Three sleeves, two linings and a pocket change and its finally finished.. and its shiny...like wearing a reflective mirror ball in the sun, impossible to photograph!

but I am so pleased with this jacket, the pattern is lovely with lots of style lines for adjusting....the shape flattering and the choice of fabrics vast.

To show the pattern as is, I have not steamed my roll line into place yet. I don't know if its even something I want to do but regardless the tape is helping it stand right now!

I'm surprised at how much I like the collar as is, I don't have anything similar in my closet, so I think it could be a useful addition......

Although my thick heavily beaded trim is also playing a big part in this decision if I am honest

I generally wear my hair down and I do not want to keep untangling it from the beads - which I think would be fairly inevitable if I were to trim the inside and roll the collar as designed.

and while its not a huge detail, it probably is worth considering if you plan to wear the collar away from your face. I imagine that's why the illustrations show a soft fabric trim instead :-0

So this fabric was an absolute diva. I knew it when I bought it and fully anticipated the troubles ahead, but I want to master these unique fabrics and I love a challenge.

Its a wool boucle made for Cha*el haute couture bought from Mendel Goldberg and its gorgeous. I gravitate towards dark colours so I purposely went light for a change.

The fabric itself is weaved onto a gold metalic thread which is quite thick and stable. It causes the fabric to almost bend and fold which gives it a creased linen look and firmer hand.

and although the fabric as a whole has a firmer hand, the fibers making up the fabric are loosely weaved and secured randomly, so once cut it just sheds, and sheds and sheds.

and the smaller the pattern piece cut the less stable it was again....and pieces with bias in them were awful .....hence the three sleeves.

In hindsight, I think a tiny bit of fusible on those bias areas would be useful in future, not enough to change the hand of the piece but enough to keep the threads secure and on grain as well as stop it unraveling, and while the organza certainly helped hold everything together it could not stop strands from sliding away from each other and piling up...

This become really apparent when I started on the sleeves........I got one sleeve in quickly and fitting beautifully but the second one had started to loosen its threads by the time I pinned it, the handling started distorting all the grains and the weight kept pulling them..... I eventually gave up and cut a replacement. Ironically its still not right because the bodice section was also weakened by the first sleeve.......but overall its good enough I think...

and I learnt some really valuable lessons, so I'm very happy.

The first sleeve - urgh!

This is the top of the sleeve head, you can see how the sleeve weight has pulled the threads off grain and separated them...I tried tacking them to the organza but it was to far gone.

but I think this is the price you pay for such a visually interesting fabric, there are so many details on show....the metallic black threads are more of a design feature than part of the fabric, they sit on top independent of the weave and are only sewn down every three inches, so I ended up spending the best part of a day sewing each end down as they all started curling up!

They also make it impossible to use a shoulder bag as one snag could catch the whole thread...

Diva to the extreme! which is why I think I love these fabrics so much....the satisfaction from making a passable garment from them is amazing, and they really make me think so carefully before I sew...

But I admit one or two garments a year is about all I could sew, how these couture houses work with them day in and day out is admirable to the extreme.

So I have a question or three!

Last week as well as taking some days off, I spent two days working at Mendel Goldberg Fabrics.

Alice and I have been talking about it on and off for a while, and I recently realized that it was time....time for me to have a outside life, and different inspirations, and for the kids to have a little independence...

I've missed the social interaction from working, and now my kids have finally all reached the age where they can be left (and trusted?!) it was past due for me to do something part time....

So on Tuesday last week, I went in to try out for a day and just loved it.

It was great to get dressed up, put on some heels, and play and talk fabric.....

So from this week, I will be working in the store twice a week, as well as filling in for Alice as needed..

But my main job will be to bring the store to a online site which I will be working on while there. That will be my baby and it's the perfect fit for me.

I am being given free reign - any and all of the fabrics can be listed, there will be a special offered probably once a week / month and I imagine some kind of end of roll section as well...

So my question to you is....

What would you look for in a website if you were to order fabric online from Mendel Goldberg? or any other high end fabric web store?

As most of us do on occasion order fabric from a website, what irritates you? what details do you often think are missing and what do you love?

I want to create the best site possible, and I think it needs to be. Alice stocks incredibly high end European fabrics, most are only ten to twenty yards in total....and are recognizable designer from last season or this....they are also average $$$ although of course she does stock less expensive choices.

A lot of these fabrics are for special occasions or dressier situations, and are not readily available from any other brick or online fabric stores.... she has very well established connections and access to stock that most don't - as well as incredible taste!

Also to consider.... boucles, cottons and wools swatches could be mailed but there is just not enough fabric on a single bolt of silk, lace etc to send swatches and the cost of cutting repeatedly from a limited bolt is counter productive for a single sale...would this deter you? would the fabric on a runway picture help you decide if it where available?....

I plan on taking the best picture possible, super high end clear images. There is a dress form arriving Monday at the store so I can drape each fabric for better proportion and print visuals, and I will be using a lightbox for all close up details...

and adding a very detailed (rambling!) description of each fabric which will include weight, touch and garment suggestions.

But I know there is more....

I would be incredibly grateful if you could leave a comment or send me a email if you have a opinion, I have had so many people ask why Alice is not online and I really want to bring the best site possible for all of us sewers to use..

(and needless to say - its going to take a while!)

and of course, in theory as I never sew everyday, I should still be blogging and sewing as much, as I truly love this site of mine and the direction its taken me in...as well the opportunities it brings..

I'm planning on making some more work suitable clothes over the next few months which will be a little different but next week I really want to talk about my draping week in Baltimore and show some more amazing Marfy makes that I have been sent recently.....

Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

Leisa