Lorraine Torrence Creative Clothing Class 2014 - #4 Using 5 Fabrics in a Garment

I have a wonderful silk print that I have coveted for years - too afraid to cut it up in case I screwed up the resulting garment.  It features a grouping of Asian people and I have been pondering for years what to do with it.  The assignment for our class prompted me to think of using it as I also had a few yards of another orange silk flowered print that worked with it - now to find 3 others!  I had an orange corded silk in my stash that worked and after digging through my kimono pieces stash I found 2 more green shibori pieces that worked.

The pattern I chose had an Asian feel to it, as do so many of my garments - it was one of Lorraine Torrence's patterns, Grainline Gear Crossroads Jacket. 

I remembered reading an article in one of Sandra Betzina's books about making a silk jacket.  It involved backing each piece with a matching piece of flannelette that was fused with interfacing.  The flannelette gave body to the fabric while the interfacing gave it abit more, without being directly fused onto the silk.  I hand basted each piece (exhausting!!) with the 3 layers before sewing them together and then lined the piece in more of the orange silk.

Thee garment needed closures of some sort and I had purchased some buttons at a flea market in Madison that were just perfect - men's heads in a scale that matched the print to perfection.  I used a covered snap as a closure underneath and then sewed the buttons onto the front band as decoration.  So glad I waited for the perfect garment and the silk feels wonderful when I wear it!