Kabuki Patchwork Jacket,KN

Kabuki Patchwork
Jacket
By Linda Lee
Inspirations
Mail Order Catalogs
Gump’s, San Francisco’s
legendary destination for luxury
gifts, jewelry, clothing and
home decor, produces a
catalog full of artful pieces.
This Kabuki Patchwork Jacket
inspired me to create a colorblocked jacket using wool
crepe and silk kimono pieces.
This Gump’s jacket is a bargain at $148.00. My
jacket probably cost more than that when all
was said and done—but who’s counting?
2
Made for Stitch
My “Kabuki” jacket ended up in
the Fall 2012 Stitch magazine along
with other inspirational coat ideas.
The great thing about Stitch is that
the patterns are included in the
magazine, which makes it handy
and a bargain.
High Five Jacket from Shapes
3
My Kabuki Jacket
When I saw the catalog photo, I
immediately thought of the High
Five Jacket from Shapes. Its
simple rectangles became the
perfect canvas for color-blocking.
And what a fun way to use
serged seams as a decorative
treatment.
The basic jacket is wool crepe.
Kimono fabrics in various
widths and lengths are used for the
blocks. The widest piece used is
14"; the longest piece is 21".
Kabuki Jacket—Back
High Five Jacket
4
Kabuki Jacket Details
All pieces are laid on the wool
crepe and attached with a 4-thread
serged edge exposed on the
outside of the garment.
Front details.
Front band and closure.
Sleeve detail.
5
Let’s Make a Kabuki Jacket
Start by selecting your base
fabric and some silk pieces to use
as embellishments.
Use the my jacket as your
inspiration for the piecing.
Or make up your own design
using as many silk selections as
you want.
Lay out more pieces than you need
and then play and edit.
6
Prepare Your Pattern
Almost everyone can wear a size 1
in the High Five Jacket. If you need
more girth in the sleeve, use a size 2 or
3 Sleeve in the size 1 Body and use
the corresponding dots along the side
seams.
Select the dot that works
for your sleeve size.
Lengthen the front and back
pattern pieces 2" at the bottom
instead of using the indicated lengthen
and shorten lines on the pattern.
Disregard the center front marking,
and use the “foldline” as the cutting
line for the right and left fronts.
Also lengthen the Back 2".
7
Determine the Silk Piecing—Fronts
The following templates are
simply a suggestion for
piecing based on the sample
jacket. Your silk pieces may
dictate some variations in size
and placement.
Piece 1—cut 14" x 21"
Piece 2—cut 13" x 4½"
Piece 3—cut 13" x 7½"
Piece 4—cut 8" x 11"
½" seam allowances are
included in each piece.
8
Determine the Silk Piecing—Back
The following templates are
simply a suggestion for
piecing based on my sample
jacket. Your silk pieces may
dictate some variation in size
and placement.
Piece 5—cut 14" x 7"
Piece 6—cut 14" x 11½"
Piece 7—cut 14" x 5½"
½" seam allowances are
included in each piece.
9
Determine the Silk Piecing—Sleeve
It may be necessary to
piece the silk pieces for each
sleeve to get enough width.
Piece 8—cut 15¼" x 3½"
½" seam allowances are
included in each piece.
10
Make a Front Band Pattern
Make a pattern for the front
bands—2½ "x 26"
Cut two front bands out of
the base fabric.
11
Silk Preparation
Begin by straightening your
silk pieces either by tearing
them or pulling a thread and
cutting along the thread line.
Piece 1 is a stand-alone
piece.
With right sides together,
sew piece 2 to piece 3 along
one long edge using a ½"
seam allowance.
Press seam open.
It is not necessary to backstitch since the ends
will be be crossed again by another seam.
12
Silk Preparation
Sew piece 4 to pieces 2
and 3 using a ½" seam
allowance.
Press the seam open.
Wrong side of pieced section for left front.
Wrong side
13
Silk Preparation
Sew pieces 5, 6, and 7
together using ½" seam
allowances.
Press seams open.
This is a good example of taking some license in the piecing. A fourth
section is inserted to balance the design and fill out the dimensions.
14
Applying the Silks
Lay the silk sections on the
right side of the garment in
their appropriate places.
Chalk mark the edges of
the silk sections to record
their placement.
Chalk lines
Chakoner
15
Applying the Silks
Use paper to mask off the
base fabric next to the chalk
lines.
Use temporary spray
adhesive to adhere the edges
of the silks to the base fabric.
Side edge
Chalk lines
KK2000 by Sulky is
a temporary spray adhesive
Bottom edge
16
Applying the Silks
Another option for applying
the silk sections is to hand
baste near the raw edges
using silk thread.
Turn the work to the wrong
side and trim the excess silk
to the shape of the garment
edges.
Chalk lines
Silk thread for basting.
I found it useful to hand baste
all edges as well as temporarily
gluing them.
17
Trim the excess silk.
Applying the Silks
Using a Chakoner, extend
the chalk lines to the center
front, side and bottom edges.
These chalk lines indicate
foldlines for the decorative
serging.
Extend the chalk lines
Right front
Left front
Chalk lines
No chalk line needed here—the
top edge of the silk section
becomes the foldline.
Back
18
Serger Test Sample
Set up your serger for a 4thread stitch formation. Make
sure it is balanced and flat.
Select a thread color that is
contrasting or slightly lighter.
Fold the fabric with the
wrong sides together along
the raw edges of a silk scrap.
Serge along the fold and edge
of the silk.
Test sample
Serge with the
silk side up!
Serge both directions,
crossing the first line of
serging to check the bulk at
the connection.
Chalk lines
Skim the fold, just
catching the raw
edge of the silk.
19
Order of Serging
Using the serging technique
as described on page 18,
serge the horizontal folds first.
Then serge the vertical folds.
Front
Back
20
Order of Serging
On each sleeve, serge
the horizontal fold first.
Sleeve
Then serge the bottom
of each sleeve.
Chalk lines
Use a 4-thread stitch formation for both lines of stitching.
21
Order of Serging
Serge one long edge of
each front band using a
4-thread stitch formation.
Chalk lines
Front bands
22
Apply the Front Bands
Fuse strips of Fusi-Web to the
wrong side of each front band.
Remove the paper covering to
expose the glue.
Place a front band on the right
side of each center front with the
serged edge on the inside away
from the front raw edges.
Fuse the bands in place.
Chalk lines
Fusi-Web
23
Finish the Front Bands
Trim the excess front band
at the top to match the angle.
Using a 4-thread stitch
formation, finish the front edge,
the top angled edge and the
bottom of each front.
Leave thread tails at each
corner.
Chalk lines
Leave thread tails
24
Finish the Front Bands
Topstitch the inside edge
of the front bands next to
the serging.
Use thread that matches
the base fabric.
Chalk lines
Fusing the bands first prevents the fabric from creeping when topstitching.
25
Serge the Back
Serge finish the bottom
edge of the back using a
4-thread stitch formation.
This is a single layer of
fabric.
When changing
thicknesses of fabric,
always check the balance
of the serging and adjust if
necessary.
Chalk lines
4-thread serging finishes the bottom of the back.
26
Finish Remaining Edges
Remove the left thread
spool and the left needle.
Sleeve
Using a 3-thread stitch
formation, serge all
remaining edges in the
garment.
These edges include the
shoulder seams, side
seams, vents edges and
sleeve seams.
3-thread
Chalk lines 4-thread
27
End the Serging
Wrong side
To end a line of serging
neatly and prevent
raveling, use a Knit Picker
to weave the thread tails
back under the stitches.
1
The Knit Picker has a little hook
at one end to secure the thread
chain and pull it through.
2
Chalk lines
Knit Picker
4
3
A tapestry needle will also work to weave the
thread tails in the absence of a Knit Picker.
28
Shoulder Seams
Wrong side
With right sides
together, sew the shoulder
seams.
Chalk mark the length of
each shoulder seam to
make sure that both
seams are sewn the same
width.
Serging take-up on one layer.
The decorative serging
takes up some of the
width and the original
markings may now be
inaccurate.
Dot for neck opening.
Chalk lines
Chalk marking the seamline helps to
sew a straight line to the neck opening.
29
Finish the Neckline
Wrong side
Press the front and back
neck opening hems 1³⁄₈" to
the wrong side.
Hand baste the hems in
place using silk thread.
Chalk mark the
topstitching lines on the
right side of the garment.
Topstitch the hems in
place using the chalk
marks as a guide.
Chalk lines
30
Sew the Side Seams
Wrong side
With right sides together,
sew the side seams.
Sew to the dot indicated
for the selected sleeve size.
End the stitching at the
top of the vent opening.
Use dot for sleeve
size being inserted.
Press the seam open.
Chalk lines
Top of vent opening.
31
Finish the Side Vents
Continue to press the
vent hems open as you
press the side seams.
Wrong side
Fold the corners.
Turn the upper corners
under on an angle to hide
the raw edges.
Hand baste the vent
hems in place.
Chalk mark the
topstitching lines on the
right side of the garment.
Hand basting
Chalk lines
Topstitch the vent
openings.
32
Insert the Sleeves
With right sides
together, sew the sleeves
to the garment.
Sew with the sleeve side
facing up.
Wrong side
Side seam
Sleeve seam
Shoulder seam
Do not sew over the
sleeve seam allowance!
Begin sewing at the
sleeve seam and end on
the other side of the sleeve
seam; make sure the seam
allowance is out of the way
on both sides.
Chalk lines
Press the seam open.
Use a sleeve board when
pressing the seam open.
33
Button and Buttonhole
Wrong side
Chalk mark the
buttonhole placement in
the right front band.
Choose a vintage or
favorite large button (use
that special one that you
have been savoring for
years).
Use a scrap of paper as a
stabilizer on the underneath
side of the fabric as you sew
the buttonhole.
Sew on the button, and
wear the garment proudly!
34
Kabuki Patchwork
Jacket
By Linda Lee