Ultimate Reform

Last year I made a vest with thick yarn I hand spun specifically for the project.

Unfortunately the vest was very hard ... it was more like armor than clothes...
I assume that I gave too many twist to the yarn as I spun and the yarn became too stiff.

I couldn't wear the armor but couldn't throw it away either so I decided to perform a major reform.


I unraveled the armor to make yarn. The yarn was curly so it was straightened with steam.
Then I wove this yarn into fabric. Plain double weave.

After weaving I washed, dried and pressed.

I measured and it ended up approximately 1 yard by 2 yards.
It was smaller than I expected but still destined to become a jacket.

The fabric was woven loosely comparing with the commercially available wool fabric therefore I sewed the fabric onto the lining so that it wouldn't stretch.

I heard that this way of garment construction, quilting the fabric to the lining, was used by Chanel. I don't know if it was true but it was fun to explore different kind of sewing.

If you are interested in, you can find detail of this construction in Thread magazine back issues or Claire Shaeffer's book.

 

This is the result.

Not bad for the salvaging armor-like vest project.