All About That Weave

My husband and I have been amusing ourselves on weekends going to estate sales. I especially like the ones where the owners were older and had quirky collections of stuff. One house where we went to a sale had at least 1,000 elephant-shaped items. Cufflinks, tea pots, stuffed animals, a 7-foot stone statue in the yard, etc. Those people were so extreme.

We went to one a couple of weeks ago where the person was into textiles! I bought a loom, and several spools of weaving thread. I have learned that, when I’m buying a relatively expensive item, it’s always a good idea to grab some smaller things. The person doing the pricing will generally look at a pile of smaller items and charge $5 for the lot. I grabbed this textile, which I assumed without looking closely was a linen tablecloth, because I loved the weave. I thought I could cut it up into dishcloths, and have something nice hanging in my kitchen to wipe things with.

When I brought it home, it went straight into the washer and dryer. The dryer part is crucial to kill any bedbugs that might be lurking. When I pulled it out, it was clear to me that it’s not linen at all, but wool. I’m pretty sure wool dishtowels would be frustrating to wipe things with, so I set it aside and petted it occasionally while thinking on what to make with it. The washer and dryer did not have any negative effects, which was a little surprising. It had obviously been through the wringer before. It was mended in places using brown thread, but I could easily cut around that. There were many signs of wear, but no holes. It was originally 24″ wide, and 2 lengths were stitched together by hand. The blue threads were almost certainly indigo dyed, and the white were naturally colored. I’m thinking it was some kind of blanket.

EDIT — It is an overshot coverlet. Thank you for you comment, Judith Noble! You can find one on ebay if you are interested. Currently, they appear to be going for $100 – $200 for one that is in better shape than the one I used.

I thought for a while about making a collared shirt, but the fabric is really thick, and it might be too bulky to gracefully accommodate a collar and collar stand. I decided that a quilted cardigan jacket would be a good choice.

The body lining, trim, and seam finish is a dark blue necktie silk. The sleeve lining is silk charmeuse. I used a TNT pattern that I also used here.

back view

I agonized over the buttons, and ended up choosing some rather small ones.

I like the way the buttonholes turned out. I stiffened them with gimp.

cuff vent detail. The sleeve is a one-piece, darted sleeve. I like to use a one-piece sleeve to minimize the need for pattern matching.

pocket

the body of the jacket is lined with necktie silk. The sleeves are lined with silk charmeuse to make it easier to slide my arms in and out.

hong kong finish

inside of edge trim. I left the edge raw, which should be OK since the edging strip is cut on the bias.

This is one of the spots where the fabric was darned. It looks kind of cool, but I did not include the darned parts in the jacket.

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