Jean Jacket/Vest Complete...

Yes its finally done!  I really, really like it.  And I have several more planned now.  Probably a couple with sleeves too.  I really don't think a girl can have enough jean jackets in her wardrobe.  LOL.  And I didn't mind sewing on the scattered sequins like I thought I would.  I found some metal buttons at JoAnn's that even have that Used look to match the worn denim from my old blue jeans.  I'm really lovin' this jacket/vest!

I'm thinking about my next project already!!  LOL!

Almost there...

Phew!  I'm getting close to done.  All I have left to do is bind the armholes with bias (have to look in my stash for something that looks good), sew buttonholes and buttons.  I know it doesn't seem like much but it will take me several more hours to complete it all.  I like to take my time and get it right the first time.  LOL.



I'm not going to make my first, self-imposed, deadline of Friday.  There's just been too many other things going on.  Teaching beginning sewing takes up all of my Mondays.  Several trips to the vet.  One kitty is going through kidney failure and another has had reappearance of a prolapsed rectum.  Not fun any of it.  So sewing has been pushed back a bit to take care of my babies.

More as it happens.  LOL.

Jean Vest part deux

I've accomplished quite a bit on the vest.  I have the lower fronts put together which includes construction of the on-seam pocket and the basting in place the upper (fake) pocket flap.  To show where the pocket is, I've put my rotary cutter in the picture.  LOL.  I think the amount of embroidery on this vest will be just right.

Here is the back put together.  Not bad.  LOL.
As usual you can click on the pictures to get more detail of the embroidery.

I'm hoping to finish this up today or tomorrow.



Later...

Embroidery done!

Ha!  I finally have the embroidery done on each of the pieces of the vest.  I think it looks pretty nice so far.  My next move is to sew sequins on each piece.  Here's a picture I took of all the embroidered pieces laid out.

More later!

Jean Vest...

I'll bet you thought I was being a lazy blogger since the weather has decided to be a little nicer and I'm really wanting to be outside.  Actually I have been working on the vest and do have some progress to show you.  I received the teeny, tiny sequins (2.5mm), in the mail over the weekend.  The site had a $12 minimum order so I ordered a bunch of different colors that I thought I might use over the course of a million years.  LOL.  Along with clothing, I thought to use some them on the doll party outfits I'll be making for our American Girl doll project. As you can see, I didn't get too carried away since I only purchased 9 colors.  LOL.  But they were only $1.15-$1.75 per package and you get anywhere from 2000 to 3000 sequins depending on the color you order.  I ordered them from a little company in Arkansas called Cartwright's Sequins.

Now onto the actual embroidery.  I've made up the largest piece of embroidery; the center back panel.  And applied all of the sequins I think it needs.  Actually I just kind of scattered them around.  I want just a touch of bling without being brassy looking.  I know its hard to see the sequins; they are very hard to photograph.  But click on the picture and you'll see them on the enlargement.  If you like it, let me know!  LOL.  I'm working on the design of the 2 narrow center front panels.  Right now, I'm planning on embroidering the center back panel, the 2 narrow front panels, the collar and the pocket flaps.  The pocket flaps and center back are complete.

Kwik Sew 2895 - Jean Vest

I've already decided on my next project.  I'll be using the same Kwik Sew jacket pattern, (2895), I used to create my leopard jean jacket.  But this time it will be a sleeveless vest.

I have about a thousand pair of old blue jeans in my collection that I no longer wear since I'm not a size 8 any more.  LOL.  This vest will take approximately 2 pairs of jeans since there are so many pieces.  I've cut out all the same pieces excluding the sleeves for this vest.  I'll do a bias binding of the armholes with left over jean fabric.  The 2 narrow panels in the front and the larger middle panel in the back plus the collar will have embroidery.  I got the idea from the current issue (153) of Threads magazine.  I'm even using the same designs they used in the article - OESD's Urban Trends 12281.

This is as close as I'll ever get to making an "art" piece.  LOL. 

This is a sample of the embroidery I'll be using on the vest itself.  Their are outline type designs that you lay down first to give some texture to the fabric.  Then you whatever colors you want and lay down the satin stitch designs.  In the Threads article, they talk about making the designs high contrast colors.  They use white thread on white fabric and the satin stitch designs are done in a bright red.  Very pretty.  But for my approach, I wanted a more subtle effect.  Hence, the pale blue denim color background designs and 3 shades of blue for the satin stitches.

When the embroider on each piece is complete, I'll add some 2 or 2.5mm flat sequins scattered around the embroidery to give it just a bit of bling.  I'm going to check Michael's and Hobby Lobby today for the sequins and if I can't find what I want locally, I've already found a place online where I can order them.

Lata!

I give up - its a wadder

I hate to admit a failure - especially with the Chanel style jacket.  I've seen so many beautiful versions out on the internet.  Sigh. 

I've installed sleeves and the lining.  All I have left to do is the sleeve hems and the hem of the jacket itself.  But I've adjusted, poked, prodded and its just not making me satisfied enough to wear it.  And if I won't wear it, I can't justify spending any more time on it.  I've probably over 80 hours on this jacket, what with all the fitting process I went through along with the laying out, marking and sewing.  It has been a learning experience and I guess that's the main point of tackling anything new.

Mistakes I made on this project:

Not having enough fabric in the first place; there was only 1 1/4 yards of 60 inch fabric. 

I should have block fused the whole piece instead of cutting and then fusing.  When I fused each individual piece, they shrunk.   Because I didn't figure that out until I had the front and back put together & was test fitting, I had to rip seams and re-sew. 

Instead of Perfect Fuse Light, I should have used Perfect Fuse Sheer.  I didn't really like the hand (or feel) of the fabric after fusing.  It was heavier than I wanted for the finished jacket.

And lastly, the style doesn't really suit me.  I've never worn a cardigan style jacket and thought it might be nice to add to my wardrobe.  But it was not meant to be.  Note to self; make sure you go to the department store to try on a new style before making it up.

Okay...now I'm going to quit kicking myself and get onto the next project.

As always...more lata!