There is a fine art to planning ahead, and nowhere is this more obvious than in planning a new sewing year. No matter how carefully I think it through, I still end up with some fabrics that never make it out of storage and some newly-purchased fabrics that quickly get moved to the head of the queue. But no matter! I still find it useful to make a list of intended projects, while at the same time reminding myself that being flexible and realistic about my intentions is what is really necessary. (There are, after all, those unexpected special events which can’t be planned for, but which take top priority when the “save the date” card arrives in the mail.)
When I look back at what I accomplished in 2018, I happily find that about half my projects used fabrics which I had purchased at least a few years prior. Some had actually been in my collection for more than a few years! Last year’s list was replete with rosy hues and rosy prints, and this year is not too different, especially considering three of my most favorite fabrics from last year are being forwarded onto my plans for 2019. Will this be the year that I finally get this vintage piece of Moygashel linen made into a dress? I’ve only been trying to do this for at least three years now!
A very early 1950s’ linen, petite black flower silhouettes on a pale ecru background.
But for starters, and as with last year, I am first finishing up a project which I began, but did not have time to finish before the holidays took over my sewing room – and my life!
I am bound and determined to finish the Classic French Jacket I started in late 2018. While I am currently working on the body of the jacket, having completed its quilting, I am still undecided about trim. I am auditioning different options, but have yet to find the perfect one.
However, I am anxious to get on with it, as the rest of my list includes:
1) a wool coat
2) 3 cotton shirtwaist blouses
3) 1 boat-neck blouse (silk, maybe, or still undecided)
I love this French blouse-weight silk, so it is a heavy favorite for a boat-neck blouse to be made along with fellow dressmakers enrolled in Susan Khalje’s Couture Sewing Club.
4) 1 linen skirt
5) 2 wool skirts
6) 1 wool, two-piece dress
7) 1 cotton dress
I found this amazing cotton at Mulberry Silks in North Carolina when I was looking for fabric for the Christmas dresses for my granddaughters.
8) 1 linen dress – referenced above
9) 1 silk dress
10) birthday dresses for my two little granddaughters
11) play dresses for granddaughters
12) holiday/Christmas sewing for those same two little girls
and finally
13) some necessary home decorator sewing, which is not my favorite thing to do, until I see it finished and can enjoy living with it!
The wool coat will be my first major project in 2019 once the French jacket is finished. I can’t wait to get started on this vintage Lesur wool from Paris, lined in a pink, gray and white silk purchased from Mendel Goldberg a few years ago.
I will probably make a simple wool skirt before starting the coat, as I know it will be a relatively quick project nestled between the jacket and the coat. I found this wool when Promenade Fabrics was closing their Etsy shop a few months ago. How I love a red and navy tartan. I could not resist it, and I am glad I didn’t.
The hand of this wool is so lovely. I think it will make a beautiful skirt. And I have just the shoes to wear with it!
Life is, of course, filled with all kinds of non-sewing duties, and I have plenty on that list, too. It will be a tricky balancing act to make significant progress in both realms, but my guess is that sewing wins out over cleaning out the attic.
Welcome, 2019, with all your grand opportunities!
fiftydresses 
Something Old is New Again – and Again – and Again . . .
Coco Chanel said it herself, “I am against fashion that doesn’t last.” Could she possibly have known her Classic French Jacket would become such a lasting icon in the annals of fashion and style? Would she be amazed at how often her jacket has been imitated and copied – for decades now? And could she possibly have ever guessed the allure this style has for those of us who sew fashions for ourselves?
I really do not know the answers to these questions. From what I do know of this enigmatic woman, I can only guess that privately she may have suspected her creation had staying power far beyond most fashions. And certainly, as I have said before, “only Chanel is Chanel,” but what a blueprint she gave to those of us, either as individuals or as fashion companies, to copy and to change and to make her classic jacket into our very own.
I have been thinking about Coco Chanel quite a bit these days as I work on my fifth Classic French Jacket. Last Fall, about the time when I was getting ready to cut out my #5, The Wall Street Journal had this feature article on “Chanel-ish” jackets.
This article appeared in the Weekend Section of The Wall Street Journal, October 27 – 28, 2018. The center caption states: “8 Chanel-ish jackets that aren’t by Chanel, demonstrating the pervasiveness of Mademoiselle Coco’s enduring – and constantly reimagined – tweed jacket design.”
The featured jackets range in price from a “zara” version at $129 all the way up to a Gucci one at $13,500. I suspect few, if any, of these jackets are channel quilted as a real Chanel would be, but they all have that familiar, yet varying look that is so recognizable – the tweed or boucle fabric; the embellishment in the form of fringe, trim, and buttons; the boxy or minimally shaped profile; the symmetrical, balanced demeanor; and the ability to be worn casually or dressily.
Just about any women’s fashion catalog you open has examples which relate to Coco Chanel’s jacket. For example, in the span of just three pages of a recent Gorsuch catalog, four jackets have that classic Coco look.
A longer version of the classic jacket, its roots are immediately recognizable.
Another longer jacket which would look equally at home with a lace dress or, as shown, with denims.
And a traditional shorter jacket, shown in two colors. All these examples are in the Gorsuch GETAWAY catalog, Winter of 2019, pages 30-32.
Those of us who make our own Classic French Jackets are privy to the reality of hours of hand-sewing and unusual construction techniques inherent in one of these jackets. These are not fast projects. However, the pleasure of taking this classic design and having the stylistic freedom to choose and decide on all the components, while adhering to the “rules” of the basic style, make all those hours worthwhile.
Or so I tell myself! Here is where I am with my #5: quilting completed, lining fell-stitched in place as much as possible, sleeves assembled and ready to sew onto the body of the jacket.
Here the right sleeve is just pinned at the shoulder.
It is always a relief when I am sure the sleeves are going to match the plaid of the body of the jacket.
There is something about the shaping of these three piece sleeves, with vent, that is just so lovely.
I am still deciding on trim for this jacket, although I believe there is going to be fringe on this one. Perhaps a two-sided fringe with a pop of coordinating color between the edges. It would be fascinating to know what would Coco suggest. But then, it is such personal decisions which give these jackets their individuality.
I will be deciding on either Petersham ribbon or velvet ribbon as the underlay in the center trough of the fringe. It has been quite a search for the best color to use.
Coco Chanel was also known to have said, ”One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.” Well, that she did with her classic jacket. And we are all the beneficiaries of her genius. Her idea, hatched in the 1920s, then defined to its current look in 1954, is an old idea which is continually reimagined and reformulated by those of us fortunate enough to sew. Merci, Mademoiselle Chanel!
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Filed under Chanel-type jackets, classic French jacket, Coco Chanel, Fashion commentary, Uncategorized
Tagged as Chanel-inspired jackets, fashion sewing, quotes about fashion, Wall Street Journal Fashion coverage