My frozen jacket

Hello everyone, it has been a little while since my last post. I have been busy with the holidays and trying to get my house back in order.

Being as craft oriented as I am I can accumulate a LOT of stuff!!! And then I have nowhere to put it as my house is not very big! So I (and my husband) lol have been trying to come up with solutions to find more space to stash my paint, fabric,canvas’s, markers, fabric, pencils, rulers, fabric, thread, notions, fabric, sewing machines, books, fabric, brushes, ironing board and iron…etc etc, etc…..you get the picture….oh did I mention I need room for fabric??? hehehe. And that is not including my custom made drapery business things such as a large cutting table and office supplies etc.!!!

We are still working on some house renovations and would love to have a bathroom off of the master bedroom and so my “junk” has to move and a bit of rearranging has to happen! We also would like to add on a porch to the house, we will see. Time and  money will have to come together!! :)

I just put the finishing touches on my jacket today! I was so excited to finish it so I could wear it!! There is just something exciting about putting on something new!

Leon took the pictures and voila, here it is!!! What a perfect day to take pictures!! The sun was out but still getting snow flurries off and on

 



This jacket is made of 100% cotton with a good quilt batting inbetween (not the fluffy kind but the solid more expensive kind, not sure what it is called) The white is  a textured vinyl. Looks like leather.

Each piece is quilted separately with metallic silver thread. Not easy to do as the thread will break many times! Quite annoying.


This piece shows the shaping of the jacket. I have never bought a jacket that was shaped to my body and so this is very nice for me to wear. I have always found that jackets would never fit well at the bust or back. Having a sway back and large hips, store bought jackets never have quite enough room in the butt area and bags out at the small of the back and the princess seam fitting at the bust is always shapeless it seems. Being able to design my own I can eliminate that problem and I can have a curvy fitted jacket which I love!
 

I wanted white fur to put on it because you can’t have a “Frozen” jacket without white fur right??

Well at 35 dollars a meter and it is fake fur besides!! I won’t be using it too many times!!! haha Good thing I only bought 1/2 meter!!! Yikes!!!  I lined the inside of my hood and cuffs with it, it feel deliciously luxurious. Feels like baby bunny fur! Don’t worry, it is fake!! :)

 

I had some white fur lined boots that I have had a few years to go perfectly with this jacket.

I don’t know if you can see this but there are criss-cross metallic thread on the back side seams sewn by hand!! Can you say work and sore fingers!!!???  It took forever and I had big blisters on the end of my fingers trying to pull that metallic thread through!! Ouch! lol The metallic thread takes a larger needle and is much harder to go through three layers. Besides that if I had of been a bit smarter and less lazy I would have looked for my thimble!! (Sheepish grin)

I know, you don’t feel a bit sorry for me do you?? lol

And warm!!! Wow, it is warm!!! I went shopping with it on and I couldn’t wait to leave the store!!

I got a compliment on it from the first person who saw it! She said, Wow, you have a nice jacket! I said thanks, she said, knowing you sew and make jackets you probably made it did you? I said, probably and we laughed.

   

I found the perfect match for a scarf at Le Chateau, I really like it with my jacket.
I have to say, this is probably my favorite jacket so far… I’m sure there will be more though…

Thank you for your interest in the things I make, I really appreciate all the compliments and encouragement you guys give!! like wow, makes a person feel great!!! :)

God has blessed me so much with these talents, it is breath taking at times, I feel overwhelmed sometimes with wonder at it all, and I often ask God why I have sooo many things I like to do, it is almost too much at times and it confuses me.
I get a lot of compliments and a lot of people ask me why I have so many talents and really I don’t know exactly why, it sure isn’t anything I have done. I know I have a lack of fear of trying things which I guess that is good, you can’t do something if you are too afraid to try. I can’t give myself gifts and talents.
I do know one thing, when you are complimenting me you are actually complimenting God because HE is the one who gives talents and gifts and every good thing.

1 Timothy 6:17 New International Version (NIV)

 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

James 1:17 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

2013 spring cotton jean style jacket 1

Hello everyone, I made a jacket for this spring 2013. I bought the fabric at Fabricville, my favorite store, even though it is 3 hours away. I do a really good job when I get up there. I think I scare all the workers there! " What I'm going to have to cut out all that fabric for you!!!??" Geesh!! lol

This is in the "try it on" stage
"Seams" to be fitting

Here it is finished. Wearing it with a skirt I made a in 2012. The top is from the store Eclipse

I used a pattern for this one, although I basically had to reconstruct the whole pattern or it would have been
pretty ill fitting. I don't know how they get away with making patterns like that and selling them!!??

 I forgot to check the sleeve length and cut out my sleeves waaaay too short shame, shame, shame, lol and so I had to add pieces to the sleeves but if I didn't tell you you would never know it wasn't part of the jacket. Now having been sewing in draperies and apparel wear steady for the last 9 years or so you learn that you make a lot of mistakes BUT where there is a will there is a way I always say. Instead of crying about your mistakes you have to learn to be VERY creative especially if you have a brain like mine that forgets everything.
 Sometimes the worst mistakes turns out to make you look like a creative genius!!! LOL  I still hate to make mistakes though...I just don't want to do something twice!!! Sometimes my mistakes sit in the corner for a long time too. hahaha

See my sleeve "design" hehehe



It dips a little in the back making a point, this is a design feature that I added, wasn't a mistake! lol

I didn't have the correct size zipper so I didn't put it in yet. I've got to get one, but the more I look at it the more I think I just want to put a snap instead. I think it just needs one snap right where I'm holding it. I'll probably wear it mostly open anyhow.

I am planning on making another one in the same style with a different fabric so stay tuned for that one!!
It's going to be a little longer and not so fitted I think. The sleeves will be the right length!! lol I usually learn from my mistakes the first time! hahaha

This is the back on my dummyAnd this is my casual look for it

The blurred look, I thought this was cool lol
That's it, hope you guys enjoy my creations...Actually they are not my creations, I'm just a copy cat like
everyone else, because I believe there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
⁹ What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun. 
Is there anything of which one can say,
    “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
    it was here before our time.
¹¹ No one remembers the former generations,
    and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
    by those who follow them.