Jacket patchwork Lilies for Beth

Lillies Jacket for Beth

Jacket was commissioned by 99 yr old Beth, who likes something different. Having lived in China amongst textile crafts, the average high street shop doesn’t attract her.   Clothes I make are well received by women who want something unique and original, rather than from high street chain stores; also for women who appreciate the craft of creative patchwork, resulting in the creation of a new fabric.

I chose the fabrics myself for the jacket, having met Beth just once. The item was to be for a wedding, so I wanted it to be light and classic, but to still have some interesting elements. The first fabric I found was the beige skirt with eau de nil applique feature of lilies; fairly neutral pastel shades for an elderly lady.   I chose skirts of linen and linen mix, with embroidery so I could use the embroidered areas for patches.  From two embroidered skirts there was enough embroidered area, to give some decoration on every patch in the jacket. I had seen Beth had some embroidered clothes and so guessed she would like it.

Patchwork Planning

Quite a lot of fabric is needed for patchworks as its best to have at least 5 different print and plains.  When I cut the patches out and laid out together, I decided there needed to be a highlight colour to accent over and above the all-beige overall look.  I rushed to the shops, and was lucky to see the pale green and pale blue devore skirt with floral print in shiny synthetic satin in the first charity shop I looked in; it seemed a tad shockingly bling, but knew once it was in isolated patches, it would merely enhance the overall arrangement.   As soon as I added in the new patches, I knew it would work.   In this respect a new colour may be different, but if it does not vary too much in tone (light and dark contrast), it will work.

The lining was a bonus find, another skirt, viscose type, having just the right colours of taupe background with eau de nil green in the woven roses, which ideally complimented the classic beige, cream and light green of all the patches.

Cost of fabrics was £42 plus £5 for a synthetic jacket which I just had to get, as it had the shell buttons in beautifully shiny light beige with a hint of green, perfectly matching the jacket colours.  £5 for buttons seemed worth it for a jacket to be worn at a wedding.

Due to the centre pattern piece of paper pattern being placed on the bias of the cloth grain/weave, the square patches become diamonds.  Th Vogue pattern used was fairly 'bitty' to use for patchwork (not recommended), but it came out fine in the end utilising the front drop points to add the qpplique on to.