The No grain jean jacket continues.

I thought I would share a peak of the progress. I have not touched this project or anything else for nearly three weeks, and trust me, it is killing me. I did manage to do a Hong Kong finish on the side seams to day and will do the same to the sleeve seams. I could have flat felled them but just wanted a bit of whimsy and finesse for the inside.  I took this jacket apart with a razor blade. Most of the recycle jean projects I have found specify just hacking the sucker with the scissors. The blade took very little time and I did it while watching TV. By doing that I gained the dark seam allowances to work with. I cut off all the details and repositioned them on other parts of the jacket, which made no logical sense whatsoever but is fun aesthetically.  For me, this design is all about the fun and nothing here is being taken too seriously.

This gives you a peak at some of the "painting" if you can call it that. I wanted just blotches of color, much like my original inspiration. I used Lumiere textile paints and once heat set they softened up nicely.  Next time I will mix them with fabric medium to soften them up. Every project there is something to learn, right? I did get some really cool iridescent textile medium, made by Liquitex, that I am anxious to try but this project is pretty much painted out at this point. I am chomping to use my new Inktense pencils and the irridescent medium.

Here you can see my Honk Kong seams , made without the benefit of an edge stitching foot, but on a galloping horse, it will be fine. As the side seam curves out for the hip there is a flat felled seam. Not easy to nicely wrap the binding around. I may redo that, we''ll see. Where is my all time favorite presser foot, the edge stitcher? Well, I am using my workhorse Kenmore which doesn't have such a foot while my Pfaff is at the spa in New Hampshire. I will pick it up in two weeks when we go down to visit. There is NO ONE around here that can fix a computerized machine within  50-60 miles. I think that alone is good reason to move, right?

We are still in fix up mode with the house and our hard work is starting to show. We are going for big curb appeal with landscaping changes, new front doors and other goodies. I think I've watched too many HGTV real estate shows.  We hope to have the house on the market March 1, although it's looking so  much better it's tempting to stay put. Realistically, however, we need to be closer to our children for several reasons and that's what we will do. This was our downsize home. We sold the big house on the lake some years back, still to the chagrin of our children, but we've all come to love this little beige box on the river and all it's wildlife and quiet. Our goal with this revitalization is to try and give this box some character and I think we have. In going over our papers on the house the other night, I found the original real estate photos. It was new construction and wow, I'm amazed we even bought it. The layout inside and location on the water sold us. We've always lived on the water and it was definitely the right choice. By Labor Day we will be done with a slew of August visitors and all the construction and hopefully it will be back to our usual quiet, laid back, creative lifestyle. I can't wait to seriously hit the sewing machine, yes!.......................Bunny