Chanel Jacket

I am making a Chanel jacket for a lady client which is quite refreshing. Most of the time my commissions are from male clients, but over the past few weeks I have been working on this Chanel inspired jacket

Coco Chanel was an inspiration to a whole generation of designers and tailors all over the world, and still is today. Her Little Black Jacket is recognised as one of the great female style innovations of the 20th century. You would have had to have been living in a cave if you don’t know what I am on about….

We have taken some elements from the original Chanel jacket, as in it’s a fairly simple silhouette, but my client and I have added a few individual elements to personalise this commission. The front is a cardigan style front, the sleeves have a small vent on the cuff, the fit is more precise and not the ‘boxy’ look of the original, and finally the sleeves have a very strong rope. Note, I don’t stage any pictures of my work, all photographs are taken as is warts and all. I leave the staging for lesser tailors.

Chanel style jacket on my lady’s dummy at work.

The picture above shows the jacket on my lady’s dummy. The jacket is now ready for my clients last fitting with it.

The picture above is a closer shot of the cloth, which has come from the very same supplier that Coco Chanel actually bought her cloth from for her classic Little Black Jackets.

Unique Japanese Kimono silk lining for the inside.

The above picture shows the Japanese Kimono silk lining we have put inside the coat to compliment the boucle style cloth.

View of the back.

The above picture shows the back of the coat. It’s well fitted into the waist, and you can see we have also added a small centre vent for style reasons.

Working Button Holes

Making a hand-made button-hole isn’t an easy task, (the term is working a button-hole) and a badly executed button-hole will certainly spoil the finished look of the whole coat. Working half decent working button-holes only comes with experience, and lots of it.

Good preparation is the key and the process starts by first marking the placement of the button-holes, ensuring that the button-hole is marked straight. I have seen many working button-holes that have been worked crooked, horrible! The button-hole length is then decided, which is dictated by the size of the actual button.

The button-hole is then cut through and the raw edges are bound with a general sewing cotton to prevent the cloth from fraying. A piece of gimp is then cut which gives the button-hole body and also controls the edges.

Gimp is a thick cord type of thread, sometimes the outer is made from pure silk over a non silk core. This gimp is then laid close to the cut edge of the working button-hole and whipped over with a specific button-hole stitch with pure silk button-hole twist.

It sounds rather complex, but like anything that’s worth doing well it simply takes lots of practice to master.

The picture below shows a hand-made button-hole that I have worked. This coat button-hole has been worked on a clients coat, it’s one of the button-holes for the coat front. This cloth is a lovely bright blue mohair mix, a 7oz Super 120’s and kid mohair blend.

The picture below shows the sleeve cuff on a coat that I recently made for myself. The cloth is a lovely grey/purple Super 130’s with Cashmere woven in Yorkshire, and is a 10oz cloth. This cloth is butter soft and I absolutely love it. There are two real button holes that I can actually open, and two sham, or fake holes That can’t be opened. The buttons are a lovely mottled real horn in a light brown colour.

Des Merrion Tailor

Thanks Sarah ! Just as I am turning around, she snaps me. Got me didn’t you ! Well this is ugly old me, Des Merrion Tailor.

Do you fancy wearing the finest earth shatteringly gorgeous threads known to man ? Then I would love to hear from you, des@dmerrion.com 07871877061.

Please don’t fall into the salesman posing a ‘tailor’ trap ! If you are seriously thinking about commissioning a tailor-made piece do not part with one Sheckel until you have equipped yourself with the information here How Honest Is Your Tailor?

Just as I am turning around.

I absolutely love this coat. It’s a 10oz super 130’s and Cashmere cloth and its butter soft and so comfortable. It’s also impeccably bespoke tailored by my fair fat fingers !