Red and Black Quilted Jacket

Below is a jacket I bought on eBay. I love it. It is like all the good parts of a cardigan and a jacket put together. I'm a sucker for jersey like this because it has a little bit of give, but holds a nice structure. It is also a really simple design for someone attempting a jacket because there is no top collar piece to worry about. The bodice extends into the turned out bit, so a designer only has to use one piece.

This jacket took me six Dr. Who episodes to make. . .or in layman's terms: six hours. (The quilting process alone took up at least two of those episodes!)

Getting right to it: I laid it down. I measured the lapel flap and then extended it out as though it were unfolded using the clear ruler. I could have easily cut the tacks to the lapel and unfolded it, but I didn't feel like re-tacking it later, and using the ruler was just as easy.

I cut around it all. This will be the bodice front. Notice something: I folded a small triangular portion of the top of the shoulder down at an angle. I will point out why I did this later.

Instead of just interfacing around the collar and outer edge, I decided I wanted to fully line the entire jacket in black jersey.

Next, I double folded the black material and cut out the back bodice piece. Remember the triangular piece I folded down for the front of the bodice? I mentally added it back in at the top of the shoulder here. You will see how cool this looks later.

I cut out my sleeves. They are not doubled/lined like the bodice pieces are.

The first sewing step I took was to sew the front pieces together at the neckline all the way to the bottom hem, and the back pieces together at the neck and the bottom. Below you can see I have sewn the back neckline with the other seams I've explained being pinned at this point. 

I used red bobbin thread and black top thread. I'll explain why later. 

Then, I turned those pieces right side out and top stitched the neck/bottom seams. You can start to see why I used red and black thread here.

Next, I pinned and sewed some black non-stretchy lace on the back sides of the lapels. If you watch a tutorial or read a pattern for making a jacket, they always advise you to reinforce the backs of the lapels so that they fold out nicely and don't stretch out of shape. I worked on the pinning for awhile to make sure both lapels were as perfectly symmetrical as possible before sewing.

I've had this project in my head for probably a year now, and it has always been quilted. I think that quilting takes a simple jacket to the next level and makes it look expensive, like Chanel. I'm not exactly sure how to quilt the right way, and I didn't want to spend any time looking up videos on how to quilt, so this is what my head came up with. I followed the slant of the shoulder line and measured down two inches from that, putting pins at either end, and continuing down with pins at every 2" mark. Then, I just sewed from pin to pin. I'm sorry if that gives you a heart attack, because I'm almost positive this is NOT how it's done.

This was my eye view. See the pin under the foot? I just eyeballed from there to where you see my thumb. I wish the lines were just a tad straighter, but. . .again, I didn't feel like learning how.

Then I just did the same thing with pins going perpendicular to the first lines. Quilting was the main reason I used red and black thread at once.

I don't think my quilting lines look too bad after all, and if you look, they are actually mirror images of each other on each piece.

Next, I sewed the shoulders of the fronts and back together. Can you see now why I subtracted that triangle from the front and put it on the back?

Next, I added the sleeves and then sewed down from the wrist to the armpit and then to the bottom hem of the jacket.

My last touches were to hem the cuffs, dart the back, and hand tack the lapels down so they lay flat, but not completely flat.

Back darts.

I like that it looks a bit like a riding jacket, and there is a tiny nod to the Hugh Hefner smoking jacket as well, but it still looks feminine.

Not bad for my first jacket ever! :)

The End....

P.S. I realized after looking at the above pictures, that one last step needed to be taken. That was to put in breast darts.

Never undereatimate the power of good tailoring!

The Real End. Bam.

Chanel Inspired (but kind of not) - Leather and Jersey Shirt

Okay so, this one came from an idea I came across in Alloy magazine. 

I really liked the leather sleeves and how the bodice part of the shirt runs straight into the shoulders and sleeves as all one piece of material. It's interesting and different. Mine turned out a little girlier than this one. (It looks a little motorcycle-y in the picture below.) I wanna play around with this look for awhile, though, and have a few ideas in my head of ways to do it.

I said it was "Chanel Inspired" because. . .it ended up looking more couture than I thought it would, but I'm okay with it! I think it looks interesting.

I used the same quilted material that I've used before (here and here ) and the same patent leather as I've used before on things. Yes, that's the same skirt as here. 

This one took forever to make the pattern for, for some reason. I used a shirt I had to get the sizing right, but because the sleeve was so different, it took awhile to draw it properly. I guess that's why people buy patterns!

Close up of the sleeve.

If you notice, the neckline and the bottom hem have the same stitching, but the bottom is much more flared and the neckline lies flat. I learned a trick doing this that if you lightly pull on jersey fabric as you sew, the hem will flare out. If you lightly push the jersey into the machine while you sew, the fabric will actually lie flat. I know it seems like if you push it in, it will get all bunchy and gathered, but because jersey is stretchy and because there is tension in the machine, pushing will actually just counteract the stretch. I'm glad I thought to do this, or the neckline would be huge!

See the difference up there and down there?

Chanel Inspired - Patent Leather Skirt

I have been reading many many fashion magazines lately. I know. . .I should read books. . .Anyways, Chanel and other designers keep making these unlikely full leather skirts for fall. We are all used to leather making a nice pencil skirt, and then there were those A-line skirts that Gap kept selling during the 90s. Nowadays, it seems that designers are adding even more volume into leather--even making ball gowns with the stuff! That seems absurd, but it got me to wondering if I needed one. Not a ball gown. A skirt.

I had a piece of black patent leather from which I used a portion to accent on The Lady Grantham Dress, astute readers will remember. Anyways, seeing Chanel's new looks for fall, I got inspired to copy the silhouette and maybe I jump on the fashion train this fall too. . .but for no money. . .

Okay so see how that white is peeking out the bottom of the one on the left? I could only wear that with certain things, but I did like the white on the black. Also, the silhouette is a little obnoxious for every day--sticking out that far, I mean.

This is a better picture of a full leather skirt (the one on the far right). 

(These pictures are from the September 2013 edition of W magazine, by the way.)

This is what I came up with. It's a little toned down from the fullness of the skirts above (because there is such a thing as princessing people to death). I used the quilted white jersey (from this dress I made earlier) as the waist/hip band to help elongate my torso and minimize my hips. Also, the skirt comes down to almost the top of my knee so it's work appropriate. I didn't bother with a zipper because the jersey is stretchy enough to pull on and off.

I really like this sweater with it. Hard and soft. Notice my nod to Chanel again with the metal surrounded pearl buttons. 

I'm suuuuch a poser!