Chanel Inspired Jacket

I made a little jacket inspired by Chanel! A little back story – I always thought those little tweed jackets were quite granny-like and something I would never, ever wear. However, lately Ive been seeing people sewing Chanel inspired jackets using hand sewing and couture methods – they made me feel quite inspired. I started plotting my own Chanel-inspired jacket that feels modern enough for me. Also, this year I’ve been channeling my love for sewing winter coats into summer jacket sewing – I guess a way to satisfy those coat-sewing-cravings in the summer. So while I was digging through my vast fabric stash and saw my beige linen with a substantial weight – I thought- this looks like tweed! The idea to make a fitted little Chanel jacket was born!

I used burdastyle 2014/01/120. BTW – what happened to burda?! I had no idea that they totally changed up their website and no longer had user projects or old patterns. Even the new website had issues and wouldn’t allow purchase to go though – I had to use a UK version of burdastyle for the pattern. I’m glad I was able to hunt it down *somewhere* because it’s such a nice and perfect pattern for this jacket! I did my typical 91% shrinking + size 38 to adjust for height. I did my regular alteration on top of that – took in shoulders by 1 inch, and slimmed the sleeves aggressively.

The edges of the jacket are bound with black linen bias tape. I would first machine sew one side on, and then iron, and hand stitch the other side in so that no stitches are visible. It took forever, but I kind of really enjoy the slow process, especially when the result is so clean.

The inside of the jacket are all finished as well – most visible seams are finished with hong-Kong binding. I did a bias tape finish on the shoulder seam, which had a nice side effect of a nice sleeve head, especially convenient since i dont believe in shoulder pads. (Okay fine, i do but im just too intimidated by it.)

Oh the pockets – we need to talk about those pockets!! They took me a week or so to finish, and they are so far, the most amazing pockets I’ve made in my history of sewing. I was going to do a regular welt pocket, but after i realized i forgot to embroider my logo for the inside of the jacket and am too lazy to take out the stitching on the neck seam – i had to think of where to put my logo instead. (My logo on a coat/jacket project almost feel mandatory these days). I realized my logo is actually the perfect shape for a patch pocket! I really wanted an embossed look so that my logo is subtle in color, but pop in dimension. It took me quite some thinking to come up with the idea of hand stitching on bias tape shaped in my logo. And the top bar is a perfect place to switch to black again as a nod to its Chanel-inspiration.

I just love a jacket that’s finished beautifully both inside and out – and how it looks on the hanger is just as happiness-triggering as how it looks on me!

Thats all the details!! I really enjoyed this little jacket. It’s so office-ready, but unfortunately I wont be going into the office any time soon. I am still loving wearing it around the house when i want to feel a little more prim and proper. I am wearing it here with a little silk cami, me made rayon pants, and my juebejue belt – I love the look!

Thank you for reading – I hope you are all doing alright in your corners of the world and there are plenty of fabric in your stash!