Vest

 This is a vest that I made from some Japanese silk which I clapped and hand dyed. It is very light weight.

 I hand sewed the hems and together.

 It has a big black button on the side. I am going on Marcy and Katherine Tilton's Paris trip in May. I thought this would be a vest that wouldn't take up much room in my suitcase.

Sweater Jacket V8430

 I have had this pattern for a long time and have been going to make it. Marcy says this has been her most popular pattern.

 This is a piece of fabric that I got from Marcy. It is two sided with the print on one side and grey on the other. The fabric pattern is so beautiful. It has some wool in it. I cut the front pieces so the selvage came along the front edge.

I had a problem with the fabric rolling so I put a grey knit trim on the edges. It helped some but it has a mind of it's own. It actually looks quite fine with the roll on the collar area. I am enjoying wearing it. I will be leaving next week for the Sewing Expo and I think this will be one that will keep me warm while in Washington.

More Detail

 I thought you would like to see a little of the inside of the jacket. These are the labels that they put in the jacket.

 It is a really nice satin lining. You can see the line of piping that they put in along the facing and a nice inside pocket.

The pants were lined and a nice binding on the waist band.

Jacket From China

 One of my dreams had been to have a jacket made in China when I made my recent trip. When my Mother went some 45 years ago she had a coat made and the workmanship was beautiful. I learned that the labor in China is not that cheap anymore. It is still reasonable in comparison to the United States, but not like it used to be. The cheap labor is in Taiwan and Vietnam now. This jacket is cashmere wool and I think they did a beautiful job of fitting. It took three days for them to make the jacket and pants. You can see in this picture that pocket has the lapel out.

 On this picture I have the pocket lapel tucked in. The buttons are covered. It is lined in satin silk.

 I also had the pants made out of cotton denim. I was thinking I was going to have a pair of American blue jeans made and when I asked if they could make some back pockets with sequins and beads they said that was too much work. So these pants are made more like a man's suit pants and fit very well.

I also had two pair of shoes made. They measure your feet and design them the way you want. I haven't received those yet. They said it was going to take four months. They were telling me that they only had ten men that made shoes and they were getting near 65 years old and the younger generation wasn't interested in learning. So it sounds like that art will be lost soon.

Silk Jersey

 I bought this silk jersey quite sometime ago and finally found a pattern that I felt would do it justus.

 Silk jersey is one of my favorites and not always easy to find. I just love the feel of the fabric. It called for a sport zipper which I was afraid it would be too heavy for this fabric, but it came out very nice. I did cut the fabric when I was ripping near the zipper, so had to extend the zipper to cover the mistake. Like we have all found out sometimes it comes out the best when we have to cover up a mistake.

I think this will be one that will be worn often.

V8499

 This pattern has been out for a long time and I had it on my to do list. I finally got to it and I really like it.

 I used fabric from Marcy. The pattern does run big, so I had to go back in take out a 1 inch on the vertical line down the front and back of the legs on each leg. I used a size 14. I have learned that when the pattern runs from 14-20, the 14 is too big for me, but if I buy the 8-16 that 14 is smaller and sometimes I have to go to 16.

I like the pockets. This is a light weight fabric, so it will be good for summer. I have denim that I will make it up in next.

B6128

 This is Katherine Tilton's shirt pattern. I had a great time using up my left over pieces.

 You can wear the shirt backwards or frontwards.

 I got quite a few of my knit scraps used up and I think the shirts turned out really nice.