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 

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