Much of the sewing on a couture French jacket is handwork. I can attest to this fact because even though I spend several hours a day hand stitching, my jacket is not finished. I have found that having a supply of good needles close by is helpful and so is…
Welcome back to a post about our Tabula Rasa French Jacket experiment. We find ourselves at the scariest part of any fine sewing project, cutting apart your precious fabric. In the design stage everything seems so perfect; you have sketched your ideas and gathered materials, constructed and fit the mock-up,…
Why does bouclé always look so beguiling at the fabric store? I believe it is the interesting mix of textures and colors that draw me in. So, I must also confess that four times I have succumbed to the temptation and purchased pieces of this stunning fabric. My first two…
We love to dress up for the holidays, even if that just means a great top or jacket to complement our black pants or blue denim jeans. This photo was snapped last year, just after Christmas, when our mothers and daughters were visiting for the holiday. Everyone is resplendent in…
Fall is the perfect time of year for making and wearing cozy quilted jackets. One of our favorites is featured on our updated home page. We call it Bow Wow Chow Mein after the Alexander Henry fabric featured on the front and back of this quilted Tabula Rasa Jacket (TRJ).…
The jacket montage on our home page was updated for fall and the first Tabula Rasa Jacket (TRJ) is Bobbie’s Shirt Jacket. I made it for my cousin Bobbie who is a busy mom of 3 and a full time professional with a large tech company. She usually works from…
I hope that you have been thinking about, and perhaps even playing with some fabrics, for your own pieced jacket as I suggested in last week’s post. This is the second week of conversation about the pieced blue scarf jacket that received so many compliments during our fall appearances. Read…
Stitch up a scarf band to finish your Tabula Rasa Jacket (TRJ)! I used a scarf band on this blue mixed fiber TRJ that has been hanging on our wardrobe wall at the last several sewing shows. The scarf band creates a built-in tie closure for a soft daytime look. Many…
We are celebrating the 4th anniversary of the Tabula Rasa Jacket pattern’s public debut. As we pack our van and head out for the American Sewing Expo in Novi, MI, we are remembering the same trip 4 years ago when we set up our first Fit for Art booth to…
It is time to settle on the design for my Tabula Rasa Jacket embellished with painted squares. Last week I shared with you about the painting process and this week we will consider some design options. The squares have been heat set and fused to the light fusible web so…
