It's good to have friends...

I was whining about my issues with the vest on Facebook with Claire Kennedy and she came up with the perfect solution for this vest. She suggested a waist dart.  Slap me on the forehead!  LOL.  It's a great solution and doesn't destroy the lines of the garment while giving it a gentle shaping.  Wow.  I'm going to be so much happier with it now. You just establish your bustpoint and a couple of inches down draw in a dart stopping just shy of the seamline.  Here are pics showing the change to the pattern and then the change in the muslin.

Side view of the dart.

 

Front View.

 

Dart drawn out on muslin.

Tracing of the dart to my pattern piece.

Now I think I can happily move onto the embroidery!

MIA...

Sorry I know I've been missing for a bit.  It's been pretty hectic around here.  I attended another Chanel jacket class for 3 days this past week.  And I've been teaching.  There's more teaching coming up and another jacket class.  Yikes!  So I'm in panic mode trying to get everything done that I need to accomplish.  Oh...did I mention my hubby would like to be fitted into my busy schedule for a little attention too?  LOL. 

But having said that, I do have a few pictures to show you.  On the wool flannel jacket, this is a picture of my applying a sleeve head.  Not having done it before, I just followed the directions for it on page 87 of the Palmer/Pletsch book Jackets for Real People.  Easy peasy!  LOL.

I also had the chance to visit Helen Enox Fabric store while I was in OKC for Claire's class.  And I found this yummy 100% silk jacquard to use as a lining for a future jacket project.  The photo doesn't do the fabric colors justice; the colors are actually brighter.  But don't you just love the jewel tones?

I'll have more photos to post as soon as I figure out how to get them off my iPad!  LOL!

1 Step forward, 3 back...

You know, some days it just doesn't pay to get up.  LOL.  I can laugh now that I have my mess fixed.  But, in Claire's class, we discovered my fashion fabric (the boucle') had a distinctly greenish cast on one side and pinker cast on the other.  So....since green definitely isn't one of my colors, we use the pinker side.  Well - guess who forgot?  If you guessed me, you would be correct.  Gah!!!  I had to unpick at least 6 quilted pieces, maybe 8, I forget how many.  Remembering to put wrong sides together for me is very difficult.  Now you know silk leaves needle marks in it.  So I had to be very careful in re-quilting the relaid pieces.  I now have only 2 more pieces left to quilt and I'll be done with all the quilting. 

Now for a little fun, more creative interlude.  LOL.  I went to Loops yesterday hoping to find another yarn or two to add to my braid palette for the jacket trim.  I found a couple.  These pictures really don't do them justice.  All the yarns I purchased are really pretty.  Please click on the picture to zoom in on this gorgeous yarn.  The 2 pictured at the bottom are the new ones from Loops.  The thick one at the top is the braid I made from twisting the 3 together.  I love the way it looks.  I'm going to work up a mock-up of a braid trim and when I have something, I'll post a picture for you.

Since I've been correcting the mistake I made with the quilted pieces, I haven't been able to get back to working on my winter robe.  Hopefully soon.

More later...

Chanel Progress...

Previously, I showed you the basted pieces.  Now this is a piece that has been quilted.  This is all I'm doing right now, basting and quilting ALL the pieces together.  There are sixteen separate pieces to this jacket.  I have four more to do and I'll have my homework done for the next Claire K. class where we'll start actual construction.  

I've been doing a little running around looking for yarns to make my trim and have found a couple of good possibilities.  These dark teals should set it off really nice.

I'm going to finish basting/quilting the last four pieces then stop.  I'll be going back to the winter robe project.  I'm itching to get it done.  LOL.

More Later...

Classes in OKC

I'm off to take a 3 day class with Claire Kennedy.  We'll put the finishing touches on my tailored coat - buttonholes and buttons.  Then I'll be starting a Chanel style jacket.  Mine is going to have lapels!  LOL.  I'll have a report on the winter robe and doings in the class sometime this weekend.

I hope you all have a great week!

Later...