I am not a garment sewer. However, several years ago, I met my BFF at the Chicago Quilt Festival. We had a wonderful time together. We looked at all of the fabulous quilts and of course all of the vendors. At one booth, my BFF saw this jacket. She immediately wanted to make one, and said that I needed to make one too! Whoa-ho girl, I don't do garments! She finally convinced me and we purchased the pattern. As my BFF lives in cold country 1000 miles away, and I live in the south, we have to use our time wisely when we get together. BFF was coming to my end of the world and she said we were going to make these jackets! Whewww........ now I was in trouble. The first objective was to find a 100% cotton sweatshirt. Ha, ha, well let me tell you that it is VERY difficult to find any kind of sweatshirts in Florida! After much searching, we did finally come across sweatshirts that were 80% cotton. As I drove around, she had seam ripper in hand and tore out the cuffs and the neck trim.
We used Kansas Troubles, and Thimbleberries line of fabrics. I love the rich color combinations. My BFF worked diligently on her jacket and I followed along. It was a very fun project and we both came out with great looking jackets.
That year I decided to enter the jacket in the Florida State Fair. I have never entered any quilts in the State Fair before, but I felt the jacket was something a little different and maybe was worthy to show. To my amazement, the jacket took a second place red ribbon! What a wonderful surprise.
Here are some close up shots of the back and quilting. I also added a nice closure at the top.
Inspiring, yes. Warm, absolutely!
Happy Quilting!
5 comments:
I made 2 matching jackets, many years ago. I don't do garment sewing, either (my home ec project came out twice as big as it was supposed to). I did have a friend come over to help me, when we put all the pieces together, and that really helped, since I didn't know how to adjust it to fit me. I've about worn my jacket out (the other one was for a friend who gave me TONS of material). I started some others, but, they've been in a tub, in the basement for years now.
a well deseved red ribbon it looks fantastic you must get stopped a lot when wearing it
Ooooo, I love the jacket, you did a fabulous job! Who made the pattern? I would love to make one on my treadle because living in a very old house in NJ, I need all the layers I can get.
That's a great jacket! I'm with you, though, I avoid garment sewing if at all possible. I don't like anything 3-D. Heck, I even messed up a simple pillow-shaped dog bed the other day...
A beautiful jacket!
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