Extreme Fringe

I like fringe. When I was a kid, I fringed my school uniform. My mother was horrified. I can’t recall the reaction of the school administrators, but I imagine it was less than positive. Fast-forward 30 years or so, and there’s a short article by Kenneth King in Threads 137 about an extremely clever method of fringing tailored garments without bulk or sacrificing the under layers. Since I have grappled with this very problem in the past, I had to try it out. I took that method and went a little crazy.

This jacket is based on Vogue 8259, the Claire Schaffer Chanel jacket pattern. Mostly I was curious about the 3-piece sleeve. I made a few changes to the pattern so it would look more Fall 2008. First, I lengthened the jacket and took it in at the waist for more of an hourglass shape. Then I raised the armhole by 1/2″ front and back, with a corresponding narrowing of the sleeve. I also moved the sleeve placket to the back sleeve seam. I made this change after looking in the window of the Chanel store and seeing that the jackets there don’t have buttons on the top sleeve seam, as in the pattern, but at the back sleeve seam. Then I added enough fringe for the jacket to resemble a large furry animal. In a good way.

I bought a new camera lens when I was in the US in August. I think it really makes a difference in my photos. I also bought PILES of new fabric, including that featured here. I went a little crazy since everything is so cheap there.

Jacket Back

Jacket Lining. The pattern directions tell you to put the chain weight on the jacket back only if you are using heavy buttons.

Another change I made from the pattern instructions is in the application of the sleeve lining. The directions tell you to make real buttonholes in the sleeve, then apply the lining in such a way that you can’t actually unbutton the sleeves. I could not really see the point of having real buttonholes and making them impossible to use, so I attached the sleeve lining such that I could unbutton the sleeve.

I may wear it like this, with the bottom button undone. I often see men wear their suits this way, to show off that their jacket is not a normal off-the-peg jacket.

Here is the pattern alteration for the raised armhole. I cut out along the green lines, then raised the cutout by 1/2″.

This is the undercollar. I applied a padstitched melton undercollar as described in Cabrera’s Ladies Tailoring book, then put the fringed piece on top.

Front Detail

Pocket detail