to the size 8 line. Dropped the shoulders 1/4” at the sleeve seam, and pinched out a bit out of the upper princess seams, to bring the shoulders in 5/8”. Added 3/8” FBA to each side of each front princess seam over the bust (a total of 1.5”). Cut each body piece 1/8” wider below the waist, and sewed a standard 5/8” SA, giving myself an extra 1.5” ease over the hips. Made just one V7975 sleeve, to establish finished length & ease, and then adjusted the V8259 sleeve pieces for same length & width. The finished back length is 22.5”. No photos, sorry!

Next: wearable muslin, aka Digs' Chanel #1. With pics.

Update

2009-10-25T10:39:00.001-07:00

Hi. I'm here. I haven't forgotten you ladies. I went through my stash last night and found these items. I am going to begin constructing one of these jackets this week. I am taking the shortcut by using the info in Threads #128.

Finished! (and a vote for hand-sewing)

2009-10-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

My jacket is finally finished. Hooray! I tried first to inset the lining by machine, but I had a hard time keeping the curved edges on the bottom aligned and the misalignment caused the bottom hem to flare out in the back. So after putting it away in frustration for a couple weeks, I took out the seam and re-sewed it by hand. I was pretty pleased with the result and it didn't take as long as I thought. Because of the texture of the fabric my stitches are pretty invisible. Here's a shot of the inside:

Overall I am really pleased with the jacket. It is comfortable to wear, goes with most things, and adds a nice layer of warmth. The flannel interlining didn't add too much bulk and makes it quite a bit warmer. There are a couple more pictures of the finished jacket here.

Threads 121-- Step 1

2009-10-23T14:55:00.001-07:00

Today I thread traced most of my muslin pattern pieces to my boucle. Darn, it takes a long time! Still on step 1 of the Susan Khalje's Thread 121 article...This fabric has wrecked me. It is gorgeous to the eye and touch. I love it.

The article states to pin all the pieces to the fabric before thread tracing. I am using my kitchen counter which is quite large, but I still wasn't able to fit all the pieces on it at one time. I am doing it in two stages...but don't worry...I made sure that I had plenty of fabric!

After thread tracing on the seamline, I left a 1 1/2 inch seam allowance. The article states at least 2 inches but it seemed a bit extreme.

I am ready for step 2! If I only had my silk charmeuse...maybe it will come tomorrow!

Full Steam Ahead

2009-10-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

It is Thursday and I am finally blogging my Chanel progress. I am taking it slow. Mostly due to a nasty head cold which has made me a bit lazy this week. I ended up steaming my boucle for pre-treatment. I felt, it was the most gentle way to go and it is too early in the project to ruin the fabric!

I had Mood Fabrics in NY send pink charmeuse samples for the lining. I order the perfect pink for only $15./yd. Much cheaper than at Vogue Fabrics!

I am using Susan Khalje's Threads 121 article for the construction. I am going step by step. Step one...make the muslin...check...dismantle the muslin...check....

Label all the pattern pieces and cut off all seam allowances...check.

After pressing the muslin pattern, draw in all grade lines...check...

Presently I am pinning my muslin pattern pieces to the boucle and thread tracing . I will be back with more progress!

I am slowly progressing

2009-10-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Even if I am slowly progressing, I am very glad to announce that I started to build my Chanel jacket.
Be warned that the quality of the pics will be very poor due to issues with my usual camera that have been lasting since early summer. My sense of perfection will suffer from that but let's say that poor pictures are better than no pictures at all.
The last post dealing with my jacket was about the fabrics.
Since then I chose the pattern. To be true I shall say the patterns.
Vogue 7975 for the bodice in the shorter view with at least to patched pockets.
I will use Vogue 8259 for the sleeves shortening them to obtain a a 3/4 length .
At that point, I must say that I would not have been able to make my project come true without the help of two awfully kind girls. One of them being no less than Cindy Phelan, one of the administrator of this SAL. The other one is Ann from Ann's Fashion Studio.

THANK YOU CINDY AND ANN. YOU HAVE BEEN SO HELPFUL. YOU ARE MY ANGELS.

Thanks to them I will be able to make the unique 3 piece sleeve and to follow Susan Kahlje method for quilting mentionned in Threads 121.

The next step was choosing the trim. I chose a plain one that has the same colour as the lining. And I intend to embelish it with the brightest multicoulored threads of the main fabric.
This trim will be sewn on two layered fringed strips of my fabric in order to obtain a fringed trim. No picture available yet, it's al in my brains.

Yesterday, I started to make the muslin.I've never made a muslin before and my mind was not quite clear about how to achieve it. I found very detailed explanations here and I intend to follow them them step by step. I know it will take ages but I think the pattern is worth it. In fact it is very versatile and it can make a TNT jacket pattern.

Right now, I've pined basted the jacket muslin made from an old cotton table cloth. I am quite pleased with this fabric choice. It is very easy to work with.

Tomorrow, I will try it on and make the alterations if needed.

That's all so far. I'll keep you posted

MARIE-NOËLLE

More about Shaeffer and Coffin's Behind The Seams : CHANEL

2009-10-20T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Cindy mentionned CS and DPC's Chanel CD. David created a blog offering a great preview of the cd including this suit with zoomable pics. Super link, very instructive closeups.
I guess Vogue 8259 was directly inspired by the jacket.
Thank you to both of them.
I would love to have the cd. I should ask Santa to drop it in my stocking.
As David mentions it, you must have the Adobe Reader.9 version to be able to view it.
Enjoy.

Marie-Noëlle LAFOSSE

Behind the Seams : Chanel Vol. 1

2009-10-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

I received a thoughtful email from David Page Coffin today. He stumbled on the blog and sent a link to Claire Shaeffer's blog for Behind The Seams: The Shaeffer Collection Vol. 1, Chanel. There is a preview to the CD and some eye candy for us "Chanel-lovers." Check out page 3 and the gorgeous fur trim!

David Coffin is sending a CD my way and I can't wait to see it. I will be back soon to give a full review! Anyone else seen the CD?

I added the blog link to the resource list.

CHANEL ALL DAY LONG...

2009-10-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

I worked on my Chanel Jacket ALL DAY LONG on Saturday. This project is truly a labor of love. I can't tell you how many times I have whispered to myself, "I don't think I can do all of this!", or "This is just too much work!", or "I just quit!" But since I won't let my students quit, I guess quitting is not an option for me. So I have trudged onward and here are the results of a few evening work last week, Friday evening and ALL DAY LONG on Saturday.

Although not perfect, all of the quilting is done (Thank God)!

The plaids/stripes match (Yahoo!!!)

My (Sheila) faux welt pockets are on.

And this is a picture of my fabulous lace with rose and black pearl trim, which by the way will have to be hand sewn.

So, now I need to:

Set the sleeves, bind them with bias trim and hem them.
Sew on my trim.
Add my chain, and
THEN I WILL BE FINISHED.

Now I've got to pause to study for a test that I have to take tonight - the other things of life are calling to me. Maybe I'll be able to make it to the finish line some time this week between the 133 pages I need to read for my Psych class. At any rate, I'm a lot closer that I was before. Being able to dedicate an entire day to sewing was PRICELESS....

FAYE

A question about pattern size terminology 'BB'

2009-10-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

Edited 2009-10-18 to include photo of 'BB' reference

Hi, I needed to purchase extra silk charmeuse for the bias finish on the jacket armscye and decided to "Go Chanel" so I now have enough silk for a sleeveless blouse with flounce (to match the jacket lining) and (hopefully) a skirt lining as well - very exciting! The pattern I've chosen is Butterick 5284 view B without the sleeves (or with short sleeves) and possibly without the collar. I'm doing a muslin first and when checking the pattern size/fit I noticed it has the notation BB (8-10-12-14). This has intrigued me. Does anyone know what the "BB" means? I've googled it unsuccessfully and can't find it explained on the pattern cover, pattern glossary or instructions. Thanks.

A tale of two (or more) trims

2009-10-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

Hi, I've been enjoying the whole Chanel experience. Its been such great fun getting back into sewing again. While looking for the 'perfect' trim I've explored further afield and visited some places I'd heard about but not been to. Saigon fabrics for the silk lining and yesterday EM Greenfield ... and I think I may have found it!

My two early endeavours produced the pale mauve trim, a great match colour-wise, but somewhat insignificant and the purple braid.

The purple gave good contrast, but the style of braid was not what I was after. Encouraged by feedback and ideas from my earlier post, I tried a crochet edge (which didn't work) ...

... then a crotchet chain sewn to the reverse side of the trim, which looked surprisingly ok and was a possible fall back ...

In search of the 'pop' factor, I also tried a contrasting backing ribbon with the pale braid, which looked effective but the combination of trims proved too difficult to curve around the neck edge. It was also too weighty/bulky for the jacket.

So I've been on the hunt for something like the mauve trim but in purple, and yesterday I found it. It looks good on its own ...

... although if I have enough selvage available I'd like to add a fringed edge to tie it back in to the woolly jacket ...

Now I have a question! Do I need to pre-treat the trim, perhaps soak it in a gentle wool wash?

Coco is catchy

2009-10-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. As one of the admin of this sew along, you would think my jacket would be near completion. Well, it looks as if I will be the first to admit that an extension to a Nov. 15th deadline will be needed. I have done all my research, bought all my supplies, and even completed my muslin, but my mind has not been clear enough to begin the project. I have several volunteer projects in the works and by next Monday, I have set aside time to just work on the jacket. It is getting cold in Chicago so I am looking forward to wearing it!

I have enjoyed all your posts and inspired by every thing I have seen! Thank you for sharing and hopefully next week I will be able to offer some payback.

I had to add the above pic because my daughter chose Coco Chanel as her biography book report for October. Like mother, like daughter...I guess. We decided to read it together especially since the author keeps on referring to past lovers!

Be back soon!

Vouge 7975

2009-10-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

The sleeves are now basted in, awaiting feedback from my "in-house fitting consultant". However, I'm reasonably happy with the way they are sitting, just needing a final check of the back.

As promised, here are a few of the construction pics showing how the lining is attached. More pics are shown in previous posts for the jacket body and sleeve.

I eliminated all facings and cut a full lining, then bagged and quilted the jacket body. I also used a lightweight fusible interfacing called Sheerweft to stabilise the fabric. For the 2-piece sleeves I sewed the elbow seam (with ease) then quilted the lining and fabric while flat, then hand stitched the remaining lining seam (after machine stitching the fabric seam). I plan to trim and finish the armhole with a bias strip.

CONFUSING MYSELF...

2009-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

The more I think about my Chanelish jacket - the more I confuse myself. I notice that lots of people are making the Vouge 7975 pattern and so am I. I have several questions about this pattern:

. Due to time constraints I have decided to follow the instructions from Threads issue 128, where the lining is bagged and then quilting it. The Vouge pattern has front and back facings, CAN THE FACINGS BE ELIMINATED TO FACILITATE ME BAGGING THE LINING?
AND, IF I ELIMINATE THE FACINGS WILL MY JACKET BE COMPROMISED IN ANY WAY?

I am looking for a soft carnigan style jacket, so maybe eliminating the facings won't matter, but I'm unsure.

I am not fusing my fashion fabric for this jacket, mainly because I had a bad experience with fusing earlier this year.

I NEED TO KNOW WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING WITH THIS PATTERN????

Dawn - It's coming along

2009-10-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

I have not given up but my life has been buuuuusy with fall.

I decided to go with hook and eyes instead of a zipper. With all the colors in the boucle and trim, I didn't want another color for the zipper. I thought about black but didn't want a dark line cutting my jacket in half. This, I think, is better.

It has sleeves.

Here's the finished trim on the sleeves. The trim is applied with the sewing machine in two passes.

First I zigzagged on the gold using a matching thread. This is my test strip. I ended up using a narrower zigzag.

Then I used a straight stitch to apply the blue trim. You can see the manufacturer used a straight stitch to create the loops (look closely at the blue thread). My test version is with gold but look at the photo above of the finished sleeve and you can barely see the stitches.

This week I hope to get the rest of the trim on and quilt the lining.

STILL GOING CHANEL...

2009-10-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

Never can remember whether Chanel has one "n" or two - oh well I'm sure you know what I mean.

I'm working on my jacket muslin, and the process is going very well. I'm planning on adding faux welt pocket flaps, but I'm undecided whether to use just two - I could use three or even four, but I want to make sure that I'm not over crowding it. The pocket flaps will have braided trim across them (I still have not purchased the trim yet) and I don't want them to make the jacket look junky.

Vouge 7975 has a two piece sleeve which I usually try to avoid. In addition to the two piece sleeve, I still have to contend with excess sleeve cap ease. I know that ease is a necessary thing, but I cannot stand the puckers that result from it. Several months ago my friend Lisa Howard had told me about using Armo-Rite (found in old ties) cut on the bias to ease sleeves in with the puckers. I tried it and obviously did not know what I was doing because it did not work. I noticed recently that Erica Bunker showed the same technique in a tutorial so I gave it another try. I used regular bias tape (ironed open) as a substitute to ease the sleeves in my jacket muslin.

This time it worked like a charm. So I owe a big "Thank You" to both Lisa and Erica because now I'll satisfied with my sleeves.

Today I'll search my limited source here in town for my trim, and if that fails I turn to the internet. It's time for me to get the show on the road and cut into my fashion fabric.

work in progress

2009-10-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting to this next project after finishing two lined jackets for the Patternreview Sept. contest. I'm still in the design process for the trim and the front panel style but that hasn't kept me from starting the actual work. I'm repeating the technique I did from Shannon Gifford's Stitch and Flip technique on PR. Her article in Threads #111

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/4614/line-and-underline-in-one-step

was the inspiration for me taking the class 4 years ago.

As for this jacket, here's my progress so far. The fabric is probably from Jomar in Philadelphia since it came in two small pieces, a tweed blend that I fused with lightweight knit interfacing from Fabric Mart. I'm using my TNT princess seam pattern, Simplicity 4698. I've cut out the back, back side and side and quilted these sections with Ambiance bemberg lining.

Now I have to decide on the trim and front panel design and closure. I'm heading out to CA next week with my husband to visit his 91 year old dad. We'll get to San Francisco so I'll pack a fabric piece and look at trims there before I make my final commitment. It's been great to have this group to keep me motivated, inspired and challenged.

2009-10-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

I'VE GOT TO GO CHANNEL....

OR GO HOME. I've done little else but introduce myself here, but I have been watching and reading all about the great thing you all have been doing. I finally got around to starting my jacket for the challenge. I'm a little over the start date of September 1st but better late than never... I cut my muslin yesterday and started putting it together this evening. Here's the pattern I finally choose from the ones I had on hand, my fabric and shocking pink lining.

This is my first fitting after making a few adjustments in the waist area of the jacket. I decreased the four princess seams 1/4inch in the waist area and I think I like the fit because the fronts are not supposed to overlap.

This is a picture of the neck/upper chest area of the jacket that indicates that there is too much overlap in this area. I think that I will increase the front princess seams from the shoulder to just below the bust a 1/2 inch on both sides to decrease the overlap in this area. Muslins do take extra time, but are well worth the effort.

I make notations on the muslin so I won't forget the adjustments I need to make. If these ideas work out, I'll transfer the reminders right on the paper pattern.

I've seen some great jackets produced since the challenge started. Believe me, I am picking up suggestions, ideas, and learning from you. I am trying my best to keep it simple with this jacket as I do have a habit of over complicating things. By the way I do plan on making a matching pencil skirt after the jacket is finished.

See you girls at the finish line...

FAYE

Fitting the Muslin

2009-10-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

I made the muslin for my daughter’s jacket and did a fitting. I have a student who is learning to sew. She observed the fitting, making it part of the lecture. You can see from the picture the alterations I am making.

I am very proud of my student because she has no fear, she just dives in. We are using the trial and error method. She will make a garment in muslin in order to practice sewing techniques, interpreting the sewing instructions on the pattern guide sheet on her own. I then critique the pieces, demonstrating what she needs to do to make it better. She decided she will make a Chanel-style jacket for her first project and will be sewing along with me. As I said, she has no fear, and that’s a good thing. Here's her muslin. I will have her help me with my fitting next.

One morning ... one sleeve

2009-10-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to understand why Chanel pieces are timeless! My sewing morning has produced this one, quilted sleeve! However, it is just lovely to slip on and I think will be worth the time spent. Hope I can match it with sleeve 2.

Chanel-style Jacket at Ann Taylor

2009-10-06T06:45:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone! I haven't been sewing my jacket yet, but I've been doing a lot of pondering about fabric, trims, etc. I stopped into Ann Taylor yesterday and discovered this cute Chanel knock-off. 260 smackers!

It did give me a lot of inspiration, though. I love the use of trims here: ruffled grosgrain over chiffon, and a big grosgrain rose with organza petals.

I also like the fit, with its slightly shrunken silhouette.

So that's it for me for now. More pondering and fabric swatching to come!

Part way there...

2009-10-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

My jacket is making slow progress and I have now finished lining and quilting the jacket shell. I interfaced the entire jacket with Sheerweft since I could purchase it locally (thanks for all the suggestions). This worked well and the jacket seems to have kept its softness. Before quilting the lining I top-stitched both sides of each vertical seam to add strength to the loose fabric and help keep the seams lying flat inside the jacket.

I chose the bagged lining method suggested by Cheri Dowd in the Threads article, and attached the lining to the main jacket by stitching in the ditch along all vertical seams, then down the centre back and on either side of the centre front opening.

I was initially undecided about doing more quilting, mainly because I thought it may lead to disaster. However, I have a walking foot for my 201 Singer, purchased for this project, so I wanted to use it! Glad I did as the extra quilting seems to add shape to the jacket and (I think) it hangs better. Unfortunately I don't have before and after shots and perhaps the difference is too subtle to see in a photo (just a feel-good improvement).

The only hand sewing was the shoulder seams, back neck edge and a small section of the front neck edge. I had to snip the neck curves to turn under the seam and used fray check and many tiny hand stitches to help stabilise this (the loose weave seemed very fragile and I was pleased to have the interfacing). I sewed a line of top-stitching around the back neck as an added precaution, and when the trim is put this should provide a further layer of stitching, so I'm reasonably happy it will be ok. However, is there a better way to do the neck edge next time?

The cotton is a perfect match and the stitches seem to disappear inside the woven fabric and are not noticeable.

Now for the sleeves ...

Dummy question - how to hand sew a lining?

2009-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm just at the point of sewing the lining to the jacket and I'm trying to decide whether to do it by machine or by hand. Since the front zipper is already topstitched I though maybe I would sew the side seams by hand. So here's my question: how do I do this? What stitch should I use? Should I sew from the outside (with the edge of the lining folded over and pinned down) or from the inside?

Any advice appreciated!

Pictures wearing the jacket

2009-09-29T10:05:00.001-07:00

As promised a few pictures of the jacket on me.

This is the combination that I wore on Sunday.

Showing the difference with different colors underneath.

The jacket is reviewed here, the peach dress (which definitely is the wrong color for me) is reviewed here.

If you want to see all pictures that I made for this project start here in my Picasa webalbum.

Of course I only saw that there was a tissue in my pocket after I took all the pictures. Shows how fluid the fabric is.

Assembling the shell - Kathy

2009-09-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the shell of my jacket this weekend. Thanks to everyone who left a comment— I did raise the waistline a little following your suggestions. There's been so much to do— making the pockets, putting in the zipper— then I decided I wanted more of an outdoor jacket so I interlined it with cotton flannel. I still have to make and insert the lining. I think I'll just do that by machine although I did sew the collar facing down by hand.

More pictures of the assembly are here and here.

My new found love of sewing slippery silk

2009-09-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Since this is the first garment I've sewn with a real silk lining I wanted to be sure I didn't botch it. I've also decided on trying Cheri Dowd's shortcuts construction method this time around (Threads article #128) so the cutting and assembly needs to be accurate if the lining is to be bagged first then quilted. In the past I've found this level of accuracy hard to achieve with slippery fabrics, so this time I applied myself more diligently to the task.

Using very fine new pins and fabric weights I secured the silk to tissue paper and cut it out using a cutting wheel (a great suggestion from Sandra Betzina in Fabric Savvy, that worked a treat).

I used lots of fine pins to hold the seam together and sewed over the pins (took courage) using a very sharp 80/12 Jeans needle (which I was assured would be fine and it was, dispite my concern about using a jeans needle for silk).

Then using my new pressing tools I ironed the seams flat (the iron shield was a surprising success as it is used with the iron on the highest setting).

I am so happy with the results!

These are tips that you probably all know. Are there any others you know that I dont?

Dawn - Trim Again

2009-09-27T15:46:00.001-07:00

I agree with you on the black ribbon. It was no fantastic. I also tried a purple grosgrain ribbon I had in stash. . Meh. Too thick and boring.

Then I went to Seams Like Home. They have quite the selection and I think I found a winner. First we found this goldish-yellow ribbon. It matches the colors in the boucle.

Then we found this blue to go on it. Wow. Bright, but wow. I think it's great. Loud? Yes. But that's the way I like it.

Better?

To interface or not to interface ...

2009-09-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in previous posts, the lovely wool Sharon and I have chosen is a fairly loose weave and lightweight. I imagine it is lighter in weight than the traditional boucles used in a Chanel jacket. I'm tempted to use a light iron-on interfacing (before cutting it out) to add a bit of structure to the jacket and help reduce the fraying. However I also want it to have the soft cardigan quality typical of this type of jacket. I'm just concerned it may be too soft and perhaps floppy in appearance around the neckline. Sigrid also mentioned her fabric was too thin for quilting. I haven't tested mine yet but am hoping I can include the quilting so perhaps the interface would help. I'd love to hear what other people think and to know what those with thin fabrics are doing. Sharon, what are your plans? I'm not sure how far along you are. I hope you don't mind that we have the same fabric - I don't :-)

Sigrid - Finished

2009-09-26T14:57:00.001-07:00

My jacket is finished. I won't question the need for 100-200 hours for a couture-constructed jacket ever again. Though this jacket is far from being made with couture techniques, it took me an enormous amount of time. I didn't count the hours, but it is the most time consuming jacket I ever made and have even more respect for those of you who made/are making such a jacket in the classic couture way.

Inside with chain.

My fabric was too thin for the quilting. I tried but it was no good. I took the "easy" way Threads described as starting point for construction then, but with my own twist. I didn't like the way the lining was completely till the hemline, with the chain on top of the lining. The lining of my jacket is sewn by machine on the sides and neckline. I lined the sleeve and attached the sleeve with the lining in the armhole. After that I made a bias binding around the seam allowance.

The braid is made from a black thread from a special yarn and weft threads of the fabric. Those I crocheted to one long thread and then braided it.

I finished this just in time, as I always planned to make this jacket for a family occasion tomorrow. Though I won't wear it with the dress that was intended to go with it, that's a complete wadder. I'll wear it with a black skirt (sewn too at the last moment) and top, which is a very good combination, if I may say so myself.

I'll try to post a few pictures of me wearing this in the next few days.

Finally I would like to thank Cindy and Antoinette for starting this sew along. Without it I would probably not have ventured into making such a jacket yet. I really liked the experience and seeing all other jackets coming along.

In the Zone

2009-09-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am ready to get started. I've had my fabric (and muslin fitted) for a while, but finding the trim has proved more difficult than I expected.

I have been looking for something a little more unusual/interesting in aubergine/purple tones, but these two braids are the most promising of the trims I've found to date and neither are especially special or unique. My leaning at the moment is towards the stronger purple braid, as I love the contrast effect of the trim on the traditional Chanel jackets - the paler colour, while a perfect match, is not as dramatic. In the meantime I'll start sewing and keep looking (just in case a better trim presents itself). I also have a ball of wool in the right colour-way and (once the jacket is cut out) any left-over fabric threads that are perhaps another trim possibility.

Rose - Trim

2009-09-25T07:42:00.002-07:00

It's time for the fun part. I still haven't made a decision about the trim for the jacket. I could use the winter white or orange as a binding around the edges. The wool in both colors miters easily so either would work. I don't have any trim or ribbon that will work with the jacket fabric. Of course, I could go shopping! I kinda of like "that's it" feeling and it hasn't come yet. What do you think?

Hopefully, I can put scissors to fabric in the next few days.

Rose - Jacket Muslin

2009-09-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

Here comes Rose, the Caboose! I think that I am on the train, though. Hope so! .

After looking at numerous patterns, I decided to use KS 3258 for the first of many (I hope!!) chanel jackets. I am going to make view B with long sleeves. I am still debating about putting in a zipper but I don't think that it will enhance my design. I certainly don't need it for most of the Florida winter.

My muslin is a size S in the shoulder, neck, and armscyle area with a size M for the side seams. The only adjustment that I made was a 1/2" petite adjustment in the armscyle area.
I'm pleased with the fit for a first muslin. The adjustments that I think are needed are: raise the bust dart 1/4", add 1" to both sides of the front seam, and shorten the sleeves 1/2". I like the jacket length where it is so I will add a hem allowance.

The side looks pretty good to me and certainly the sleeves are the best fit I've ever done. I have toothpick arms so these narrow sleeves are wonderful for me. The sleeves went in easily although I wasn't real careful about adjusting the ease.

The back fits all right as far as I can tell.

Here are pictures with my hands on my hips. I think that is a way to check on ease. At least I know that I can move in the jacket. In the front view, I can see the horizontal lines on the left side so I know that they are straight. I marked the left pocket flap locations and will raise the top one a bit.

I've made the adjustments on the tissue and did a tissue fitting. That looks good. I am concerned that the front seams don't meet at the top and the bottom. They fit at first and then fall when I move. That was not a problem with the tissue fitting. I'm hoping that adding facings will take care of that.

I welcome any comments and suggestions that anyone has. I'm planning to do a second muslin to check my adjustments. I know the fit will never be perfect with my body but I want to get as close as possible.

Dawn - Trim

2009-09-21T20:37:00.001-07:00

I have my fabric cut and am messing around with trim. I want something very low key like this black ribbon. I don't know where it came from because I inherited it from my husband's grandmother. This pattern does not have sleeve vents but you can add faux vents. If you need really sharp corners, how are you guys dealing with it? I can also see this being an issue on the pocket flaps.

You can see here that I pressed it down and created sharp edges. I would handstitch these down. What do you think? It must have polyester in it because it pressed well and made very sharp creases.

Here you can see it closer. I can't imagine how I would do this with something that isn't a ribbon. This one I did by mitering the corners and ironing them down.

I'll probably put this away for a few days anyway. I won't be able to go to my local fabric boutique until Saturday. I do want to see what they have available.

On My Body - Myrna

2009-09-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

It's a gorgeous sunny day here today so I had my husband take a few pictures. It's not a go with outfit. Just my typical black t-shirt and jeans "uniform". I would have been happy enough with this shadowed, front porch shot but I'm sure you all want more details than that. I would!

A front view. I was pleased with how smoothly it fits over the shoulders, chest, and bust. Just right - not too tight or too loose.

And a back view which clearly illustrates why I have signed up for a jean making course in April. The bum of this 47 year old body has definitely dropped. I really Really REALLY want jeans without those back wrinkles which I know from the Palmer/Pletsch pant making course that I took last year is due to the angle of the back crotch curve. I can only imagine what was going on back there that I didn't know about (and maybe still wish I didn't) in life before digital cameras - LOL.

Like I said yesterday, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. Can't wait to see more and more jackets as you get started and/or finish up.

- Myrna

Finished - Myrna

2009-09-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Just finished and no one is home to take my picture so here is my jacket on the dress form. I'm hoping to make some go with clothing before the closing date and get a photo of a complete outfit.

This jacket is the one of the few fashion projects I've done in twenty years and more major than any of the others. While there are some things that I'd do different now that I'm done, it was a bit like riding a bike. The how-to aspects came back to me easily and there were a lot of transferable skills from my years in textile art. Overall, a good return to fashion sewing. I'm celebrating.

The pattern was New Look 6632. I added three inches to the length, kept the seam allowance around the neckline but cut it off along center front tapering the line back an additional 1/4" at the hem. The width of the cuff (in the pattern) was added to the sleeve length and the hem was narrowed. These are 3/4 sleeves.

The bias is made from a fabric very similar to silk Dupioni. It's slubbed and permanently wrinkled. The binding was sewn on by machine with right sides together and then slip stitched by hand to the wrong side. The bias, button, and two snaps at center front are the only hand work. Everything else was done by machine.

Inside, the seams are finished with a bright pink silk using a Hong Kong seam finish that you saw in an earlier posting. In retrospect, that was not the best choice of fabrics. It was too lightweight and is already beginning to pull out. Learning. It's good.

The aspects that are Chanel-ish are the top layer of knit fabric, the quilted lining, no facings, the fitted shoulders and design lines, the over-all simplicity that is somewhat deceptive of the amount of work involved, and the "trim" of the binding. It's a very easy to wear, comfortable jacket that still looks structured and fitted.

- Myrna

GIDDY!

2009-09-19T10:20:00.001-07:00

I am so happy. I was so giddy arranging the fabrics and trims in order to take this picture. It’s that feeling you get when you think you have found a great combination of fabrics, trims and color. Please don’t burst my bubble if I am wrong.

I had to go to New York mid-week to take care of some business. After accomplishing my business objective, I moved on to shopping. After a couple of fabric stores and several trim stores, I managed to make my way to M&J Trimming and left with the trims and the buttons for my jacket.

Manuel, my salesperson, was a great help. He was patience and attentive, which is what I needed. I gave him the website address for this blog. Manuel, if you are reading this, a great big thank you again.

We combined two trims in order to get the look I like. We found buttons that combine the gold and silver tones in the fabric. I chose a blackened metal chain for the hem. The only thing I haven’t purchased is the green thread to match the lining.

Now on to the muslins for my daughter and me.

Moving slowly - trim selection - Sue

2009-09-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

Everyone is doing a great job on their jackets. I am moving very slowly but have a plan to break this into manageable chunks so that I do, at least, keep moving on it. First up is to find a trim. In my head I pictured a jacket trimmed with Petersham ribbon. However I can only find Grosgrain ribbon and it can't be shaped to attach around the neckline. So on my recent day trip to Brisbane I found this trim (shown on my fabric).

What do you think? I need to call the shop when I have made a decision so that they can post some up for me if I want it.
Next week I am meeting with my sewing guild group and plan to start drafting the pattern. After that hopefully I will start looking like I am getting somewhere...

Thankfulness and Claire Shaeffer encouragement

2009-09-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

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:

"

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

"

Hong Kong Finish - Myrna

2009-09-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

I was able to press the princess seam relatively flat and even without clipping which made finishing it quite easy. The bias strips are from a hand dyed silk out of my scrap box. There was just enough. I have two long strips left for the armhole seams. I'll bind them together not open.

Last night I finished seven seams or fourteen edges. It took just over two hours. I'm not sure that's any faster than hand stitching however, it's something I've never done before and I'm quite pleased with how it looks.

I do have one OOPS to work around. When I cut out the sleeves, I cut two the same and have no extra fabric to work with. When I re-cut the curve of the one sleeve, there was only a 1/4" seam allowance left in the narrowest spot. I stitched along the seam line to mark it and will stitch to tissue paper when I put in the easing and then trace the edge something like what's in this image below.

That way, when I pin the sleeve in, I can line the edges up correctly, stitch, and then trim to 1/4" and finish the seam with the bias strips. In theory - it should work just fine. After that, I'll need to figure out the edges.

- Myrna

What have I gotten myself into?

2009-09-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Kathy and I've been quietly following this blog for a couple months now. I knew I wanted to make a jacket (or three) this fall, but I wasn't sure I wanted a chanel jacket. After seeing the variety of styles people are making though I thought I would jump in.

Here's the picture that inspired my "chanel-ish" jacket:

(Image from Yesstyle.com. I steal a lot of ideas from here.) The version I'm thinking of will have a small standing collar and lose the pleated sleeve caps. Here's a sketch of what I am thinking of and a picture of the fabric I chose:

Where I'm getting myself into trouble is figuring out the pattern. Since I had already gone to the trouble of fitting a jacket pattern (V8541)

and the length and shape (I thought) were similar to this one, I thought I would just change the darts to princess seams and save myself some time.

It hasn't turned out that way. I've made three different muslins. The new muslin is much more fitted than the jacket I started with but I think I'm finally happy with the shape. I plan to move the front seams in just 1/4" inch so the top-stitching will lie where the seam is now. And I'm still a little unsure of where to put the waistline. Do you think it should be higher than shown here? (Sorry it's just a pencil line on the front. It may be hard to see.)

More gory details about fitting (and my geeky thoughts about it) are on my blog.

Pin Fitting & A Question - Myrna

2009-09-13T19:12:00.001-07:00

Did I mention that I haven't sewn much in the last twenty years? It shows however, overall I'm really happy with how my jacket is developing. The fabric is two pieces from stash. I'm not sure of the exact content as they are between ten and fifteen years old.

The top layer is a very stable knit and the bottom layer is satin. I spray basted them wrong sides together, marked a one inch grid with chalk, and zigzagged over the lines with a medium grey thread. Each piece was cut about 2" bigger all around than the pattern piece. When the stitching was done - roughly a 1/2 hour each - the pieces were washed to remove the chalk. The fabric has been through a hot washer and dryer twice.

Here's a detail. It wasn't until I went to lay out the pattern that I realized I'd created a plaid - duh - and would need to match the lines. This is where my lack of current sewing experience showed up. I matched all the across lines but didn't think about the spaces between so at the seams there is sometimes more than an inch between stitched lines. The back is the most likely to be noticed, the side seams not much, and if anyone is that close to my bust to figure it out, good for them! Center front lines up fabulously.

I knew the position of the princess and shoulder seams was correct from the muslin. They were cut and stitched at 5/8". The back and side seams were cut and pinned at 1" to allow for fitting. I'm being careful not to over fit as I want to wear this jacket over jeans. Here's the front and...

... the back.

The hand sewing technique that many of you are using for your seams is really familiar as "quilting as you go" in my (now retired from) career. I wanted to try something new and use Hong Kong seam finishes in a fun color. Does anyone have experience using these on a princess seam? Can it be clipped or not? If so, how does that work. What about around the armhole? Thanks.

- Myrna