A Week Late And A Muslin Short

This little lady wants a Little French Jacket

UPDATE:  With the holiday rush, an ice-storm induced power outage and various and sundry illnesses and obstacles, mom's decided that the suit will be her birthday present in February.  Whew!


I wanted to show my mom my LFJ project this weekend, so I gathered all the goodies. . .fabric, patterns, tools, etc.  She ran her fingers along the boucle, shot through with gold.  She happily looked over the design elements in the patterns and told me which she preferred.  She adores the skirt in the Kwik Sew pattern. Then, she began trying to decide how long she would want the jacket to be. . .you know, if it were going to be hers.

Mom is 92, and has always had excellent taste.  When she was young she sewed most of her wardrobe. Even today, she relishes describing certain dresses she remembers making and wearing, and there's always a special detail.  . .a little embroidered embellishment, self-covered buttons, French seaming. . .that were especially satisfying to her.

As she continued looking over the elements of my dream jacket, she wondered aloud if her plum dress pants might look nice with it.  In case I wanted to borrow them.

Well, what could I do?  All my life, my parents did their best to make my dreams come true.  Can you think of a lovelier Christmas gift than a Little French Jacket?  With a matching skirt, maybe?  Ho, Ho, Ho! 

/CherylAnn

Ready, Set. . .Go! I Mean SEW!

It's Muslin Monday!  The Little French Jacket sewalong swings into action with Step 1:  Constructing the muslin.  I've selected a companion pattern to Kwik Sew 2577, which will be the foundation shape of the garment.  However, Vogue 7015 contains some shaping that I may want to include.  It just depends on how I think it will look on the fashion fabric, which has some elaborate metallic motifs that may not look right with darting.

Both patterns are, alas, out-of-print.  Both Vogue 7015 and Kwik Sew 3577 can be found online.  The book in the photo is the venerable Couture Sewing Techniques, by Clair Shaeffer.  Her new book - ideal for this sewalong - is, unfortunately, still not on my shelf.

If we follow the calendar for this sewalong, in just a few weeks, we'll each own a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind, thrill-to-wear, honest-to-goodness COUTURE jacket!  We're off to the races. . .which, come to think of it, would be a smashing place to wear a couture jacket!



/CherylAnn