As we consider things we are thankful for during the weeks that precede the new year, great fabrics are high on our list. The charming Treadle Cats lightweight Japanese canvas and coordinating Faux Ikat print that is featured in Carrie’s new quilted barn jacket caught our eye at the h+h americas wholesale market in 2023, but we just recently got around to designing and sewing it into a fabulous garment. Lucky for a few of you, we have enough to offer in hopes that the remainder finds a nice home. Read on to learn why we are thankful for fabulous fabrics.
Choose a Project
Fabric is best when it is turned into something useful, so we will focus on some of the details in this coat, which also includes some suede accents, to inspire your own creations. After considering Treadle Cats for over a year, the soft color pallet and industrious cats seemed to be calling out for a utilitarian coat. The classic barn coat is such an iconic garment, why not give it a try using the Opus Jacket pattern found in Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets? It is a more relaxed version of our Tabula Rasa Jacket, which would also work for this project when altered for the spread collar with the Shirt Variation templates.
Gather the Materials
Carrie loved the idea and so we began putting together the other materials for the quilted jacket she thought would be great with very warm batting. Rae had a large piece of Thinsulate batting in her store room that became the middle layer of the jacket body. The sleeves have Hobbs Silk Batting, which is not quite as thick, perfect for softer more movable sleeves. The shirt collar style of the Opus Jacket requires bias binding to finish all the exterior edges, so ¾ yard of the brown printed Faux Ikat was used to line the pockets and create all 6 yards of bias binding. (In the new year Carrie will be writing how to make this much binding painlessly, but here’s a quick look at the binding in progress.)
The suede pieces had been in Rae’s stash for many years and seemed a fanciful choice for the contrast collar, rollback cuffs, and pocket trim, especially because they would be finished with bias binding. There was brown lining in Rae’s large stash of linings, and a beautiful spool of variegated soft blue Aurafill quilting thread unused when making project #4 in our new book. Carrie’s Opus Pattern was readily available and so the cutting and construction began.
The fabrics were washed, dried and pressed, and at each step the design was considered. The quilting would create blocks around the cats sitting at their treadle sewing machines. The print drove the design and the pattern pieces were cut so the cat print matched as well as possible around the entire jacket body.
Quilt Together the Fabric, Batting and Lining
The quilt sandwiches were stacked as described in our book and also in the blog post, Quilt Fanciful Jackets. The quilting lines were chalked on using a wide sturdy quilting ruler, then stitched using a size 14 or 16 needle and a long stitch to accommodate the heavy quilting thread.
Make a Statement with Fun Finishes
Creating the details that were cut with the suede began after the jacket was constructed. The suede is tough on pins, so get out your plastic clips and use them liberally, as you see here in the photo of the collar prepared to be stitched in place.
The collar seam and all the exterior edges of the jacket are finished with bias binding. Because this is intended to be a utilitarian garment, all the binding steps were done on the machine using brown thread. For the neatest appearance on the jacket’s right side, stitch the binding to the inside first, then flip it around to the outside and topstitch the second side in place.
As is usually seen on a barn jacket, we started using a pocket flap to finish the pocket detail, but everyone at our recent retreat thought it was just too big for a coat made in this interesting fabric on someone as small as Carrie. Depending on your style and size, choose the details you like best.
What a great success! A group of four buttons from the button box provides the closure and the machine made buttonholes were stitched in light blue dressmaker thread (because the quilting thread was just too thick). Be sure to make samples to check your ideas before putting them on the actual coat.
Here’s How to Get Started
If you have our new book, Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets (available for immediate delivery from Fit for Art!) use the directions for project #4 to construct this jacket. However, the barn coat was easier than the orphan block jacket because no piecing was needed – an advantage to a print this fun and fanciful. Pick up some some of each fabric for yourself or a friend and enjoy the process of designing and creating something fun. After we sell all the fabric, we will put each purchaser’s name in a hat and send the winning name a piece of the suede too.
Find lots more inspiration for design details and shaping in Sewing Quilted Patchwork Jackets. If you live in the greater Baltimore area, join us for our Book Launch Party on December 18 at Handcraft Happy Hour in Hampden from 5:30 to 7:30. We will be signing books and you can see all of the samples in person.
Two Fit for Art Sales
Haven’t started your jacket making journey yet? Sign up for the virtual Tabula Rasa Jacket Class. It is discounted until the end of the year with the coupon code KICKOFF25. What a great boost for your own sewing or a gift for a new stitcher who needs some sewing, cutting, fitting and finishing guidance. Also, starting Black Friday, all of Fit for Art’s print format patterns will be 30% off for one week only with coupon code HOLIDAY30. Give the gift of sewing with a Fit for Art Pattern, or pick up one for yourself!
