Monday, March 8, 2010

My 'Take' on a Chanel Jacket

I have been obsessed with making a Chanel styled jacket since last summer when I saw the perfectly made Chanel jacket my friend made. Being the sewing purist she is, my friend followed the haute couture directions Threads Magazine published about 3 years ago. In true Chanel fashion, the directions called for a tremendous amount of hand sewing which I simply despise & don't trust.
Luckily, my friend told me the Jan.,'07 issue of Threads included an article on a shortcut version of a Chanel jacket. The article describes and explains how to do the 'bagged' method for making a Chanel jacket.
So last week I set out to do my trial variation on the bagged method. I made View E of Vogue 7975. I opted to eliminate the patch pockets & substituted a trim I thought better suited my fabric.
Because this jacket is my 'trial' version I didn't use the traditional wool boucle for my jacket. The outer and lining fabrics are machine-quilted in a Chanel jacket. Because my wool is 'flat' I had to eliminate the quilting on the front as I couldn't control puckering.
I also machine-sewed wherever I could as there is some hand sewing in the 'bagged' method. I machine-sewed the 2 sleeve lining seams and part of the lining shoulder seams. A purist I am not!
I opted for a non-fringe trim simply because I dislike fringe trim. In the photo the center of the trim looks like rhinestones but it isn't. The center is actually a dullish brownish-black.
I did hand-sew the gold chain that holds the hem in place.
Overall, I am pretty pleased with the jacket. Even being made out of a plain old wool, it still feels wonderful. I have this week out of work and will probably wear the jacket everywhere I go!

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