Dear sewing friends,

I could not help the alliteration in the title. But that’s just me…..

Revealed here is the ongoing construction of a class project — of an online class I signed up for back in 2010. All part of the “complete your UFOs in 2013” decision I made early this year.

This online class was taught by none other than master tailor/couturier/teacher/designer Kenneth King through Pattern Review.  The title of the class was Clone Your Favorite Garment, and I cannot say enough good things about it.  I highly recommend the class and do believe it is still available.  We chose what we wanted to clone and Kenneth guided us through the process. Usually students chose to replicate the perfect fit of a garment; but I chose to recreate a design and deal with the fit later. We even enjoyed a live chat with Kenneth, and posts on a dedicated forum. Obviously, I cannot write about the class details, but I will show you what I chose to clone, and the results. Let me qualify the last sentence – I will show and tell you about how far I have come to complete it in more than a year.

This was my choice for cloning: a jacket from Top Shop. It belongs to my daughter and I wanted one of my own. It has many pieces which accounts for the nice shape. Many pieces mean lots of seams which means lots of opportunity for a good fit. It has the look of a jean jacket on the back and an elegant drapey front. Genius!  The beauty of the jacket cannot be fully seen in this picture.

Note the details above in this composite by clicking on the picture to make it larger. The fabric is black linen, and the entire jacket has a washed look. Which makes the linen look wrinkly and chic-soft, not wrinkly and annoying.  The front has no closure. All seams are serged and topstitched, except the center back seam which is pressed open and given a Hong Kong finish (seam edges encased in a bias binding).  The sleeve is a two-piece, so there’s that.  You will also see where I hand stitched large basting stitches to indicate the grain. It was fun to see the grain line revealed!

Isn’t it funny how some clothing looks great on a real body but so-so on a dress form?  I think that is what’s happening with this. It looks great on the owner who was not available to be photographed.

Then, the muslin……

Once the muslin was done, the figure adjustments were made on it and translated onto the paper pattern. The obligatory full bust adjustment and a waist adjustment were the two issues resolved on the muslin.

In the two pictures above, I reveal to you the pattern pieces which resulted after I went through the process of creating the muslin and pattern for cloning the jacket!

Here is my choice of fabric. No basic black for me, thank you. This is a beautiful Belgian linen, I was told by the fabric seller. “Watermelon” is the only way I can describe the color.

So my friends, stay with me while I actually make this jacket.  You will be hearing more about this one.

Have you cloned a piece of clothing, and/or attended or taken an online class for recreating an existing item? If you did, we would love to know your impressions. Most importantly, was your cloning project successful? In the end, a pretty garment is nothing if it’s not worn by the owner.

Thank you for reading…….

Samina