Sunday, April 13, 2014

Finished Item: BurdaStyle Magazine Illusion Jacket

FINALLY!!!!!

Let me just start by saying I went through about 12 love/hate cycles with this jacket.  For at least a few days all it needed was for the knit sleeves to be hemmed. Goodness gracious :)

Well now it's done! Wooohoo! And I really like it.
I like it open more than closed
That laugh is a result of seeing this pic:


I have NO clue why  I was making that face! LOL!!!!!


I changed my mind on lining about 3 times. I went with this one because well...I like it...and I had thread to match it ;-)

As you can see, I got the genius idea to add piping. Piping is fun but not fun. I did not do a great job sewing it and now I need want a piping foot.

I also decided I MUST have a hanging chain(!!!!). Well it probably would have worked out a little better if I had not forgotten to add seam allowances to the back facing. I sewed 1/2" seams so it's an inch smaller than it should be. Errr. I made sure though to understitch it and steam the heck out of it...I also sewed down the (grosgrain) ribbon flaps on the chain so it doesn't flip out.

That was my only major error.

Oh wait...no it wasn't.

I also forgot to add hem allowance to the cap sleeves! I added "seam allowance" that's why the lining is so visible. Oops again!

Otherwise it went together well. I chose to stabilize my boucle by fusing 1" strips of interfacing to each piece and then serging the ends. I did not want the weight/stiffness that would have come with block fusing. I confirmed this after fusing my front facings. I wanted the boucle to remain somewhat fluid.

Hmmm. I also decided to use fashion fabric for both pieces of the pocket, vs using lining for half. The weight of the two was just far too different. It didn't feel right...so I ripped it out. Well mostly...I cut it out!

I ended up having to hand sew the point where hem, facing and lining came together and on the right side something weird is happening. If steam can't fix it :-D I will re-do it.


I used fabric from all over!!!

Fashion fabric: Wool blend boucle from Fabric.com ($6)
Lining: Pongee from FabricMart ($2)
Knit sleeves: Ponte from SR Harris ($4)
Interfacing: JoAnn's (I bought 3 bolts on sale Black Friday!)

With snaps, piping and the chain -- I spent under $25 on this project! I think that helped me not be too frustrated if it 'failed' for some reason. Totally wearing it tomorrow.