~slow progress~

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.....

And eventually everything went together

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...