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Friday, December 14, 2012

DIY Quilted Jacket: Not Your Mama's Quilting!

Hi Darlings and Happy Friday!! 

Today I am so excited to show you my DIY Quilted jacket because this baby was a venture outside of my usual sewing.  When I got my Bernina I knew I wanted to quilt something because that is what you do on a Bernina but I had never quilted anything! and I especially had never pieced together a bunch of squares to create a pattern over a print until it turned into a large piece of fabric for me to cut. I wanted to make something that was NOT what most people think of when you say "quilting" and although time consuming this was relatively easy and I am going to share the steps I took below.





My Quilted Jacket

I knew I wanted to use both the fabrics I had chosen and I knew that I wanted to turn both prints into a pattern and that's how I chose to do the chevron pattern I had seen on the cover of a quilting book some time ago and off to google I went to figure out how the heck to do it. I came across several quilting sites and found that there are a million ways (okay maybe not a million) but a lot of ways create a chevron pattern by piecing but I needed EASY and easy I got from this great tutorial by Bee Square Blog


First I gathered my tools: 2 yards each of the floral print and the polka dot print and a piece of lambskin leather I got at Michael Levin for my sleeves. I also used a quilters ruler and rotary cutter.



I cut the strips of fabric 3" wide x width of fabric from one of the print fabrics and then did the same thing with the other print.


Once I had all my strips cut (I just cut up a bunch and if I ran out I cut more)  I laid one strip of each print right sides together and sewed along one long edge 1/4" seam allowance and I repeated that until I had joined each piece to the other.


This is what the strips looked like when I was done. I had a LOT of these two pieced long strips ;-)


Once I had the stripes done I cut them into 5.5" squares


Following the images on the tutorial I started to piece sections together and sew until I could see the chevron pattern forming.


Continue piecing following the tutorial until you have one large piece of fabric.


Once I had finished piecing it all together and had formed a large piece of fabric I laid out my pattern pieces like I would any other time making sure to align the chevron pattern so the pattern would repeat correctly across the front of the jacket. 


I used Butterick 4926 which is really old and no longer available but it is a really simple shawl pattern that I extended to make my shell.


Once I had all my pattern pieces cut out of the fabric I cut out the batting (which I did not photograph *silly me*) and pressed the batting piece and fabric together to flatten it and quilted the pieces before sewing together the jacket.


I left the back of the jacket in the floral print and added my leather sleeves and lining. This was so much fun to make and I have a whole new appreciation for quilting ;-)






 


xoxo
Mimi g

48 comments:

  1. Ahhh that is darling/edgy. You have such an eye for coordinating things. I guess thats why you do what you do. Love it.

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  2. Hi Mimi,
    I love the vest and the look. You did a great job. I'm not into quilting, because I can't see myself cutting pieces of fabric to sew them together to make one big piece of fabric. LOL!!I really like the polka dots with the floral, the polka dots really pops.

    LaToria

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    1. Its a jacket with leather sleeves ;-) It was a labor of love but wasn't as bad as I though it was going to be. I did the whole thing in one night.

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  3. I love this...and there's a Kwik Sew quilted vest I want to make. THIS is the kind of hip, quilting I love that's wearable and trendy. The other, oversized stuff that hangs down to your hip pockets and has no shape or color, and looks like quilting leftovers? That stuff has no place in my life. I really do adore how you took something that a lot of people (including men in my life) laugh and made super cool..the leather sleeves rock. So boutiquey!

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  4. Hi Mimi,

    For someone who never quilted b/f...you did an awesome job...you are mastering the Bernina. Love this jacket, two of my favorite prints and favorite design. Thank you for the tutorial :)

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  5. Beautiful jacket. I've always wanted to quilt but never thought about how I could incorporate it into my fashion sewing.

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  6. Wonderful Job. This is certainly a more fashionable way to wear a quilted jacket. Love the combination of fabrics and the leather sets it off oh so lovely...

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  7. AMAZING! I first thought it was sleeveless but this is so stylish and chic. Great job Mimi! You inspire me....

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  8. This is Amazing!!! You inspire me, Mimi!!

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  9. I LOVE THE JACKET! AWESOME JOB! MIMI YOU ROCKED IT! I LOVE THE LEATHER AND QUILT COMBO AND THE COLORS AND PRINT ARE VIBRANT! I WISH I HAD THE PATIENCE YOU HAVE!

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  10. I LOVE THE JACKET! AWESOME JOB! MIMI YOU ROCKED IT! I LOVE THE LEATHER AND QUILT COMBO AND THE COLORS AND PRINT ARE VIBRANT! I WISH I HAD THE PATIENCE YOU HAVE!

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  11. Have you ever thought of pitching a show to TLC or somebody? You got madd skills and the personality for TV.

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  12. Mimi, I'm a fairly new follower and avid quilter and just have to say you are B-A-D, girl! That jacket is soooo hot! Great work!

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    1. OMG! how funny is it that! before I started sewing my jacket and was doing the reserach on how to even begin I watched YOUR VIDEOS!! ;-) Thanks for the help even though you had no clue you gave me some.

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  13. I'm so not a quilter, but I think the patterns and placements looks so cool. Great jacket.

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    1. Thanks Erica, I can say I did what I set out to do but don't plan on doing this again anytime soon, LOL

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  14. I have to say Mimi~this was not what I was expecting when you gave us the first "snippet" last week!! But I love it!! You have a true talent!! When I grow up, I wanna be like you!! Lol

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  15. Wow, that came out really good! You got skills girl...I like that design.

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  16. Love this jacket!!!!!
    unexpectedlyfashionable.blogspot.com

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  17. I love the fabric combination, especially the happy colors!

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  18. This is gorgeous! I love how you styled it! I can tell it was a labor of love.

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  19. Shockingly fly. This is definitely not your grandmother's quilt. Love it.

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  20. Love the jacket and will try to make a vest with the quilting instructions

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  21. Love this jacket and will try to make mine a vest

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  22. Hi Mimi. I am LOVING your creation. I am fascinated by the variety of things that Bernina is able to create. (those reps for the company knew who to give that machine to!) I just purchased some Dan Bennet fabric from Fabric.com and would love to try making a similar jacket; however, don't have a Bernina. First, have you ever worked with his beautiful fabrics, if so, what did you make? Two, if you're able to look up the designs of his cotton fabrics, do you think I would be able to obtain a similar look with them without quilting? (you can google his name to see the fabric if you haven't). Thanks and keep up the great work.

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  23. TOoo Cute. Where do you get your inspiration?

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  24. beautiful..you are so talented. wish you could make all my clothes : )

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  25. Cute jacket! I love the patchwork with leather. I must admit that I have never done patchwork either. It is on my radar next year.

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  26. Wow Mimi this is definitely an awesome jacket and was so worth your time! I believe you may have started a new trend once you photo gets out, it's just that gorgeous! (Hope you get royalties if it does! LOL!) I like Tricks idea too if you don't have a Bernina!

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  27. I did some consulting for the Elna Co. and discovered Quilting. It was very interesting and addicting as well! Love Love Love the jacket! Sorry I didn't get a Chance to meet you this weekend but I'm happy to say I simply went overboard at Micheal Levine! WOW! Not my first time there but, my first time really sinking my teeth into all they have! Bye LA!

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  28. I've been following your blog for a while and I just LOVE your creations. You're so talented! I love this jacket...so colorful and trendy!

    ~Whitney
    www.whitneynicjames.com

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  29. Love this! I also quilt but have never seen a cool way to incorporate it into fashion. I really like the chevron design and leather sleeves. I may have to make my own now!

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  30. You are truly my all time favorite blog! Your creations and interpretations of patterns set you head and shoulders above any that I have seen. God bless you! Dawn

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  31. Dang Mimi, talk about taking quilting to the next level!!!! gurl you threw it out the park, now this is fashionable quilting for real, LOVE IT!!!!!

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  32. LOVE THIS! You could have your own cottage industry, Mimi, creating such wonderful jackets!!!

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  33. Can this be done on a machine that is not a Bernina? I love it!!!!

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    1. Oh yeah, it can be done on any sewing machine ;-)

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Thank you for taking time to comment ;-)

xoxo
mimi g.