Biker Cardi Using Perfect Paisley Jacquard FoTM
Intro:
More inspiration for this month's Fabric of The Month: Perfect Paisley Jacquard!
Coinciding with Sew Different's Frocktails event which took place on Saturday 3rd November, we took the opportunity to showcase our own fabrics using the fabulous Sew Different pattern; The Biker Jacket Cardi.
Featuring two fabrics; November's FoTM Perfect Paisley Jacquard and a new Avoca woollen Slate Cascade Donegal Tweed Herringbone. A match made in heaven and two fabrics you'll be itching to get sewing after delving into our world for just a few minutes. (Estimated read time of this article: 4 minutes)
As for the pattern itself, it sews up like a dream and has that boutique designer feel and will team up brilliantly with a host of garments in your wardrobe, from everyday wear to smart occasions.
Fabrics:
The Perfect Paisley Jacquard is a suiting type cloth that is on offer at Fabworks Online and Fabworks Mill Shop throughout November (Now £6 per metre, reduced from £10). It's light in weight and is a wool (56%) and acrylic (44%) blend, a soft and smooth jacquard weave with fine detail upon close inspection.
Perfect Paisley Jacquard is another superb jacquard woven fabric from the same origins as our fantastic Palms Jacquard collection. A silky black sateen background, which showcases the matte paisley motifs perfectly. The addition of a fine over trellis (in black) adds textural interest, with the opposite effect visible on the reverse. An excellent alternative to black for those who prefer not to wear it but still want those dark mysterious tones. Boasting a light/medium weight handle that feels soft and slightly textured, Perfect Paisley Jacquard has a wonderful drape that's accentuated by the expensive sheen. This lustrous silky sheen and smooth texture enables ease of movement when putting your garments on and off. Stable width and lengthwise and will make stunning statement pieces such as smart tuxedo type suits, blazer style jackets (use both sides for contrasting lapels etc), neat trousers and pants - slim fit/cigar style & capri pants, neat pencil skirts, sheath/slip dresses, evening gowns and smart occasion wear dresses, drapey tulip style skirts & dresses and much more!
The Slate Cascade Donegal Tweed is just wow! Rich charcoal and navy Donegal herringbone (yes it is blue, although looks very much grey from a distance). Donegal means that it has multicoloured little flecks in the yarn, so that when it's woven the fabric displays these small detailed quirks that give it a little more pizzazz and style. Short excerpt of the fabric description that you can find online: Slate grey hues weave throughout this soft and reassuringly cosy true Donegal tweed herringbone. Traditional flecks (or neps) in cool natural white and sparse, subtle hints of earthy brown, are interwoven with a classic navy blue herringbone detail with multitonal mid grey, forming the background to create this magnificent Donegal Tweed herringbone. The subtle fusion of marvelous natural fibres is perfect. Combining blue and greys, with white flecks producing a cool and classic look, like water cascading over slate.
The two fabrics go together really well, complimenting each other with the mysterious dark blue tones. This fabric will certainly keep you warm during the colder winter months!
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| Slate Cascade Donegal Tweed Herringbone | Perfect Paisley Jacquard - Sapphire |
Our Maker's Thoughts:
Dawn - Fabworks' fabric specialist, walking fabric dictionary and very experienced sewist, was creator of this garment. Here are her thoughts on the fabric & pattern.
The Biker Jacket Cardi pattern is rated as an easy make so I knew it wouldn’t take me long to make up. I traced the pattern pieces because it would allow someone to use the pattern after me, but you can just cut the pieces out, it doesn’t need any tracing. Cutting the Donegal tweed and the Jacquard out was easy as they’re both stable and don’t move around. I decided I wanted to line the biker jacket throughout, even though the pattern suggests just lining the fronts and has a back facing.
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By lining the jacket throughout it enabled me to stay stitch the whole outer edges and then apply my own bias binding made in matching jacquard. Because of my extra requirements of the lining of the sleeves, back and binding I took an extra metre of fabric to create lovely long bias strips.
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| Bias binding cut, pressed and ready for sewing | Bias binding going through the machine |
Once everything was cut out the garment sewed together quickly and easily, and there was no need to neaten any seams because they are all enclosed. Clipping into the curves and pressing your seams open all make for a neater and polished finish. You can see how lustrous the Perfect Paisley Jacquard is from the photos.
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| Lustrous sheen of the Perfect Paisley Jacquard | Clipping into the curves |
When I had the lining fabric and the outer fabric pieces together, I then placed the lining inside the outer layer, matching seams and outer edges. I then stay stitched all around the outer edges and trimmed them down to about 3mm from the stitching. After joining all the binding I trimmed the seams down to 5mm ad pressed them open then folded the bias strips in half and pressed the seam allowance over on either side. Next step was to attach the bias - you could do this with commercially bought bias and use a binding foot, but making your own gives a much more professional and bespoke look, as you can see from the photos I USED LOTS OF PINS TO KEEP THINGS IN PLACE! You can always tack as well, but I’m always rushing.
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| Demonstration of stay stitched edge and bias binding being applied | Pins holding the bias binding in place |
As you can see from the final photo the binding gives a superb neat finish and if you don’t add an inside label, this jacket can be reversible too! The addition of two buttons and button loops to the top outer corners allows for a secure fastening.
This neat little jacket is a winner and will go with everything from a simple pair of jeans and T-shirt to a stylish dress. If you love jackets and cardigans like me, you’ll love this perfect combination of both! By marrying our Perfect Paisley Jacquard with Slate Cascade Donegal Tweed Herringbone you have another classic combination of denim and navy tones. Making this neat little make one that's sure to become a firm favourite.
If you would like buy the same fabrics that we used you can find them here. Note that there are 3 colours available of the Perfect Paisley Jacquard, in this instance we used the Sapphire colourway.