Working on Two Things....

Well, the tree is down, the decorations are stored for another year. The laundry is done and the kids have finished their vacation homework, so it's time to hit the sewing room. Right now I'm finishing up another version of JStern's Tee, using Dance on the Wild Side Mesh from Gorgeous Fabrics:

I started cutting it out at noon on Christmas Eve, but between trying to do Christmas with my family and blowing town right after, it's still in pieces on the sewing table. It will be a fun top for celebratory affairs like Valentine's day, my friend Barb's birthday, etc. I'll try to finish it today and post pictures.

The other thing I'm ready to start working on seriously is my Chanel-style jacket. That's the one I started with Susan Khalje when she was in town. It's completely quilted and ready to start sewing. I'm so excited about it! Susan is an absolute font of knowledge and she's written one of the best articles about making a Chanel-style jacket. You can order it directly from Taunton Press. If you don't have it, I highly recommend it. I think it's one of the best resources out there. She was telling us that when she wrote the article, Chanel was incredibly helpful, opening their archives and letting her really study the construction of jackets up close and personal. I also love her online article about choosing trim for a Chanel-style jacket.

For my version, I'm using Vogue 7975.

Susan showed us in class how to convert the pattern's two-piece sleeve to a more Chanel-like three piece sleeve, canting the bottom part of the sleeve vent to make the trim sit beautifully. I'll post pictures of the results when I'm done. I don't have the trim yet. I hope to be able to get to New York at some point in January to purchase the perfect trim(s) for it. We'll see how things go on Tuesday and hopefully I'll get to M&J or Tinsel Trading before the end of the month. It's a spring color jacket, so I don't have to rush, but it sure would be nice to have it ready for Easter. We'll see how it goes!

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes. I'll be out of commission Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, though the warehouse and the guys will be processing orders and shipping things out. Tuesday is the surgery and Wednesday I'll be recovering (hopefully). So I don't know when I'll be blogging actively. Hopefully not too long from now. Well, I'm hoping you'll see the latest top this afternoon, but after that... we'll see. Wish me luck. Thanks for everything, and of course,

Keep on sewing!