| Reader Comments |
| Jennifer Shaw | 10/6/05 | Diane, I love your jacket! It looks fabulous and is so flattering on you. Thank you for your review. Did you find stitching the silk charmeuse easy? I would love to know if you have any special hints. Thank you for the wonderful review. |
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| Diane E | 10/6/05 | Jennifer, thanks. Gosh I didn't realize how long the review was until now - how I did run on!! As for the silk, my best tip is to cover your cutting table with tissue paper so that you cut it with a layer of the tissue. Otherwise it slithers and wiggles all over the place. Sewing it wasn't hard. I used a microtex sharp 70/10 machine needle so that the silk wouldn't pucker. |
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| Dixielynn | 10/6/05 | What a great looking jacket...aging fabric...sure that sounds right to me...I am aging some of my own! |
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| bunz | 10/6/05 | congratulations on finishing!! It's lovely. |
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| touran | 10/6/05 | Very beautiful. It looks rich and sumptuous. |
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| Sherri Pasco | 10/6/05 | Very well done, wonderful fit, great jacket. |
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| Lisa Laree | 10/6/05 | Congratulations on finishing the project! It looks terrific! I've had a couple of long-term projects (not as nice as this one, though) that, when I finally finished them, I was kicking myself for not doing it sooner. You will really get a lot of enjoyment out of this jacket, I bet! |
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| Lori | 10/6/05 | Diane, very beautiful jacket. It was worth the wait, looks fabulous on you. |
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| Cambric Tea | 10/6/05 | I'm really impressed, all around. You look great in your jacket, and the jacket is fantastic. |
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| hongkongshopper | 10/6/05 | It certainly has matured well! Looks fanastic! |
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| nickle | 10/7/05 | Beautiful jacket- really enjoyed your review. That jacket looks ageless. |
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| PixieCat | 10/7/05 | Your jacket is so flattering and the fabric is gorgeous! |
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| jlg | 10/7/05 | Great jacket. It looks great on you. |
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| MaryBeth | 10/7/05 | Very pretty fabric, Diane! It's so satisfying to make a tailored garment, isn't it? It looks beautiful on you, perfect for fall. |
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| Linda L | 10/7/05 | Diane, what a great looking jacket! Love all the details you described. Lovely fabric. |
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| penelope | 10/7/05 | That fabric and fringe are To Die For. You achieved a perfect fit and the added darts give the jacket a nice shape, to match yours! I might make one of these Chanel jackets and your tips about mohair and twill tape for the sleeves are much appreciated. |
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| Irina | 10/7/05 | What you did with this pattern is amazing. From such a plain pattern, you've created a gorgeous, beautifully fitted jacket. I wonder if my projects would turn out better if I allowed them to go through a similar aging process? |
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| val from oz | 10/7/05 | Love the jacket, and I enjoyed your well written review. I'm still amazed at how a simple KS pattern can end up being a garment as lovely as this. |
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| Harriet Rogers | 10/7/05 | Wow! Your jacket perfectly illustrates how patience and attention to detail can pay off..in spades! Your jacket is gorgeous: thanks so much for all the tips. |
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| AnneM | 10/7/05 | Great looking jacket, love the fringe. |
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| MickeyFan | 10/7/05 | You've inspired me. I have yet to make this jacket up because, as you pointed out, the pattern drawings are so boring. Now I see how great this jacket can be in a luscious fabric. Thanks for posting and sharing your tailoring techniques. |
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| MaryT | 10/7/05 | Your fabric is gorgeous!!! Congrats, and how lucky to have SB guide you through it all. Thanks for sharing it all with us. Great, great job. No wonder the big smile! |
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| Teri | 10/7/05 | Diane, your jacket is just lovely, and I am green with envy that you went to Sandra's sewing week! |
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| zinnia | 10/7/05 | Diane, you made a beautiful jacket!
Thank you for your review of this pattern...yours looks so divine! |
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| Georgene | 10/7/05 | Looking good! I love your treatment. Are you thinking of this pattern for the beautiful green tweed I saw you walking around with the other day at Poppy's? PS I was wondering if you made this w/ the usual KS 1/4" seam allowances? |
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| Diane E | 10/7/05 | Thanks for your feedback, everyone. I really appreciate it. Hi Georgene, I plan to use this Today's Fit pattern and apply a funky flower ribbon trim I found at Poppy. I like this pattern's princess seams, and Sandra's sample fit really well and will require very few alterations. Oh, and this KS pattern has 5/8" seam allowances, which was good because this was very ravelly fabric! |
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| Barbara Elfman Bell | 10/7/05 | Diane, this is such a quality jacket! Looks beautiful. The special touches you added really amp up the look. |
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| SewingSkater | 10/7/05 | Love the jacket, love the review. Definitely worth the wait!! |
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| Sew4Fun | 10/7/05 | Great jacket. Thanks for all the helpful tips. |
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| pinkmo0n | 10/8/06 | all your creations look stunning! great job on this! wow |
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| CarolynD | 11/28/06 | I really wanted to see a picture of your project but your link leads me to a page of many pictures and it is not clear among all the pictures there which one is this pattern.... |
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| Diane E | 11/29/06 | Hi Carolyn, thanks for the heads-up on the photos. I fixed them! |
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| CarolynD | 11/30/06 | This jacket is lovely. It fits you so well. I love the fabric. It truly is the kind of jacket you can wear with anything. I understand your aversion to the corporate soldier look and this is any thing but that! Kwik sew makes such nice useful patterns. |
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| WJean | 4/3/08 | Although I am a couple of years plus some, late on reading your review, I throughly enjoyed it. Too, I would have liked to have seen your garments photograph but it's now inaccessible.
However, I did enjoy reading your review and thank you for passing on the tips from Sandra Betzina. I never thought about twill tapping the armhole. That's a great suggestion for a boucle like fabric. Hopefully, you will get around to reading this comment and responding to my question: Here-to-fore, I have not sewn with Kwik Sew Patterns. In your opinion please tell me about the fitting of this pattern versus other patterns like Vouge, Butterick, etc. Thanks for your response. |
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| Diane E | 4/4/08 | Hi WJean, thank you for your kind comments. I fixed the photo links and hopefully you can see the jacket now. As for fit on this jacket, as drafted, I thought it was too boxy, and I added darts and took in the shoulders. These are pretty standard alterations for me, but it's something you'd probably want to check in the tissue-fitting stage. The jacket and lining patterns are beautifully drafted and fit together without a hitch. |
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| WJean | 4/17/08 | Thanks for your response after so many years since the original post. Thank you too for linking back to the original photo. I really like this fabric and have some similar in a silk that's red/green/blue/yellow that would look great in this jacket, but my heart's still set on my black boucle :->, You have really encouraged me to try this pattern, but I have one more question and it's about the chain: where did you purchase it, how did you know what weight/size to purchase? Thanks again, and again. |
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| Diane E | 4/18/08 | Hi WJean, the chain for the hemline came from Baer Fabrics in Louisville, Kentucky. If you call them to order it, you can ask for the weight that Sandra Betzina uses and recommends. I'm assuming they still have it available. Also, you might check with your favorite fabric store or tailoring supply house. The weight can be a matter of preference, and is also dictated by the fabric weight. With my jacket, I needed a fairly beefy chain, since the jacket and lining were pretty hefty. |
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