Chanel inspired workshop

On By Sharon

Back here I mentioned that I was working on a 2nd Chanel inspired jacket and I am now happy to say that the jacket is finished.

Now it all started back in October 2012 when I saw an advert in Dressmaking with Stitches magazine.

Rita Camastral from Ricama Fabrics had written a 2 part article for Dressmaking for Stitches, Volume 20, Issue 7 and Volume 20, Issue 8.  Then in Volume 21 Issue 2 Rita advertised this workshop for early 2013 and I very quickly contacted Rita to find out about attending.

As the workshop was being held in Brisbane I chose to only attend the main workshop that was over the weekend of 9/10 March and Rita was very generous in sending me the pre-workshop information as well as samples of her tweeds and gro-grain ribbons.

I also did some shopping and found this perfect cotton tweed at The Silk Shop

and purchased this silk crepe de chine and the foldover gro-grain ribbon directly from Ricama Fabrics.

This workshop is a technical workshop and because my fabric didn’t fray I had all my pieces cut out and the edges fused as per Rita’s instructions (this is very different to the LFJ). The other advantage about the workshop being held in Brisbane is that I could stay with my sister, so before I headed off to the workshop on the Saturday morning we overlocked the jacket edges and cut out the silk ready for quilting (again following Rita’s notes).

By the end of Saturday I had machine stitched the side backs to the back, the front sides to the front – this left the side seams open as well as stitching the 3-piece sleeve seams leaving the under seam open for both the Tweed and Silk. My homework that night was to tack the silk lining to the tweed ready for quilting the next day.

On Sunday I started quilting the silk to my sleeve and then realised that if I focused on the sleeve for the remainder of the day it would have me accomplish:

  • Sewing the last seam of the tweed
  • Finishing the silk lining on the seams
  • Adding the bias binding edge to the sleeve vent.
  • Adding the special gro-grain ribbon (it has a groove in the centre) which will bind the whole jacket. 

For the remainder of the Sunday, I then worked on quilting the remainder of my pieces and then proceeded to tie-off the ends in-between the silk and tweed by the time the class finished.

It was at the beginning of October that I picked up this project again.

At the workshop Rita also gave us cardboard templates for the sleeve edge and neck edge for us to pre-shape the gro-grain around the corners with the addition of some small gathering stitches.

Whilst working on the jacket I realised that I needed some additional trim.  I found this rather challenging and even pulled a lot of threads and crocheted a trim but it needed some additional threads to make it better.

Crocheted trim from threads pulled from fabric

When I was at the ASG meeting at The Remnant Warehouse I found this trim and Patricia suggested I place it on the edge, perfect.

Purchased trim

Once the trim was hand sewn in place, I headed to All Buttons Great and Small at Newtown and let the girls find all the different buttons that would be suitable for my jacket.

Then it was off to see Mick at Quick Buttonhole Service at Alexandria to get the 7 buttonholes stitched, which cost $27, very good value in my mind. I waxed my thread and sewed the buttons on.

Finally the chain was stitched just on top of the gro-grain ribbon at the hem edge.

and a few more views:

oops I must have moved!

This will be my first piece for SWAP 2014 – “if you have an item you’re working on now, you may include it as long as it is completed before the official sewing date of 26 December 2013.”

It is also my first piece to be completed for my December Garment of the Month, now to get my skirt hemmed!

I also must thank one of my lovely sewing buddies for loaning me her copy of Claire B Shaeffer’s book, The Couture Cardigan Jacket it was a wonderful resource.  Fingers crossed my 2nd copy arrives, not sure what happened to the first one.

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Stash Out:    29.45m

Stash In:      24.80m


25 thoughts on “Chanel inspired workshop”

  3. Hi SharonThank you so much for sharing your jacket with me. It looks gorgeous!! and the colours suit you perfectly. you've done a wonderful job. Love the trim and the buttons too! It is a very special feeling when you finish one of these creations and it inspires to go on to the next one. I also purchased Claire Shaeffers' new book; love the DVD that comes with it.Happy New Year!Rita

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  17. What a gorgeous jacket Sharon – it really is a credit to you. So beautifully made, the details are perfect. And you wear classic style so nicely. And you always have lots of useful information – like where to get buttonholes done – I don't live in Sydney, but for something really special, it would be worth posting. What a great start to SWAP – a great jacket – I'll bet you are going to base your SWAP wardrobe around it – can't wait to see it 🙂

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  20. Wow Sharon, its magnificent. The fabric, fit, trim, such a lovely classic jacket that looks gorgeous on you and you'll have for years to come… and what a great way to start your SWAP 🙂

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  23. Gorgeous. Simply stunning. The whole outfit looks great together and that jacket is magnificent. Great job and thanks for the links. I had no idea that there was someone who does buttonholes… Now I can stop avoiding patterns with buttons 🙂

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  25. Petite and STUNNING! I love it! The trim you chose is perfect, and good timing sneaking it in before SWAP. The colors really work for you, too. Congratulations on another beautiful jacket.

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