A Compass Jacket

I returned home from the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison last night and it was the best show yet (in my opinion). I can’t wait to share some of the fun I had there, but that post is going to take a while to put together. So I hope you’ll enjoy my jacket story in the meantime.

But before I get to it, I can’t resist throwing in a little teaser ~ quilted clothing was a hot topic at the show! There was a garment competition this year and a fashion show of those garments (which I missed because I was teaching 😞). I enjoyed looking at all the garments hanging in the exhibit, and I especially loved seeing garments worn by those attending the show. My favorite was Caroline’s. She was walking along with her daughter Emma when I stopped to compliment her, and she happily agreed to let me take a photo. That’s when I realized Emma was wearing a designer dress! Aren’t they delightful!?!

And now for the jacket story …

A few weeks ago I wrote about a thrift store find that cried out for a mariner’s compass to adorn it’s back (click here for that post). Drafting and stitching that compass only took an afternoon because it was small and had just 8 points.

The next step was to appliqué it onto the jacket which is made of a polyester fabric that feels like suede. Because the compass was so small, there would be a lot of bulk in turning the seam allowance to the back all the way around like I often do with larger compasses.

Perhaps reverse appliqué would work better. The technique from Sharon Schamber’s book “Pieceliqué” is one of my favorites. So I planned where to place the oval on the back of the jacket, made a freezer paper template, and cut the hole!!! (I comforted myself by saying it only cost $8 at the thrift store).

The seam allowance was clipped every 1/4″, then I lightly applied liquid starch to it.

And pressed it over the paper template.

Once the hole was made it was fun to place the compass behind it’s frame, and stitch it in place using invisible thread and a very narrow zig-zag (1 width/1 length). I was pleased.

Next I transferred the rest of the design, which was inspired by the front of the jacket, to the back with a removable marker, and appliquéd a few ultrasuede paisleys in place.

I did some of the rest of the embellishing by machine.

And beaded by hand.

It was an enjoyable project, and I’m thrilled to have an outfit to wear when I present my Mariners Compass lecture and workshop (or anywhere else I want to wear it 😁).

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And one more thing…

Our granddaughter Hanna will soon be heading off for her sophomore year of college. While Facetiming recently she told me that she and a friend were trying to think of something to do that wouldn’t cost much. Hanna loves to do counted cross stitch, and you may remember that she’s done a bit of quilting with me. Well, they decided to decorate sweatshirts. They had to go to the craft store and purchase fat eighths of fabric, and then Hanna showed Harley how to hand stitch them to the shirts in a design she saw on Pinterest. She said she wished she knew how to turn under the edges of her appliqués because they were fraying, but she was happy with the results. I asked her to take a few pictures and here’s what she sent.

Next time she’s here we’re going to do some turned edge appliqué together!