Chanel-Style Jacket

Mimi G is giving me agita right now.  She's working on a Chanel style jacket that's making me long for spring.

I've wanted a Chanel jacket for a very long time, but alas they're out of my price range right now. However, I do enjoy reading about how they're constructed and why they're worth every penny of their four- and five-figure price-tags. Claire Shaeffer wrote a wonderful article for Threads magazines entitled, "Inside a Chanel Jacket" in issue 23 from June/July 1989.  Susan Khalje also wrote an article with the same title for issue 121 from October/November 2005. Both articles (and their amazing pictures and illustrations) really show you how to put together the jacket, including all the labor intensive hand sewing (which I'm strangely looking forward to doing). Shaeffer's article also shows how to create trims and buttons if you can't find ready made ones at your local store or if you just want to make something that's unique. You can probably find copies of both on Ebay, but Threads was also smart enough to put their entire back catalog on a DVD-ROM you can buy here for $99 which is much cheaper than trying to collect all the back issues.  Plus it's searchable.

Mimi is working from Vogue 7975 but according to Shaeffer, Chanel jackets have three piece sleeves so I'll be working from Shaeffer's Vogue pattern 8804.  I've worked with Shaeffer's couture patterns in the past and her instructions are incredibly detailed. You'll get a bit of tailoring experience and practice hand sewing while you create a beautiful garment. I also found a ton of information on blogs of seamstresses who've also tackled the project like Go Chanel or Go Home.

I'm so tempted to go fabric shopping this week for something bright yellow, orange or maybe even pink. Mimi bought her Neon Mult/Cream fabric at Michael Levine in LA, but I'm going to visit Mood and other shops in the garment district to find fabric for mine. I need to feel my fabrics so I rarely buy fabric online.  Do any of you buy fabric online regularly? Has it ever been better (or worse) than you thought it would be?