and eventually everything went together

My last post on the Chanel jacket sewalong blog is published: "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...

New post on the "Go Chanel or go home" blog

I've just published my second post on the Chanel jacket sew-along blog: ...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!

Burda Magazine 03/2010-111

Pattern Description: 
Kimono style dress with obi belt.
Technical drawing
From the Burda website: The softly draping fabric and casual cut take the edge off this sexy tiger-print dress - otherwise the men wouldn't stand a chance. The obi belt of a contrasting print draws attention to your waist.

Pattern Sizing:
Burda sizes 36-44

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes! Except that I made it shorter, to wear as a top instead of a dress.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
I did not follow the instructions. I sewed the belt first, then the skirt back piece to the top back piece and the front skirt piece to the front top piece. Then the shoulder/sleeve seam and the facing. Finally the front and the back together, paying attention to the angle of the underarm seam.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
It is superquick and easy! And the belt is really flattering.
On the other hand, I find the underarm seam too low: I will raise it a bit next time I sew it. The V neckline was too deep, so I had to stitch it close a little once it was finished.

Fabric Used:
Cotton, a soft and lightweight cotton.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
FBA, as usual. I made it shorter to wear as a top. Topstitched the belt and the neckband(I love topstitching!!! I use my blind hem foot to topstitch).

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
I will sew it again!!! I am going to make it with the dress length and I will make the version 110 as well.

Conclusion: 
This pattern is really easy and quick to make and the final garnment is soooo comfortable!

A picture of the top.

Go Chanel or go home

I have just published my first post on the Chanel jacket blog: It was the fabric first.

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.