A Little Somethin' Jacket

It has been awhile since I've made a garment for myself. I used to make all of my clothes. I made a few dresses for my daughters when they were growing up as well as lots of Halloween costumes. I think the last garment I made was an Elmo outfit for my granddaughter's Second Birthday. You can see that in this Blog Post.

I bought this pattern and fabric from Sew Batik almost a year ago. I am going to be helping them in their booth at Road to California later this week so I decided that it would be fun to wear this jacket at the show.

I have a very small studio now so the long piece of fabric didn't fit on what I'm currently using for a cutting table.

I chose this fabric because with all the colors it should go with just about anything. It is a rayon batik so it drapes well, making it the perfect fabric for a lightweight jacket.

The pattern only has three pieces so it wasn't too complicated to put together.

Jacket Front

Jacket Back

Jacket Sleeves

I cut all of the pieces out and marked all of the "Dots" for matching. I used a white Quilter's Choice Marking Pencil because it showed up with all that color. 

Next it was time to choose the thread. When I piece my quilts I usually use a neutral thread but with garments it should be something that blends. I have quite a thread stash so there were lots of choices. I ended up choosing this variegated thread from Superior Threads. When I looked at the spool I thought it would be too dark. But when I pulled out the thread and put it on top of the fabric, it was perfect.

Then I started putting the jacket together. I liked how the instructions have you press the fold line in for the facing now. That made things much easier later. The shoulder seams were easy. I forgot how big a 5/8" seam allowance is. When you're used to 1/4" in quilting that is a HUGE seam. I remember when I started quilting how SMALL 1/4" seemed. Funny how our perspective changes. 

Next was the sleeves. I discovered as I matched the dots and seams that there was too much fabric to ease into the opening for my taste. I thought it would be hard to get it even. I decided to run a 3/8" basting stitch on the sleeves. I was then able to slightly gather the sleeve to fit it into the opening. After I put it into the jacket and sewed the seams, it doesn't look gathered, just eased in which is what I wanted to accomplish.  Here's the jacket with the sleeves.

The facing and hem came next. I turned all of that under 1/4". Then I turned under the hem. Now is when the pressed fold line for the facing comes into place. I just folded that and it was ready to topstitch. I used LOTS of pins to keep everything in place. The only problem that I ran into was that I didn't like the way the instructions said to topstitch everything. I followed the directions and wasn't happy with how it lined up with the turned under edges. It wasn't close enough to the turned under 1/4". I was afraid that over time it would ravel. So I ripped out the whole thing and did it from the wrong side. I know that the "sewing police" say not to do this because bobbin tension is looser, but I opted for this because I could see where the stitching should be. I break the "quilt police" rules often so why not this one too?

All that was left was the hem on the sleeves. That was super simple. Just turn under 1/4" and then another 1". Topstitch that too. I did  the same thing here. I stitched if from the wrong side. Here's the finished product.

I think it will be cute with jeans but can also be dressy if I need it to be. Since it is a batik, if I want to roll up the sleeves a little bit it won't be that noticeable. 

Happy Sewing,

Carol

Table Runners Galore

No matter how hard I tried to make my new studio space organized in our move in September, it just didn't work according to plan. My room ended up being the, dare I say it, dump everything in there and close the door room during the holidays. It's too embarrassing to post pictures although maybe a Before and After would be impressive (when the After is actually accomplished). Now that I have packed up everything from Christmas, it is time to clean things up in there so I can get back to work.

I just decided to take things one box or pile at a time. The first box I came to had some small quilts and table runners. When I worked in a quilt shop I taught a lot of classes. The classes that tended to do well were table runners. Students can complete most, if not all, of the top in an all day class. I never really used them on tables. Most of them hung in our booth at shows off and on over the years.

One of my favorite patterns was called Four Seasons Table Runners by Black Cat Creations. This is the Spring Table Runner. I colored the flowers and leaves with crayons and then hand embroidered around them. I used a heavy weight thread in the bobbin and did  bobbin work flowers on the two ends.

This is one of my favorites because I love blue and yellow together. This is the Summer design. The flowers are fusible applique. I just meander quilted the whole thing.

My favorite season is Fall. It was always my favorite season when we lived in the East. So this table runner with Fall leaves is special to me. I did free motion zigzag stitches around the fused leaves. It gives them a more realistic look because leaves really aren't very smoothe around the edges. I quilted this one with lines and loops. I wanted to create movement so it looks like the leaves are blowing in the wind.

This is the Christmas design. I like the crisp white background in contrast to the reds and greens. I did an allover free motion quilting design with small holly leaves.

The last one I found is called Stars and Bars. It was in an Eleanor Burns book. I have to admit it isn't my best binding job. I'm not sure what was going on when I bound this one. Part of me wants to rip it out and do it all over but that isn't going to happen. It is what it is.

There may be more in another box somewhere. I made others and donated them to auctions as fundraisers and I sold a couple as well. So I can't remember if this is all I have left.

Here's my question. Now that I have a home that I'm starting all over again in, do I put these out even though they don't go with the decor? I'm planning to have a table that I rotate different holiday decorations on so I'm thinking of putting them on that table throughout the year. Do you make your table runners to match your decor or do you do them for holidays and occassions in seasonal colors? I'd love to know what you think.

Happy Quilting,

Carol