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

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!

Chanel deserves a trip for fabric

What fun to do this jacket, and great fun that the gang here is prompting everyone to do one! A great chance to hone my mothballed skills in this AND get a new jacket for me!!!

So first is design - on the Chanel.com site is the Winter 09/10 collection and there's this:I love this jacket - I love everything about it, but wonder if it will suit for a Chanel styled jacket - the quilting, the whole feel of the jacket. So I also find this...in black my fav classic color and of course hard to see, but I like the body style of this, and love the collar of the first, so this will be my design....
So this is my line drawing I'll work with....buttoned to waist, longer sleeves, probably a "kissy" type closure (where CF meets but doesn't overlap), stand up and stand away collar, no rounded extended shoulders (like the top design), and fairly classic, as these are meant to last.

Next fabric.... (and these are with my iPhone so they're not the best!) Although I can't take the time for a trip to NY to get fabric for this, I can trek to Dallas for the day and visit my favorite haunt there, Fabrique. If you're in the Southern Plains area, this is well worth a trip to visit. The girls there are so accommodating and willing to please, that I've rarely been disappointed. This is where I got the fabric for my muse's wedding and I do love their wares!


And although this looks like a Pucci accident, it really is fabulous....and maybe a slight redo in the design, as I love this print and may use part of it as binding for the jacket. And I love the black tweed, although it's hard to see in this picture, but wanted something relatively plain so that I could have the freedom to quilt the pattern of the lining or just whatever and got that. I also loved the colors in the lining/charmeuse as although the gray isn't in my family of colors, everything else is.

Here's another pic to show more of the tweed:
As far as the trim, it is fairly nondescript, as I will probably visit a fabulous shop in the historical capital city of my fair state, Sealed with a Kiss - they have killer yarns, and I will probably get something to tone with that yellow/beige to weave into the trim - at least that's Plan A! As far as buttons, I have two sets of Chanel buttons in my collection, so I will wait and see where I am...maybe a faux trip to NY to M & J via the net!