Spring and The Erickson Eight
From adding handknit trim to a Chanel ready-to-wear jacket, to creating a spring coat and jacket, I had a great time using the last gray days of winter 2004 to sew for that spring. I hope you'll enjoy these Springtime pattern conversions and inspirations. Nothing brightens up the last days of winter like a spring fabric and the possibilities it holds.
Nancy
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Here's the cover of the March 2004 issue.
I spent three weekends making a couple of suits that I was then able to wear separately--the jackets and skirts still work into new pieces I make for spring 2007. I had also made a coat with a matching skirt, a couple dresses from pattern 1945, and more....
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Coat 1963 with the addition of sleeve straps and a belt. I inserted self-fabric fringe into the layers of the collar, around the belt and sleeve straps, and also at the sleeve openings. Directions for using self-fabric bias for the fringe is in the Jackets Workbook.
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I think this is probably the most usable look for me: coat and pants. Always practical and always chic when they coordinate.
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Whether I tie the belt or let it hang free, it nips in the waist just a bit to make a pretty silhouette from the back.
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This can be worn casually with pants, or even over a chiffon evening dress. I used jacket 1945 with the slight v-neck conversion and added fringe to the pockets and sleeve vents and bottom edges.
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This is the very popular Peony Tweed that may have been the best selling fabric I ever offered. I made it into a suit from 1945 and 1964 view A.
I cut away the button overlaps on the jacket so the center fronts just meet and trimmed it with strips of silk organza.
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The peony tweed had all of the elements that were prevalent in spring 2004: sheer, pink, girlish with an edge...when you sew you can put it all together just so. I like this jacket separate with the sueded silk crepe pants.
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This is the 1945 jacket pattern--that's right.
I simply used the v-neckline conversion, and inserted an invisible zipper on the center front. It was super easy to construct and will be a great little dress to wear all summer long...dressy with a sling back sandal, or more casually with a little ballet flat. I've worn this over and over, year after year.
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Again it's just the 1945 jacket converted and with a shorter elbow length sleeve. Fringe around the neckline and the bottom of the sleeve. All of the jacket and dress conversions you've seen here are shown in The Sewimagination Workbook: Jackets and made from the basic 1945 jacket pattern. Get the fit right once and you're set for years and years.
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I took the knit trim as it's shown below on the right, and simply added it to a perfectly plain Chanel ready-to-wear suit I bought in spring 2002. I removed the buttons, and added some of the new hooks shown in the newsletter to the front edges. When I wore this suit to the spring trunk show at Chanel, they genuinely liked what I had done. Best of all, when this gigantic trim detail fades from fashion, I can easily remove it and return the buttons to the front without having harmed the original suit.
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These are the knit trims I had made.
The black and white trim went on a black cashmere sweater.
The trim on the right that's multi-colored is what I applied to my Chanel pants suit.
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