UFO Progress - Indygo Jacket Complete

Sweet!!  My "bed jacket" is complete.  I finished sewing the buttons on last night. 

Don't you think they are perfect? What a find at MJ trim.

I wish I could better express the scrumptious feel of the jacket.  It's quilted layers feel more like a sweater then a jacket due to the fact that there is no interfacing or traditional tailored structuring.

The silk lining against the skin...don't think I need to say much on that score.

The slightly bell sleeve adds to the comfort, no binding at the elbow or bicep.

For a recap....we have a wool and angora blend fabric which has been hand quilted with silk thread to the silk charmeuse lining. 

 The princess and cuff seams are lapped and wrapped in the silk lining.  

The lapels have a self designed primitive flower quilted on them. Which is echoed on the upper back panel as well.

All of the interior seams are neatly hidden.

I changed the hem line to  swoop in the back.  It's very flattering on and protects my lower back from being exposed to the cold morning air.

You can also see the silk bound shoulder seam from this angle.

The back princess seams open to a lapped vent from waist to hem.

The quilting pattern that runs up the back panel is worked in 3 colors of silk thread - teal, brown, and mint greeen

The cuffs have wool applique, needle felting, embroidery and echo quilting.

The hem is also bound with the silk lining.

The buttonholes are hand worked in a teal silk thread (doubled), something I do not do very often, but I think they add just the right touch here.  Quite a bit more delicate then the pattern suggests, but the entire jacket is delicate I think. 

Here we have my project worksheet..my scanner is out of comissh, so I had to take a picture of it. 

 As you can see this idea was launched in 2007 which I believe was when I purchased the wool fabric at a Minnesota sewing expo.  I officially started sewing on it in August of 2011, put it aside for 4 months and committed to finishing it as my "Git R Done" resolution of 2012

The entire project cost $105.00 

You can see the the progress posts at the links below.

Indygo Jacket - 1st post  you can see the pattern, progress and interior seaming here.
                         2nd post  the hand quilting and sleeve seam finish

This pattern was simple to put together, my additions proved labor intensive though.  Needless to say you could machine quilt your layers, or do a standard lining in it and then it would go together quite quickly.  That having been said , I found it a very suitable pattern for additional embellishment....so you just might want to get creative.  The original instructions are complete and easy to follow.  You may or may not want to amend the sleeve cuff ( see 2nd post) and if you have a full upper arm you will need to adjust your sleeve pattern as you normally would.

Jillybe asked me earlier why I was calling it a "bed jacket" and primarily that is because it was inspired by the lounging pajamas from glamour movies of the 30's and 40s.  In those movies even middle class "broads"

had the must outrageous lounging costumes.  

I just think every women needs just such a garment. 

 Let's crawl out of our sweatpants and slip on something luxurious. We deserve it:)

UFO Progress report - Indigo Junction Jacket IJ741

 Something has come over me....I find myself once again committing myself to new projects!

How does this happen when clearly I have plenty of unfinished projects to keep me busy...quite busy.

My new schedule is allowing me more time to sew...but let's not get carried away Lynne

Maybe an intervention is in order.

When last we left this project it looked very ...very similar to this, but there has been some progress.

The hem is complete.

If you look closely you can now see the sashiko stitching in silk thread up the center back.

I have also made progress on the other sleeve.

The hand quilting is completed.

I accomplished this by basting the wool and silk layers together ( long white thread)

Marking 1" lines with a chalk wheel 

Then I did a hand quilting or running stitch.

This does not take as long as you think it will....really:)

I am careful to not do my running stitch to close to the seam line because I will need room to press the seam open once it has been machine sewn.  I pin the silk lining out of the way because I don't want to catch it in the seam.

After my seam is sewn I press it open using a seam stick.  This prevents me from pressing a crease in the silk lining.

Once the seam has been pressed open I can lay the silk over the seam and hand stitch it closed.

I will do this tonight while watching Downtown Abbey.

I will also fix this little annoyance...

Do you see how the hem is uneven....Argh.  This is a basic pattern mistake which really rather irritates me.  It's also a rather common mistake. 

But what irritates me more is that I let it get this far....why?

When I trued up the pattern, I did not fix it...and this is something I specifically look for!

When I sewed up my cuff all I needed to do was trim it even with the front hem before I hand bound the hemline!  Each time I encountered this issue I just kept thinking " Oh for goodness sake Lynne, lighten up, its a bed jacket"  Ah yeah, a bed jacket I will be spending many many many hours on.  

If your going to do something....do it to the best of your ability.

Clearly this needs to be fixed especially since I didn't let it get this far on the other cuff - lol

So tonight..while watching Downtown Abbey this will be ripped back to the point where I can make it right.

Do you ever see a problem coming and do nothing to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem?

Why? 

 Will I ever stop this?  

Please share your similar experiences with me..

I need to know I am not the only one who pursues such a foolish course.