Chanel, Chanel, Chanel

I've been working on my Chanel jacket every few days and to be quite honest, if it weren't for this sew-along, I would have scrapped it a long time ago.  I guess that's what good about sew-alongs!!  A person doesn't want to be a party pooper!  Why scrap?  Well, I normally work on one item at a time and this project is so time consuming that I haven't been able to stay with it until completion.   The fabric is very  floppy - and I hate working with those wide seam allowances.  All this being said, it's starting to look like a chanel jacket.  I'm doing the shortcut version as shown in Threads #128 and hope to post a picture soon.  Today I worked on the sleeves and should be able to finish them during my next session.  Then I'll insert them into the jacket and start the hand sewing (attaching braid, inserting chain at hemline, etc.).  If my projections are correct, it should take me about 10 more hours to finish.  Wish me luck!

Mary

Glenda's Jacket

Today I decided to cut out my Chanel Jacket. I am using a plaid fabric and I wanted my plaids to match. I am not sure of the fabric content because I found the fabric at an estate sale and fell in love with it. It is so soft and expensive looking. Perfect for a Chanel Jacket.

To make sure that all my plaids match I have cut each piece out separately. I make sure that all the seams match up line wise. I have a limited amount of fabric so this has been tricky. Key places to match have been the underarm seam, waist line. and the bottom hem. Here's hoping.

Working successfully with plaids starts with the cutting. This is where everything lines up. When you see a plaid at the store that does not line up it has more to do with the cutting of the fabric than with the sewing. From me this is the hardest part of the jacket.

On Wednesday October 27 we held a meeting organize and decide how to proceed with our jackets.

November 10th was our first meetings were we viewed some of the completed our Toiles (fitting garments).

After we finished with our Toiles, we moved on to a discussion of fabric and planning a trip to a local fabric store.