Kathy from the studio has made her dream quilted jacket using Liberty’s Big Smoke fabric – Kathy talks us through the process..
“I have wanted to make a quilted jacket for quite some time now. I’ve been looking at different patterns and designs and decided on the Megan Nielsen Hovea Jacket & Coat. It’s a loose, drop shoulder jacket. The pattern featured multiple lengths, deep angled pockets, unlined or fully lined or quilted options. One of the biggest decisions was choosing what view to make. I chose to make View E, a cropped quilted lined option, with a collar band and no ties.”
“When The London Collection came into the studio, I was immediately drawn to the Big Smoke fabric in the blue colourway. I loved the colour and the quirkiness of the fabric; the little speech bubbles which you keep finding are amusing and they keep drawing you in to find more.”
“I’m new to dressmaking and being unsure of measurements I decided to trace one pattern and make a toile. It was definitely worth the time for the reassurance before cutting into the fabric. I made size 4 and used 1.7m of Big Smoke fabric and 1.3m of plain marine blue for the lining. The measurements on the pattern were pretty much spot on.”
“The quilting was a very slow process. I spent some time testing different threads as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a feature of the quilting or not. In the end, I chose to use a blue thread for my quilting (Gutermann 965). I totally underestimated the length of time the quilting would take. I chose a basic grid and then also in both directions diagonally across the grid. I used a bamboo wadding as it’s very soft and I thought it would give a cosy feeling to the jacket. It’s definitely worth taking your time at this stage.”
“Once the quilting was done, the actual construction was relatively easy. I really enjoyed making the jacket and I’m very pleased with the result and I’m looking forward to wearing it.”
