Saturday, June 05, 2010

Remaking a jacket for the wedding

Photo of me (by Jim) hemming the remade jacket wearing a t-shirt Jim got me for our anniversary.

You've no doubt heard of reverse engineering, well this weekend, I engaged in a little re-engineering of a jacket that I got for a song (70% off at Steinmart). It wasn't quite right--not petite, so it was way too long and the sleeves had these impossibly ugly turned up cuffs--but there was potential.



The first thing I did was get rid of those cuffs.



Then I was able to hem the sleeves to fit my short arms.



Shortening the body of the jacket was the next order of business. The jacket is a solid color and except of the pleated edge, it's pretty plain. I decided I needed some kind of decoration on the front.



Using the bands on either side of the front as a guide, I made a pattern of that area with tracing paper.



Using the tracing paper pattern, I cut two base pieces.



My idea was to use the kimono pieces that remained from the shirt I had made years ago to create two panels to appliqué to the jacket. I decided to do a little sashiko embroidery on the panels as I had done for the shirt.



Using a simple sew and flip technique, I covered the base fabrics. I tried to alternate silk with 100% cotton because the silk slips so much. I press after each seam.



Here's on panel nearly done. I pin the sides of the silk pieces to the base fabric to help keep them in place. I don't trim until I stay stitch the entire panel.



Stay stitching is slightly less than one quarter inch from the edge because I'm going to turn that seam allowance under to sew it down to the jacket and I don't want the stay stitching to show.



Here's one panel ready to be embroidered.



This book, by the brilliant Kimi Ota, has been my sashiko guide for years.



I'm spreading three different sashiko designs over the panel.



This little circle template comes in handy for marking the seven treasures of Buddha pattern on a small scale.



The embroidery on this panel is finished.



Here's the first panel sewn in place. I'll model and have Jim take a photo when it's all finished. Sweet dreams for now.

9 comments:

Deepa said...

oh Dana, this is wonderful!! I love the way you've turned a plain piece into a beauty.Love,love,love it!!!

Quilted Librarian said...

Thank you so much, Deepa. I take that as a great compliment coming from you!
Kind regards,
Dana

Marjorie said...

This looks fantastic! I always have good intentions about makeovers like this, but they never happen.

Jean Baardsen said...

Gorgeous!!! I love it that you're able to follow through with your ideas. Will you be wearing the sashiko skirt with this jacket for the wedding?
I have short arms too, and recently cut the cuffs off a denim jacket to shorten the sleeves enough to that I could wear it. My jacket was from a thrift shop, so I had nothing to lose.

Quilted Librarian said...

Thanks, Marjorie. Needing the jacket in a few weeks was a great incentive.
Bless you, Jean. No, I have a simple purple sleeveless dress for the wedding. Since the reception is outside in the evening, I will probably need the jacket then. I altered all the jackets I had that were too long in the arms last summer. Now I try not to get things that need work!

Kind regards to you both,
Dana

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

No one will ever know it's the same jacket Dana! It looks wonderful!

Quilted Librarian said...

You are so sweet, Mary. Thanks, that makes me feel very good.
Warm regards,
Dana

Kyra said...

Just stumbled onto your blog. Love the purple colors - and the t-shirt message is hilarious! Thank you for sharing!

Best, Kyra

Quilted Librarian said...

Hi Kyra,
As a regular reader of Black Threads, I'm honored by your visit. I think this will be a very vibrant wedding with all the different purples.
Kind regards,
Dana