C'est fini! - my Faux French Jacket, V7975

Finalmente finito! Because this jacket seemed to take me forever! Okay, not really but I have so many other things in the queue that I wanted it to be finished. I think it was the fringe! Plus the plaid matching, the hand sewing, the constant vacuuming. Okay, not really on that either, until I couldn't stand seeing all those little boucle fibers everywhere.  The final result:

Just think if I had done the real "Shanel" method, with the hand quilting. Although that does not seem so bad to me, I love hand sewing and if planned I could stretch it out over a few weeks at a relaxing pace. Next time. On my previous post Carolyn asked if I "planned to add any additional embellishment to the trim?"  As you can see in the photos, there is no blue trim to be seen. I did the fringe with the intention of putting the blue braid trim on last but when I was making the pockets it just looked weird to me. A bit too much, so I tossed that idea aside and just did only the fringe, which I am quite satisfied with. Perhaps the light blue braid trim is too much of a contrast on the black, so I will set it aside for a more springlike fabric pairing. 

Here is my final pocket design, small square pockets, hand sewn on with a fringe edge on top. Better, huh?

The lining is silk charmeuse and I intentionally made it a tiny bit bigger than the jacket, it doesn't change the shape of the jacket on the outside but makes it roomy enough so that it does not pull across the shoulders during normal movement. There is a also small pleat in the lining center back.
I used silk organza for the neck and front edge with a one inch seam allowance, then turned that back and hand sewed with silk thread. I sewed the lining in by hand, up to the edge of the seam allowances.
So quite a few changes to this pattern which is Vogue 7975. If I made it again I might change the neckline a bit, maybe make a slight V-neck.

I am really happy with this plaid matching. And I have two more plaid wools in my recently acquired stash - should I keep going on a plaid kick? maybe a skirt. Or I am thinking of somehow blending two plaids in one jacket, could be great or an epic fail. 

The previous posts had a lot of details on construction. 

First post on this jacket: all about matching the plaid and some tips on marking.

Second post on this jacket:  some details on marking and sewing sleeves, plus a closer look at the fringe which is added to the jacket body.

Who says we don't have fall color here in N. California?  Just a little bit sometimes. That is a crepe myrtle tree behind me turning all kinds of orange, plus the start of a few pale pink camellias in the background.

This jacket needs some other pieces, I have to figure out just what top to wear. That shirt was in the back of my closet but is just the right shade of blue to set off the boucle threads. I could see wearing this jacket over a solid color dress, blue or black. Or maybe a black suede skirt. 

For a change I accessorized, a la Chanel, pearls and another 50's vintage necklace from my dresser drawer, by way of mom. You can see the bracelet in the picture above. The color is much more white on the pearls, it came out a bit golden in the light when I took this photo. There are some earrings as well. I should wear that bracelet more often...

Now on to the next thing(s).  

Happy almost Halloween,     Beth