Tag Archives: remade

0

YELLOW JACKET RECON

by

Last winter I found this yellow coat at a thrift store. It’s part of the Liberty of London collection for Target, and I liked the color and fabric, but wasn’t nuts about the cut. The two-piece notched collar does not work for me at all.

Here’s the original coat:

liberty coatliberty coat

But luckily my jacket doesn’t have that awful print repeat in the product photo. There would be no saving it then.

yellow jacket, made by Julianne

 Not exactly the most flattering shape, plus you know I can’t just wear something off the rack.

First thing I did was to cut off the collar, which necessitated binding the raw edge. I also added a faux-yoke for aesthetic reasons. I put in two new buttonholes so that the coat could be buttoned all the way to the top, replaced the black ball buttons with silver plated flat buttons, and I added an extra pleat at the back. I wore the jacket around rainy Richmond VA for my cousin’s wedding, and then forgot about it for a year.

yellow jacket, made by Julianne

yellow jacket, made by Julianne

yellow jacket, made by Julianne

Round 2 of renovations began with opening the lining and re-doing that CB pleat. I added the band to lower the empire waist down to my natural waist, which is so much more flattering on my body. The fabric is silk dupioni from my wedding skirt, and I love the way it plays off the yellow cotton.

yellow jacket recon, made by Julianne

I tapered the back seams to eliminate some of the cocoon shape. The sleeve caps were lowered at the same time I narrowed the shoulders, and I took in the bust of the jacket about 1″. I eliminated pleats at the front and inserted pockets into the seams.

yellow jacket recon, made by Julianne

I’m pretty impressed at the quality construction of this garment. I don’t know what the Target retail price was, but even their designer collections are inexpensive (I paid $20, which was my entire thrifty budget for the excursion). The sleeves are set in with a braided cotton tape to prevent warping, the stitching is all very even and careful, and the fabric feels like a quality cotton.

yellow jacket recon, made by Julianne

The front binding needs some ironing. It had been machine stitched on, but the bias warped and looked cheap. Instead I used a whip stitch in red thread, which is what I’d always wanted to do. yellow jacket recon, made by Julianne

I’m not quite finished though. As much as I love the floral print, I think it’s a little overwhelming for a whole coat. I’m thinking about replacing the set-in sleeves with raglan sleeves, probably a similar color to the belt. I have some bright orange cotton twill that could be toned down by a quick dip in a black dye bath, but California is in a serious drought and I don’t feel good about how much water will be required to wash out black dye. I dunno, it’s wearable with the current sleeve, so who knows when the raglan will happen.

Also those silver buttons are just temporary; I’m on the hunt for 1″ gold buttons!

2

ZIPPERPALOOZA

by

My friends Maria and Patrick of Adorn and Conquer are finally opening their own store in New Orleans! They are also carrying pieces by many artists and makers, including yours truly. The first merchandise order I shipped out was all zipper bags – 27 of them!

zipper bags, made by Julianne

They are almost entirely scrap fabrics, lovingly saved for years. Every bag is lined, most have a loop for attaching a clip or wearing around the wrist.

zipper bags, made by Julianne

You know I’m usually about getting as many different colors onto one piece as possible, but I totally love these all-green bags. They each have both of the above fabrics (one on each side) and even the lining and zippers are green. I hope at least one of them gets used for some stylish stoner’s smoking kit.

zipper bags, made by Julianne

zipper bags, made by Julianne

These embroidered fabrics were saved by my step-sister-in-law Ilaan (who also provided the fabric for my sofa, psychedelic bathrobe, and Miimii dress). They were such tiny scraps! These bags are backed with solid fabrics.

zipper bags, made by Julianne

You’re never too old for a fabulous pencil case! zipper bags, made by Julianne

I totally gasped when I found this amazing blacklight sequin fabric. It’s just too perfect! I look forward to making a few fabulous pieces from this. Any suggestions?

zipper bags, made by Julianne

I made them in so many different shapes and sizes, which was dictated by the individual remnants. They’re each the perfect size for something! I envisioned the smaller bags as the perfect wrapping for a jewelry gift.

zipper bags, made by Julianne

Y’all know how I’m a sucker for projects that use up those wonderful little scraps. On one hand, I try to resist hanging on to “someday could be” materials. Sure, someday it could be used for whatever project I have in mind, but it’s more likely that stuff will just clutter up my life until eventually I get so frustrated that I just want it gone. On the other hand, I love using up every bit of possibility, and some fabrics are too special to let go, not matter how small the pieces are.

I’ll also have turbans and a special new shirt design in the store, but that’s for a special post. Congratulations to Adorn and Conquer on this exciting milestone!

 

3

CAT-ADOR JACKET

by

I’ve been working like a rhinestone zombie. So much sewing to be done! Some of it is Burning Man related, but much of it is just other small jobs for other clients, not really interesting enough to blog about. I’m leaving for the playa in 6 days and I haven’t had a chance to do any prep work. Eep! So I’ll let this post be mostly images, because my brain ain’t so good at processing words lately.

This was one of my favorite projects in a long time. Nando is a very playful and sweet guy, and he wanted to bling out his plain peacock-blue matador jacket. Obviously this was right up my alley (which is where these pictures were taken, appropriately).

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

I just loved this project. It was so much fun to work on, and he was so pleasant to work with. It was an ideal project.

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

I made the cat heat using some fabrics we picked out together, some fabrics from my stash, and that heat-fusible bond paper stuff (I told you I’m not good with words).

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

The epaulet is constructed from that awesome silver vinyl applique, a red velvet pad, and orange tassel trim.

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

I made a cat toy necklace from some of the leftover trims.

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

I also made him a set of booty shorts, complete with crotch gusset, out of the copper kitty fabric, but apparently I didn’t give Nando enough rum to model them in my alley.

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

Catador jacket, made by Julianne

If you see Nando on the playa, tell him you recognize him from the internet!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7