Made By A Fabricista: Chanel Inspired Boucle Jacket

I've always admired the iconic look of a Chanel Boucle Suit Jacket. The Chanel Jacket style is versatile and classic. Over its rich 100-year life span, the jacket has appeared with collars, zippers, buttons, pockets, trim, fringe, and many other variations. It is worn by everyone from movie stars, royalty, first ladies, and just everyday women. Why? Because the luxurious silhouette, boucle fabric, and tailored fit look great on everyone!

Having admired the Chanel Boucle Suit Jacket for most of my life, I set out to acquire one. After a few Google searches for Chanel jackets and a glaringly steep $6,000 price tag (believe it or not, that was for pre-owned Chanel.) I knew the only way I'd ever wear a jacket like that is if I made one. Enter in $50 of fabric from Fabric Mart, $30 in notions, a $10 sewing pattern, and my Chanel dreams could become a reality.

I started my Chanel look-a-like jacket by researching sewing patterns that would help me capture that iconic look. I wanted to make a Chanel-inspired jacket that looked similar to a black collarless suit jacket that Jackie Kennedy wore in 1970. When I found the Burda pattern B6465, view A was the exact silhouette I wanted to sew!

Now that I had picked my pattern, I popped over to the Fabric Mart site and found a beautifully stunning light grey, silver, and black boucle fabric! For the lining, I wanted a fun pop of color so I selected a hot pink double-faced satin fabric. I also picked up some raven iron-on woven interfacing and pulled out a pair of shoulder pads from my stash of past Fabric Mart purchases. In addition to my fabric choices, I wanted to add nice details to the jacket, so I picked up some 1/2 inch wide black gimp braid trim and fancy buttons.

When it came time to make the jacket, I followed the pattern closely. I added gimp braid trim on the outside of the pocket for added embellishment. I also decided to add a button to the pocket trim. The pattern recommends creating a fringe for the outside edge of the jacket, but I decided early on that I didn't want a fringed jacket, instead, I wanted a trimmed jacket with the gimp braid.

So, before sewing the lining into the jacket, I topstitched the gimp braid trim about 1 in from the raw edges of the fabric. With a seam allowance of 5/8 inch, I knew that this would leave 3/8 of an inch between the turned edge of the fabric and the trim. This allowed a small amount of the main fabric to show around the outside of the jacket, which is the look that I wanted. I then ignored all of the steps of the pattern regarding creating jacket fringe.

I debated closing my jacket with traditional buttons and buttonholes as I had purchased beautiful silver and black buttons. When I tried on my jacket, I didn't love how it would fit with traditional buttons and buttonholes. After a long debate, I finally settled on closing the jacket secretly with 5 hooks and eyes. This would allow both outside edges of the gimp braid trim to show with the jacket closed, while also maintaining the sleek silhouette I was after.

I'm so glad that I decided to close my jacket with the hooks and eyes! The finished jacket is exactly what I had envisioned for this look-alike Chanel beauty! It's times like these that I'm extra thankful for the gift of sewing and that I can make cool things by hand for less! For only $90 I get to proudly wear a Chanel-inspired jacket that I made by hand using beautiful Fabric Mart Fabrics!

SHAINA | @shaina_sews

Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following categories: BOUCLE, COATING, SATIN & INTERFACING.

Made By A Fabricista: A Tipsy Martini Transitional Three Piece Look

Hello Sewing Friends! It’s Sharon with Sharon Sews with my latest Fabricista make – a three-piece set I can wear as the weather transitions to fall here in Texas. It may look like a summer outfit but there will days filled with sunshine and high temps well into November. At first glance it looks like a nice, lightweight jacket, top and pants. But look closer – it’s sewn from the designer Tipsy Martini cotton sateen that was originally used by the designer for a pajama set. Now I could have sewn myself a pair of pajamas using the Closet Core Carolyn Pajama pattern (available at Fabric Mart) and replicated the designer pajamas. But if I had gone that route the only ones who would have seen this adorable kitschy fabric would be my family. This print is much too cute to hide out at home. This Tipsy Martini cotton sateen fabric was lovely to sew. I used black thread, an 80/12 universal needle, and Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Fuse Medium interfacing (link here). Note that this is a rayon fu

Made By A Fabricista: Hooray for Cozy Fall Sews!

Greetings, all! I am in such high spirits with the best-of-all-seasons just beginning and change is finally in the air. I always rejoice when the sweatiest time of the year passes and we can all take a deep breath and gear up for cozier times. Neighborhood Patterns is a new-to-me designer, and I came across them on Instagram in late summer and fell in love with the Plain Jane Skirt. This is such a simple A-line skirt, but with nice details like large inseam pockets and an optional drawstring, and though I’m sure I could draft this style myself, the appeal of having it all done for me was too tempting to pass up. A sew such as this is a lovely palate-cleanser and this was the first project I sewed after returning from a cross-country trip. Perfect! The gorgeous plaid flannel is exactly what I want to be wearing in the fall. The fabric is SO soft and a pleasure to snuggle up in. Because flannel does not have much body and is prone to stretching or shifting with all its mechanical give,

Made By A Fabricista: Quilted Jacket Chronicle

What do you get when mixing the best things about apparel sewing and machine quilting? A quilted jacket! It's funny that I elected to sew myself a quilted jacket for this Fabricista blog because I don't consider myself much of a quilter. I can count on my hands the number of quilted projects I've made over the last few years. While I fully appreciate the end product of quilting, I don't normally gravitate toward starting quilting projects. That's why making a quilted jacket is a new and exciting project for me! It gives me the fun of making a quilt on a much smaller scale. If you are an avid apparel sewist and are new to quilting, this is the perfect project to take for a quilting test drive! For my quilted jacket, I used the Seamwork Easton Jacket pattern. I decided to stick with a solid-colored fabric for the jacket's exterior and ordered 4 yards of Dark Umber Brown Lycra Stretch Canvas Suiting from the Fabric Mart website. I wanted a contrasting color for the

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