Jacket Reveal + Give me Liberty or Give Me Shaukat

My new Marcie Tilton Vogue jacket went to London last week. It was a perfect travel companion. I kind of felt like the Union Jack with the blue pants and the white print shirt.

Taken at Windsor Castle

I'm thoroughly chuffed ( a bit if Brit slang) with the topstitching but unfortunately red is a pistol to photograph and red on red detail even harder. The seaming on this pattern is so cool. See previous post.

The fabric is a wool knit from Italy that looks and feels great. The jacket is unlined and is like wearing a fancy sweater.  The weight of it was just right for the weather while we were in London.

I wore it at least 3 times in the six days we were there. AND in other sewing related aspects of the trip we visited Liberty of London for the fabrics. The store itself is worth the walk from Harrod's where EVERYBODY goes and no one can afford a thing but a souvenir bag and some candy.

     It looks medieval but was actually built in the 1920's by a man named Arthur Lasenby Liberty from timbers of two old ships.

                                        This is the third floor fabric department

Looking down through the atrium. Only spent time in the fabrics and purchased 1 meter of 3 different fabrics:

 because...

http://www.shaukat.co.uk

            Visit the link and get a panoramic view of two floors of this fabulous find for fabric.

Visit Liberty's store but come HERE to buy. The prices were about 1/3 less if my conversion from pounds to dollars is anywhere near correct. AND the selection goes on and on and you can purchase online if the shipping doesn't bother you. Most of what I purchased will end up in my Etsy shop after it is transformed into some sort of useful goody.

Left Shaukat with:

Twill that will become handbags & totes

Lovely to look at and even better to touch

This cotton duck  picked up at Cath Kidston. A great store of fun pretties.

Watch for more about London here and on my other blog as I recover from the jet lag.

Another Tilton Comes to Life - Marcie This Time

FINALLY, I am going to cut into the beautiful wool knit that I bought in Italy last fall.  For the first time I made a muslin (see previous post). So perhaps I was over confident in cutting and not concentrating and did a really stupid thing. 

 First, I completely forgot to cut out the facing pieces since they were not needed in my muslin that was strictly for fitting my shoulders. Then when I cut them I really CUT one in half. AM I BLIND? Place on the fold seems pretty clearly marked.

 There is not enough fabric to recut so it is new machine to the rescue.  Here is the touchscreen showing my stitch choice. I butted the pics together with a bit of added interfacing (a black tricot)

It came out really strong and looks remarkably good especially since it will be on the inside of the jacket.

For the first time I used the buttonholer for this machine. The pattern calls for a 1and 1/8 inch button and the attachment only accommodates a one inch button but I just opened the thing to its fullest and made lots of practice buttonholes. Due to the stretch of the fabric, the button goes through perfectly.

 With it buttoned it looks pretty good BUT....

                               Unbuttoned, not so much. Very wavy. More interfacing?

                 And, the black interfacing shows on the edges even though I did stitch it twice around.

           My reason for choosing this pattern is the interesting seaming on the back and sides.

               
And I think I did a pretty nice job of topstitching using topstitching thread. Why is red  so hard for me to photograph?????

So where is the jacket in its entirety? You'll have to wait until I am able to photograph it in a perfect setting. Stop by in about a week from now for the unveiling.

Here is a hint.