Fashion a Fab Jacket
This classy jacket gets real appeal from faux chenille.
Create your own faux chenille fabric and gussy up your wardrobe with this snazzy jacket. Mary Capelle of Racine, Minnesota used the slash-fabric technique to construct this lightweight patriotic-looking jacket.
Instead of cutting the top layer on the bias Mary, cut all the pieces on grain and channel-stitched on the bias to create a diagonal pattern. To finish the raw edges, Mary bound them with two colors of bias tape.
Materials Needed:
- Commercial jacket pattern (select a simple unfitted style with a minimum number of seams)
- Fabric needed for jacket pattern (see note below)
- Notions needed for jacket pattern
- Extra-wide bias tape to bind edges of jacket—blue and red or contrasting colors that coordinate with your fabric (optional)
- All-purpose thread to match fabrics
- Novelty buttons (optional)
- 6-inch x 24-inch quilter’s ruler
- Quilter’s marking pen or pencil
- Walking foot (optional)
- Chenille cutter or slash cutter
- Standard sewing supplies
Note: Loosely woven cotton, rayon, linen and silk fabrics work well.
Mary used a single layer of white denim for the outer layer and double layer of red, white and blue cotton print with wrong sides facing for the lining to give the inside of the jacket a more finished look. Be sure to purchase extra yardage if you use a double layer of the lining fabric.
Directions:
- Wash fabrics. If water is discolored, wash again until rinse water runs clear. Dry and press all fabrics.
- Following pattern instructions, cut out all pattern pieces from white denim except the facing pieces, cutting 1 inch outside all cutting lines of patterns.
- Place lining fabric on a flat surface with wrong sides facing.
- Place each denim jacket piece right side up on layered lining fabric.
- Cut out lining pieces, cutting a bit outside the previous cutting line. (Having the lining a bit larger will make it easier to cut between the layers later.)
- Pin or hand-baste layers together as needed to keep them secure.
- Use quilter’s ruler and marking pen or pencil to mark a diagonal line (45 degrees to the straight of grain) on each piece. This will be the true bias of the fabrics. Note the angle of the rows in the photo.
The front bias lines should form a chevron design. A chevron design on the back and on the collar is made by stitching a narrow center back seam to join the pieces instead of placing the center back of the jacket and collar on the fold. - With matching thread and a short straight stitch, sew through all layers on the marked line of each piece.
Then sew 1/2 inch from first line of stitching, using walking foot if desired. Continue to sew 1/2-inch parallel lines as before until the entire piece is stitched. Sew the lines in opposite directions to prevent shifting. - Use chenille cutter or slash cutter to cut through the center of each stitched channel, being careful to cut through the denim layer only (not the lining layer).
- Place the pattern pieces back on the stitched pieces and cut out each following the pattern outlines. If you cut the pattern pieces out one at a time, remember to reverse one of the pieces.
- Stay-stitch a scant 1/2 inch from the outside edges of each piece.
- Construct the jacket following the pattern instructions but omitting the facing pieces.
- If desired, bind the edges with layered red and blue bias tape. If you do not bind the edges, add another row of stay stitching just outside the first row.
- Wash and dry the finished jacket to make the chenille bloom.
- Trim unbound edges close to outer round of stay stitching if edges were not bound with bias tape.
- If desired, sew novelty buttons to corners of collar.