Sunday, June 17, 2012

Metallic Linen - I Love You - V8721

It has been over a month since I last posted! And I am very behind in commenting on everyone's blogs too - but I have been reading and enjoying everyone's projects. So much has been happening ... Michael has been away a lot, Little M is running around everywhere, I've been working, and I've been sick constantly with chronic sinusitis. Yuck.

I have however completed my metallic linen V8721 jacket. I feel very glam in this jacket. It isn't really suitable to wear in Melbourne at the moment, but I had a girls' weekend at the Sunshine Coast in Queensland two weeks ago with my mum and sisters and I wore it to dinner then.





As I mentioned in my last post, the fabric is a lurex-coated metallic linen that has been enzyme washed from Tessuti Fabrics.

So.... I don't really have anything to add from the Rasberry Linen version of this jacket. I did however taper in the side seams a smidge - effectively taking the jacket in approximately 2cm on each side. I think this fit is better and more flattering than the Rasberry Linen.

Little M was being very naughty and trying to stand up in her swing - too adventurous!  



I taped the roll line on the collar again, and added slim shoulder pads too. I actually had to trim these shoulder pads - they were a little bit too long.



What do you think? Can I 'do' the whole metallic jacket trend?

The only real thing I have to add here is about working with a fabric that is lurex coated. Firstly, when I pre-washed the fabric, I did it by hand, and very gently. Usually I just bung fabric in the washing machine for pre-washing. Second, while this fabric is a linen, I couldn't have my iron on the linen setting in case I melted the metal fibres. So I had the iron on the 'wool' setting and used one of Michael's hankies (clean of course! :-) as an ironing cloth.

This seemed to work well - I was so paranoid about wrecking my lovely fabric. I really recommend this gorgeous fabric - it is a heavy linen, and so easy to stitch together. For the lining I used a coordinating viscose lining -- I forgot to get photos of the lining, but there is nothing new from the last one!

I also made little M a pair of Rae's Big Butt Baby Pants. These pants are designed to fit a nappy underneath - they have an 'insert' in the bum area - sort of like a triangle. I made them from a scrap from my Rasberry Linen jacket and a 0.5m remnant of cotton seersucker from The Fabric Store. It really is too cool to wear them at the moment, so she is wearing some leggings underneath to keep her beautiful chunky little legs warm. I'm really happy with the pants and have a few more pairs planned.

Doesn't she look so sweet?

I'm making another pair of pants for myself at present - what are you all making?