Tie-Dye Jacket

Some magazine that I’ve read recently had a spread on tie-dye. The text included a warning not to try this at home, which I took as a challenge. At the same time, there was a sale on the new Vogue patterns from their Web site AND my brother-in-law was about to visit from the States! So I bought some patterns, sent them to his house and he brought them to me.

Most of you will recognize this jacket as Vogue 1052, the famous New Miyake pattern. I fell in love with the big collar. There’s nothing like it for showing off embellishments.

I actually read the directions on this pattern because it’s rather complicated. I had to laugh when they recommended finishing the collar edge by folding over once, zig zag stitching close to the edge and trimming. Honestly, if your sewing is at a level where you would even attempt this pattern, you’re probably not after the made-by-loving-hands-at-home look. No one in their right mind would want a zig zag stitch front and center. And even if I lost my mind and decided to follow these directions, my machine does not do zigzag, so I tried a few hand finishes that I did not like, and ended up facing the collar pieces with silk organza.

While I’m on the topic of pattern instructions, they actually tell you to underline the jacket with a fusible. I guess I should let this one go because other people seem to like fusibles, but I have tried many, many different ones, and they pretty much never behave predictably. It makes sense to use fusibles if you’re a big manufacturer who’s producing thousands of garments; then the time that’s required to test the fusibles will be more than made up in time saved in manufacturing. If, like me, you’re just making one garment, it’s just so much easier to underline with a lightweight cotton, which is what I did.

I had a terrible time finding buttonhole thread in the proper color for this jacket. Note to self — next time I dye fabric for a garment, throw some buttonhole silk in the dye bath so I’ll have matching buttonhole thread.

I started with a plaid fabric from a Michael’s bundle, pictured above. The fabric feels lovely, but the color was all wrong. It’s a linen or mostly linen. I tried to dye it a deep red color, but it came out much darker than expected. I used 2 packs of dye, because the last time I dyed something, I only used one pack and got a sort of marbled effect. Well, no marbling here, but just much darker than I wanted. I think next time I’ll use 2 packs of dye, but I will run the fabric through the dye bath twice, with one pack of dye each time. That way, the color may not be too dark but the marbling will be under control. I LOVE the way the plaid looks in the parts that did not take the dye, and the black cherry color that the jacket became has grown on me.

If you are interested in tie-dying, this is a good book for inspiration and how-to. The method I used is actually called Shibori. I think it may be a Japanese tie-dying method, which I would know if I read the text in the book, but I have not. Every time I open it I’m so distracted by the pictures that I can’t be bothered to read the words. It’s called Shibori for Textile Artists by Janice Gunner.

Here’s the jacket buttoned up a bit differently.

A close up of the collar

Jacket back

Aren’t these buttons great? I just got them at the local Peter Jones store. The fabric selection there is really mundane, but they have some great buttons.

Sleeves

In other news, I appliqued a cat onto a purchased pinafore for dd.

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