Sunday, September 7, 2014

French Jacket Sewing Techniques Applied to a Boucle Dress


I am back!  After almost eight months of no time to blog, it feels great to be sewing again.  Many of you contacted me to inquire where I was.  In short, I began graduate school last January which has been enlightening and time-consuming.  I have finally mastered balancing homework, family life, work, and sewing.  I hope to be blogging regularly again.  Graduation is expected June 2015; we'll see how this goes!




Susan Khalje teaches a traditional quilted french jacket class.  The course lasts six days and is offered in various U.S. cities.  Threads magazine has also featured traditional french jacket techniques.  In this dress, I used wool boucle, a traditional french jacket fabric, to create a polo neckline style dress.  What is unique about the dress is that it is sewn using the french jacket quilting techniques.  While it would require many pages to explain the construction, I thought you would enjoy seeing the inside of the dress.
Fringed collar, polo placket, and pockets

















Inside of garment is very smooth and bulk-free

Lining is smoothed over the darts rather than stitched
Pockets were machine stitched and are visible on lining






5 comments:

  1. So wonderful to see your beautiful work again Ann. Glad to know that you are keeping well,albeit, very very busy.
    Thank you for taking the time to share with us.

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous!
    Welcome back :)

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  3. That is stunning! I love Susan Khalje, I just took my first class with her and she really changed the way I sew.
    I've been contemplating a boucle dress and I kind of wondered how you would handle the quilting of the lining, yours looks stunning and I will refer to it when I find the perfect dress for myself.
    You have been missed, I've wondered about you and it is so good to see you sewing again and to hear that you time away is well spent.

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  4. Amazing! I love the look of a quilted lining. I can imagine this dress would feel incredibly luxurious to wear!

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  5. Your dress is fabulous - the inside is as beautiful as the outside.

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