Thursday, October 2, 2008

Jacket Patterns for Double Faced Fabric - Too Many Choices!

I am trying to decide on a pattern for a jacket to be made of a double faced worsted wool that is a deep purple on one side and a muted magenta on the other. I want to use both sides/colors in the jacket. I am a sucker for woven fabrics that are one color on one side and another color on the other. My justification for buying them is that it is doubly versatile; two fabrics in one! I have a piece with a light grey side and a dark grey side, a piece with forest green on one side and olive green on the other, and another with a muted orange on one side and grey on the reverse. And that is just the wools. I won’t list the knits and linens. You get the picture. Burda World of Fashion Magazines often have jacket patterns that call for two coordinating fabrics. The patterns could also be made using both sides of double faced fabric. Here are 4 possible pattern choices for jacket that I like. I printed copies of the jacket line drawings (scanned and enlarged 100%), cut them out and colored them. The colors are not exactly like my fabric, but they are in the right color family with enough contrast to illustrate the idea. I made pants using the dark color last year, and I plan to wear the jacket with the matching pants.

BWOF Jacket May-2002 No. 104

Light color on top would make it look like a cropped jacket when worn with the matching pants. And I could accent the collar and waist line seam with hand stitching in the darker color.

BWOF Jacket Feb-2004 No 104

The princess seams on the bodice and the sleeve seams are sewn so that the seam allowance is to the outside. Then the seam allowance raw edge is turned under and top stitched, resulting in contrasting bands accenting the seams. Top stitching could be done with a decorative stitch or additional trim could be inserted under the turned edge for added interest. I am concerned about how flat the seam allowances on the princess seam will be when turned under and top stitched. Part of the seam is on the bias and part on the straight of grain. They are wrinkled on the jacket in the magazine, but the fabric appears to be a poly satin, which doesn’t press as nicely as wool.

BWOF Jacket June 2007 No. 107

The magazine jacket is in the same color scheme as my fabric. The contrasting bands are actual separate bands sewn onto the facing of the jacket edge. This makes for a lot of layers along the collar roll line. The photographed jacket is turned away from the camera, but from what I can see of the collar, it is not rolling smoothly. Hmmm

BWOF Jacket May 2006, No 107

The jacket styling makes it look like a jacket over a vest with zipper closure. If I used the darker color for the bottom band and vest front, it would look like short jacket worn over matching vest and pants. I could also add embroidery or stenciled designs to the fabric used for the band and fake vest front, to add more interest.

I am having a real hard time with this decision because each jacket has a technique or style I would like to try. I am going to sleep on it for a few nights. Feel free to tell me which one you like best.

I am taking off work tomorrow to spend the day at the Sewing Expo with some friends. I am looking forward to attending classes taught by favorite instructors, seeing the independent pattern designer fashion show during the lunch break, shopping at the vendor's booths, plus a stop at G Street Fabrics on the way home. It should be a lot of fun.

7 comments:

  1. Can I vote for the first one? I have often considered making this one and would love to see what you do with it.

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  2. I have only one piece of double faced wool - grey and brown - and have ideas of using the contrast on seams such as 104 (but shoulder princess). Will you line it? I was thinking that you could use the contrast to bind the edges. Hmmmm, that is why my piece is still in flat form. Looking forward to seeing how you tackle it.

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  3. I like the last choice, with the idea of jazzing up the darker/under fabric.

    And no, Daniel's "northwoods" quilt is not done yet--lots of partial blocks with a goal of a completed top for his upcoming bday. Thanks for your vote of confidence that it would be done by now. I'm sending this one out to be quilted so he will have it before he moves out!

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  4. hello I really like he first one . I think it has great potential for doing some lovely top stitching . Did you see the article in Threads about using double cloth and splitting the layers and sewing them individually so that it becomes reversable .From memry he layers were split and the under layer sewn and then the top seam allwance was folded under so as to enclose the seam and had sewn in plce and then top stiched with saddle stitching . It looked fantastic. I think it was in Threads ! I guess though that you would need to have an exact match between the pant fabric and the lower half of the jacket or it would cut you up too much horizontally ,never a good idea.

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  5. Hello Audry I just wanted to tell you that the article on sewing double cloth was indeed on Threads website and in a piece about Ralph Rucci. If you dont know how he does it you might find that interesting . Regards Marianne

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  6. Hey Audrey. I stopped in to say thanks for the nice comment you left on my blog (couldn't find an email address). Then I saw this post. Purple is my favorite color and I love this fabric! The jacket choices are wonderful but I think I would vote for the first option.

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  7. All of them look great! After all, you have several pieces, so why not make one of each?

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