The Stitch Up

Fall WIP Round Up

I've been juggling several projects for the last few months.  Part of it is the fact that I get a bit bored just working on one project for weeks at a time, and the other part is that some projects need occasional prep steps: transferring patterns, stitching different parts together or finding the right color of embroidery thread.  Despite the stops and starts however, I've made some progress on the various projects I've been working on.  Not enough to finish all of them by the end of the year, but enough to feel like I haven't lost all momentum and the finish line is close.

Project 1 - Spanish Ladies Quilt

I have about 3 “tile” patterns left to stitch for the bottom section of the front of this quilt.  Once that is done, I can move to some borders, a really cute backing fabric and then bind it all together.

Project 2 - Mexican Tourist Jacket

This has been slow going, mainly because I can’t work out exactly how to transfer the embroidery patterns onto the felt. I’ve tried a couple methods - heat transfer pencil and sulky stabilizer paper - but they don’t work so well for large sections.  Currently I’ve been doing some basting stitches to get the pattern down and then re-stitching with the wool embroidery thread. Since I'm basically stitching each pattern twice, I’ve just made it through the pockets and one sleeve.

I probably wont finish the whole jacket by the end of the year but I would like to get most of the embroidery on the jacket pieces as I think the most challenging part for me will be actually sewing the pieces together so that it becomes an actual jacket.

Project 3 - Sashiko Quilt

I really pick this up during breaks from my other projects.  It's pretty easy and quick to transfer a sashiko pattern to a denim square and start stitching whenever I need a short term project. I’ve made 10 squares and a couple of small panels.  These squares come together pretty quick and I think once I focus on it, this can be turned into a final product without too much trouble.  The one issue I do have is that I keep wavering a bit on whether I want these squares to become a quilt, or if I'd rather turn them into a bag, or some other end product.

 

4. Year in Stitches Tea Towel 

Surprisingly, I’m almost up to date on this.  I just need to stitch up something for the month of October. It’s been fun to think about the big events of each month and try to capture them in an icon or two.  This is another nice project to pick up whenever I want a break from my larger projects.

 

I wanted to give myself this sort of status check since we are fully into the holiday season now and I've got a number of Christmas projects in the works.  I'm hoping I can still find a little time over the next six weeks to work on my various WIPs, but if not - there's always next year!

Sending out my wish that everyone is having a wonderful Fall and enjoying a little relaxation before the holidays kick into gear.

Tourist Season

I've been slightly obsessed with the Mexican Tourist Jacket since seeing one on Shelley Duvall in "The Shining".

Over the years I've come across articles or photos or actual examples of the jacket which peaked my interest even more.  This great article from the fantastic Atomic Redhead blog provides a nice summary of the history of the Mexican Tourist Jacket as well as lovely pictures of the different versions that can be found.  Piecework magazine also had a great article with a little history on the embroidery used on the jackets.  I also loved this article from The Animal Quilter which again has a bunch of great pics of different styles of these jackets and has some additional insights on the history of the period and the popularity of these jackets.

Most recently on our trip to Tuscon last year, I ran into a lovely version of the jacket, framed on the wall of El Charro where we stopped for lunch.

This last run in made me decide that I needed to look into getting my own version of the jacket.  I shopped a bit online, and while I think I will probably buy one of the vintage jackets I saw online, I ultimately decided that I'd like the challenge of creating my own jacket: both for the basic sewing challenge and the opportunity to use the colors I like and personalize it a bit.

I bought a recreation of a McCalls vintage pattern for the coat from Revival Designed.  I'm not sure if they still have that particular pattern, but I've seen other versions online.

I loved the yellow of the jacket that Shelley Duvall wore in The Shining, but ultimately I decided to go with more of a bright green felt.  At this point, I've cut out the pattern pieces, and now I'm starting on the embroidery for each section before putting it all together.

It's a bit of an undertaking but I'm excited about all that I'll learn from this project and hopefully come out with a super cute jacket at the end!

Lastly, if you're not into making our own vintage jacket, or if you're not into vintage at all, I've seen new, reimagined versions of the jacket, including this version from Double D Ranch in suede!

I'm looking forward to sharing my finished version of this classic with everyone!