Belt & Buckle Kit

They're baaack!

The belt and buckle kit is now being manufactured by a company called Maxant, right here in the US. I bought a stand-alone buckle kit as well which I will use for youngest daughter's coat. International Silks and Woolens carry them in 4 sizes but 2 were out of stock, so they promised to call me when they arrive.

It's not a big thing to give away, but I thought some of you may have a hard time finding it, so:

Leave a message if you would like to be included in the drawing of this belt and buckle kit (The one on the right in the picture.) It has good instructions on the back, and I'll take pictures of the assembly of the buckle- it looks pretty straight forward; adhesive backing with exact cutout and slits to the corners. I'll pay for shipping, and let's make the drawing Thursday January 7th.

Happy New Year!

Chanel

Coco Chanel before 1914

Her profile as exquisite as the clothes she designed. All images are taken from the book I received for Christmas:

CHANEL, Collections and Creations

by Daniele Bott.

I love this book. The photos are gorgeous and there is so much good information. I'm also a sucker for bold quotations, which this book has in spades. One of my faves below:

Now I never need to make excuses, Coco paved the way. Brilliant!

A photo worth a thousand words

(or yards of fabric):

This is next on my list; a quilted lining in grids, isn't it magnificent!

How would you like to powder

you nose with little beauty?

Buttons. Priceless.

An illustration by Karl Lagerfeld.

Bring this one along for

your next manicure :))

The Camellia:

'There are a hundred ways

to wear a flower.'

I'm fascinated and spellbound. Chanel speaks to my soul. Next year I'm diving head first into all aspects, every detail. I want to be bold, fearless, put on my magnifiers and sew, sew, sew. I will buy fine sharp hand needles and silk thread in bulk.

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The coatdress was a success- thank you for your comments and maybe your crossed fingers that it would fit :)) DD is 16.... just cut her own hair short... and dyed it jet black... Okay then. A picture could come later. Or not. And I thought it was hard to get myself in front of a camera. I will take a picture of the gray coat very soon. Remember the Dior coat? Never worn it, still has some basting threads in it, but it's done. Even have a review ready. Maybe DH will buy me some gray boots... we like to do our personal shopping after Christmas :))

I hope you all had a peaceful Christmas/holiday.

Must Be Dreaming...

... About spring :))

This coat dress happened because the fabric I ordered was not as chartreuse as I thought, more like a spring green. Which does not work for me. Chartreuse is a finicky color and I should have known better. Maybe I'll post a picture later with all the fabrics I now have labeled chartreuse, if I take the picture in natural light it will show how different they all are- ranging from spring green to mustard!

I've wanted to make this coat dress for DD ever since it first came out, BWOF 02-2008-117. She has the perfect figure for it; small upper body and waist, swayback and full hips. The fabric, from Fabric Mart, is silk shantung and the lining is silk chiffon and charmeuse; here's a link, they still have some left:

Cache silk at Fabric Mart

No shoulder pads so it can be worn both ways.

This is not a difficult pattern, but because I lined it- and I wanted her to be able to wear it both ways- I had to change a few things. Most importantly: I used casings instead of shirring elastic at the waist. Quite tricky, but the final result is good. Of course, I haven't tried it on her yet, so we shall see, it will go under the tree. I also didn't have fusible batting, so I used regular, which takes a little extra effort- the walking foot came in handy here. A lot of thread was used for this project :))

Speaking of thread... I left loose tails at each end of each topstitching, which then was woven into each seam... yes, that's a lot of work, but it looks much better this way.

The snaps were covered with fabric and carefully stitched on in the same formation; itsy bitsy details but for me worth the extra work.

The label is on the outside.

And about my coat: It's done just need to attach the buttons, and slipstitch the lining side seam closed. I'm not in love with it but it will work over white jeans. Next time I'll cut a 36, this coat is roomier than I thought it would be.

To all my readers:

Have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday!!!

Thank you for visiting, I so appreciate it.

Hugs and love,

Birgitte