Burda 07-2010-118 Peplum Jacket

This jacket has made many people's "must sew" list, including mine...

I bought this fabric in NYC, it's a metallic tweed. Hard to work with mainly because the pressing is so sensitive. I made a few (well, many) mistakes, but they're all avoidable if you keep your head on straight. The right pressing cloth, very little heat and of course, pressing from wrong side whenever possible is a must, which made this jacket not exactly the ideal choice. That peplum needs to be pressed so I cheated, some... :) I added 1" to the length of the jacket.

As you can see the lining is pretty bright! I dyed silk charmeuse light green. The peplum lining hangs free from side seam to side seam. I cut a facing for the peplum hem because this fabric refuses to be manipulated and shrunk. Also made a hidden pocket in the lining.

I also made a zipper pull out of pearls and crystals;

The jacket is part of an ensemble; the blouse I already reviewed on PR, and the skirt is done. Just have to get pictures of me wearing it all. And the Balmain as well... the review of that jacket is finally written.

Hope the summer is going well for everyone. Here in LA it's been heating up the last couple of days. Not that I notice that much, mostly in air conditioned room, sewing and dancing. I try not to sew when I dance, or dance when I sew...

Balmain update

An update on the Balmain just to PROVE I am actually working on it!

The collar is beaded and in the process of being hand stitched to the neckline. I have to hand sew it on because the rhinestone chain goes all the way to the seam line and I'm not taking any chances of the machine needle hitting one of those. I'm using a thick Gütermann polyester thread, which also was used for all the beading. Those silver gray pearls next to the rhinestone chain are 3 or 4 mm, can't remember, and were beaded on two-three at a time. Most of what you see came from FireMountainGem.

Below is a picture to show how I attached part of the sleeve to the shoulder before the beadwork. You can also see some of the hair canvas that is used to support the beading.

The bottom of the sleeve: Everything is beaded except the last loop, which will be done after the underarm seam is closed. If you look closely you can see the beaded rope I found in NYC (and cat hair! those cutie pies OWN my grainboard, it's their Pride Rock). I chose to use the rope instead of the larger pearls because it's lightweight; the sleeve is cut on bias so extra weight truly drags it down.

  
Well that was the update. Thank you so much for the nice comments on the much-delayed pictures of the Dior coat. I'm thankful I actually wrote the review last year, but now I'm fearful of how I'll write a review of the Balmain... Hopefully the pictures I've taken will refresh my memory. Not that it matters much, I mean, who's gonna want to make this, it's been more than a year since the original came out! Yes- one year almost to the day since DH showed me a pic in the LA Times...
I'm such a slowpoke!

Dior Coat- it's been done since forevah!!

Better late than never. At least that what I've heard... Remember this coat? Maybe not, and I won't blame you. I had to go back and see when I last posted about it. That would be December 29. And it was done way before that. Ha. It's been worn, NYC was a perfect match. Got my boots there too and love love.

Open gets the most wear, but it was good to close it

on those chilly windy days.

Some close-up details: Double collar, single welt pocket, chest flap. And of course, the exquisite workmanship of Warren at A1 Pleating: belt and buttons.

Like the lining? Silk charmeuse in ombre, gray to purple.

Here's the link to the post about the pin tucks, which also shows the original Dior inspiration coat:

Using grainboard for pin tucks

Btw; I can't be the only one having trouble with the new blogger formatting? The photo thing is driving me nuts. And the preview is so bad! Hey Blogger/Google, get together with Mac, they know how to do it, just check out their iWeb :))

Thanks for all the encouragements on how to wear the Balmain; I'm inspired!!! I'm in the process of beading the collar, which means the lining is not far behind :)) Thanks sooo much, it's the push I needed.