A Well Sewn Jacket

Hard to believe that a proponent of glue basting and lover of paint-on temporary stabilizer would ever consider purchasing a book with the word "couture" in it. But I did. Three days ago my copy of Couture Sewing: The Couture Cardigan Jacket - Sewing Secrets from a Chanel Collector by Claire B. Shaeffer arrived. And I was excited.
My interest in the Chanel cardigan came very recently, right after I happened upon Chanel's The Making of the Cardigan video. (My original post about the video is here.) When I first saw the title of this new book, I thought I might learn some of the details of how the House of Chanel works with knits. 

I was a bit disappointed when I found that the only mention of knits is on page 114:
Chanel shocked the fashion world when, early in her career, she began making suits from soft jersey knits she had purchased in quantity from textile manufacturer Jean Rodier.
That is all!

I'm quite aware that the Chanel jacket can also be constructed of beautiful woven fabrics. I pass by the "neighborhood" Chanel every day.

Chanel, SoHo branch, with unaffiliated street vendor in front

Here's what was in the window this morning.
The fabric. Always great fabric.

I'm also aware that the cardigans being made in the video I saw previously, beautifully crafted as they are, are not couture. I guess the word "cardigan" in the book title is what threw me. It had been my understanding (or misunderstanding?) that a cardigan was always knitted or made of knit fabric.

So true, the book is not what I'd expected, but on the way to looking for tidbits on working with knit fabrics, I found the book to be a spectacular resource. There are pictures of details from classic jackets: the fabrics, the buttons, the linings, the trims. The very best part of the book is the step-by-step instruction with clear pictures of the author demonstrating each step in the construction of a jacket. The included companion DVD has Shaeffer presenting a small portion of her personal collection of authentic Chanel suits, authorized copies, and knock-offs. Shaeffer then demonstrates each technique and talks you through the process. The instructions are clear and precise.

Couture was never my goal. I've only wished to make a well sewn sweater. Several of Shaeffer's "sewing secrets", however, could have made my most recent jacket project easier (yes, easier!) and neater too.  I'll be studying the book further.

And speaking of  my most recent jacket project, it's finished! I hand stitched the hem and front facings during Virtual Craft Night last night, my bow to Claire B. Shaeffer (and Chanel), I suppose. I'll take pics and post them soon.

O!
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Disclosure:  I paid for the book. This post contains affiliate links. Opinions are my own.
Updated 28Oct2013

Inserting a Separating Zipper in Thick Squishy Sweater Knit

The goal was to insert a separating zipper in the jacket I'm making. The jacket is constructed of one of my thick, luxurious rippled jacquard knits.


It all worked out, but here's what I was dealing with. The pic below shows the thickness of the rippled jacquard fabric.
Though my lens isn't exactly level with the quarter, you can still get an idea of how thick this fabric is.

What I love about my rippled jacquard is that it's full of air pockets, which makes it warm, and the fabric is enormously squishable, if that's a real word. There's no problem with running this material through my serger or sewing machine. Getting it to hold a crease for zipper insertion, however, is undoable. Even basting the "folded" edge first, before inserting the zipper, did not give me the desired look. Eventually, after a couple of false starts, as you can see in the top pic, I was able to insert the separating zipper into the jacket with a facing. Once I figured out the method, the procedure went easily.

As I mentioned in my first zipper post, I went with the "zipper sandwich" method. Here's the step-by-step of how I did it.

Step 1. Serge the edges where the zipper will be inserted. (I'm sure a zigzag would have worked here, so long as you don't stretch the edges.)

Step 2. Determine the placement of the zipper and mark top and bottom with pins on one side of garment.

Step 3. Make the zipper sandwich.
  • Bottom layer -- Garment fabric is right side up.
  • Zipper layer -- Zipper is right side down. (Garment fabric and zipper are right sides together.) Edge of zipper tape is lined up with edge of garment, teeth point away from edge. 
  • Top layer -- Facing is right side down. (Garment fabric and facing are right sides together with zipper sandwiched in between.)
RS = right side, WS = wrong side


Step 4. Pin layers in place and baste. Glue basting did not work with the this highly textured garment fabric. My machine basting was sloppy. Hand basting did the trick this time.


Step 5. Remove pins and turn facing to the inside of garment and check positioning of zipper. (Redo sloppy section, if necessary. ;) ) 

Step 6. Assemble the zipper. Place in position and pin to other side of garment. Mark placement for top and bottom of zipper.

Step 7. Unzip zipper and start the zipper sandwich on second side. (Repeat Steps 3 - 5)

Step 8. With sewing machine, sew through all layers (facing, zipper, and garment) on each side, next to basting and close to the edge.

Step 9. Turn and steam well. Remove basting stitches.

Step 10.  On right side, top stitch close to where garment fabric meets zipper tape.

I'm pleased with the zipper and will use this method again, even if the fabric isn't so thick.

O!

A Separating Zipper, a Facing, and a Sweater

On the way to figuring out the best way of inserting an exposed separating zipper into my ripple jacquard sweater jacket-in-progress, I found two videos.

The first video with a demonstration by Gretchen Hirsch, taught me that what I had in mind isn't really an exposed zipper. It's more of a semi-exposed zipper. Nonetheless, I'm linking to this video because the zipper is awesome, and one day I'll insert a pretty, completely exposed zipper. But not today.

Because I'm using a facing on the front opening of the jacket and because I haven't been completely thrilled with any of the zipper insertion techniques in my book collection, I decided to base my zipper insertion on the technique in this video by Bari Ackerman. Yes, I realize Bari is making a bag and not a sweater and her zipper doesn't even separate, but it is semi-exposed and her "zipper sandwich" produces the look I want. Although I'm using much heavier fabrics, I thought I'd try a variation of this technique for my jacket and facing.

I practiced my variation with scraps of main fabric, interfacing and facing, and a strip of heavy denim, standing in for the zipper. This fabric was much too textured for glue basting (sigh), but machine basting worked well.

It was time for the real thing.

You can see my first steps in the pic above. First, I serged the raw front edge (right). The next step ( left) was to machine baste the zipper in place, right side of zipper to the right side of jacket. And when both sides were basted into place, I steamed and top stitched to finish.


Problem is that I got ahead of myself and top stitched, forgetting to make the zipper sandwich with the facing!!!!

I've now picked out the top stitching and used  binder clips to hold facing (already interfaced) in place. You can't see it, but the zipper is sandwiched in there and I will hand baste it all together, before turning, steaming, and top stitching on the machine.


In a future blog post I'll share the entire process in an orderly manner. The tutorial for Inserting a Separating Zipper in Thick Squishy Sweater Knit is now posted. This way I'll be sure to have a step by step guide to follow the next time I try this.

O!
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Updated 21Oct2013

Fall Jacket in Progress

Prompted by a walk past the Missoni store on West Broadway, I've decided to reboot one of my previous ripple jacquard stitch patterns.
This 100% Merino wool fabric hasn't been prepped for cutting yet.

I have enough fabric for a jacket. I see this as I statement jacket for fall. The  fabric colors seem more autumnal than I'd originally imagined, even pumpkinesque. (Yes, I made up that word.) But I don't care. Maybe I'll also wear my future jacket in the spring.
These Missoni ripples prompted me to revisit my own. (Click to enlarge.)

Because my stitch pattern/color combination is somewhat busy, I'm considering something uncomplicated like this Burdastyle Knit Jacket 08/2011 #120A. I like the simplicity and the style, right down to the "edgy leather piping and a  front separating zipper". It's an excellent example of a commercial pattern that can be used easily with a sweater knit fabric. My only problem is that it's a "petite", which means I'd have to lengthen the bodice. That's not a big alteration, but since it's such a simple style it will easier to just use my own pattern block.

Cutting and sewing a rippled specialty fabric will be a new one for me. Last time I constructed a jacket of similar fabric, it was fully fashioned. I'm already considering how I'll insert a zipper with this relatively heavy knit fabric. I hope I can anticipate other special treatment construction may require. Wish me luck!

O!