Aventures in silk...

Probably not what you were expecting from the title, but this is a blog about my working on the designs in my children's wear collection which adults have expressed an interest in. Chief among these is my Rapuru coat, above, which people really like. As do I, but the simple a-line, bat wing sleeve shape does not work for women's styles - perhaps if you are a 1960's Japanese model then it would, but my attempts to copy the design directly just looked like clown outfits at adult size.

 

So we'll keep it for the little ones!

But I have been working on elements of the designs to translate into a jacket for women, namely the big ripple collar. I had the idea of developing the coat with a belt section at the middle which will allow the same pattern to be used for a short and a long jacket. And I also had the idea of making it in lovely Chinese satin. But that's very thin, so I decided to try interlining each panel with fleece fabric. Traditionally  one might use wadding, but this does make for a very thick and bulky effect - think body warmer - so fleece would allow me to interline the sleeves as well.

I had a Kimonii I'd made in Chinese satin, so I sacrificed it in the name of progress. There wasn't enough fabric to make the collar as I wanted, or the sleeves, but I've managed to get the body panels out.

It's given me enough of an idea, and I think that it's worth the investment in fabric to continue - despite the argument the fleece and satin have as they're stitched together, they get on okay when finished, and it'd nice and warm. I even quite like the inside, though I plan to line it, the seams pressed open and stitched down are such a nice finish I am tempted to simply use facings rather than cover them up. If I were being really swish, I would be tempted to use Hong Kong seams, but I'm not that swish!