I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to get this post out on time, since there has been an enormous change of plans! Last week, after I posted the blog, a reader who has made the costume before told me where I can find the screen accurate fabric (Robert Allen’s Diamond Tuft upholstery fabric). At the beginning of my research, I had tried to look for the fabric using many combinations of the words “diamond” “upholstery” “fabric” “suede” “velvet” “velveteen”, etc… but it somehow never entered my mind to simply search for “screen accurate snow white fabric”. Turns out many people had already done the work for me!
So, I’ve scrapped the quilting (which was about to drive me up the wall anyway), for the real thing! Luckily I am both small and short, so I was able to order just one yard of the 54″ wide fabric. This meant I got to order it right away, instead of waiting for my next check. I laid out the fabric on the floor in many configurations and used a measuring tape to make sure I could fit it all in before I ordered.
It only took it a few days to arrive and I got cutting.
It’s amazing how easily a jacket goes together when you’ve been psyching yourself up for weeks of quilting, and then having to deal with the hand-quilted fabric.
I didn’t interface the body pieces, because I want them to be nice and flexible, but I did back the sleeves, collar, and bottom tabs with canvas so that they are sturdy and don’t flop or crumple too much.
I was away in Cincinnati with Brandon visiting our friend Melissa this weekend, so I wasn’t sure how much of the jacket I would actually have done at this point, but we got home around four, and I went for it! It was so exciting to see it all coming together!
I backed the tabs in the same way as the sleeves, though since I was only leaving one short edge loose, I didn’t bother to catch stitch.
The backing and lining of the collar are cut in single pieces, but the outer fabric I cut as two pieces so that I could line up the diamonds exactly how I wanted them. Once the collar is attached and the edges are bound there should the center of a diamond (and one of the dangling beads) right where it all comes together.
I took this picture to check that the edges of the collar were falling where I wanted them, and ended up trimming them back a bit more.
With the collar attached, it’s time to add the final component: the tabs.
The jacket is now definitely a jacket! I have ordered faux leather seam binding for the edges in what I hope will be a close color, if not I will paint it. It’s easy to find white, and easy to find tan, but it turns out that finding a good off-white is not so easy!
In the meantime, I can work on the pants and on the large skirt pieces, as the fabric for those got here at the end of the week. The beads that I ordered are also on their way. This might just happen by the end of the month after all!
Tune in next week!
Hannah
