Details: The Faux Chanel Jacket

Vogue 7975

Oui, c'est moi in my faux Chanel jacket today at my office. I wore the jacket the entire day and it was very comfortable, not at all jacket-y feeling or heavy. In fact, I'm pretty pleased with it and think I'll make a cream-colored faux Chanel jacket for next fall. After all, a girl can never have too many Chanels, right?

The Lining: With this jacket the lining comes right to the edges. Technically I should have incorporated front and back neck facings but I didn't have enough bouclé. Worried about the "integrity" of my jacket, I conferred with Marji, who has turned out some lovely Chanel jackets. "When Coco Chanel first started making her jackets everyone said 'oh, no, you can't line a jacket that way,' but her techniques then became a standard," explained Marji. So go right ahead and line your jacket all the way to the edges with the silk charmeuse, she advised, since I had already stabilized the jacket with the Armani underlining technique. I felt oddly empowered after my talk with Marji, like I had gotten the Pope's blessing to pass my sewing mistakes off as designer's intent.

The Trim: I made a faux sleeve vent with the trim. The trim is composed of cream chenille braid and black fringy braid, both from M&J Trimmings, that I stitched together first by machine then hand-sewed to the jacket. That took me a long time, because I had to first stitch the black fringe all the way around, then the cream braid all the way around again. But should I ever tire of this trim removing it will be much easier than if I had machine-stitched it. (I'm having second thoughts about the chenille braid—I mean, isn't chenille a little declassé for a Chanel, even faux? But then I remind myself that some Chanel RTW Fall '08 jackets featured zipper teeth as trim, so maybe chenille is really bourgeois chic and I should just go with it.) The metal and enamel buttons are also from M&J Trims.

The Chain: Here's the chain that serves to weight the hem and is a traditional feature in Chanel jackets. It's hard to tell from this photo but the chain is actually black so it blends into the jacket (chain purchased at Tojo Shoji, a jewelry supply store just down the block from M&J). I attached it to the lining using a double strand of waxed thread.

My complete review of this jacket is here on PatternReview.

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What I'm working on next: Hmm, I wish I knew! Like you, I am loving so many of the patterns in BWOF 02/09. My subscription was worth it for this issue alone. So I'm wondering…do I want to make another jacket, this time for spring, or do I want to make an easy top or dress? Whatever I decide, minimal hand sewing will be involved. Have a great weekend!