A Long-Term Project

Early last winter I found a great jacket at a thrift shop. It is a dark olive drab cordoroy styled similar to a jeans jacket. With a high collar, zipper closing, it hits just below the high hip. Looks wonderful on me.

Last spring, I started staring at it thinking that it needed some embellishing to make it truly mine. My original idea was to draw the swirls and trials of vapor -like steam off a coffee cup or smoke from the end of a cigarette- but turn these into harder geometric forms. Imagine smoke shaped by triangles.

Initial sketches and trials showed that the medium I had to work with was not right for this more delicate design. Dark cordoroy is not the best format for delicate shapes. It's still in my book. But I like triangular shapes, so I've stuck with concept in part of work.

Last fall, I started stitching.

I quickly came to realize that this jacket will require a whole lot of time to get to my final vision. A. Whole. Lot. Of. Time. The fabric isn't the best to be working with. Cordoroy is tightly woven but very fluffy. The tight weave wants fine threads to easy work through; the thick top wants chunky yarns to stand above the fabric.

I'm adapting my materials and techniques as I go along. Delicate stitching now will be done on other fabrics, cut, fused, and the stitched to the jacket. Chunkier yarns are tacked into place.

I've added a couple fun embellishments to the front.

The way I see it, if I get a bit more stitching done, the jacket will be to a point where I can pack a small amount of the work in a pocket. Wear the jacket somewhere, pull the supplies out and begin working on the jacket wherever I am. Then wear it home.

It's going to be like a master project on stitchery. A travelling, wearable master project. One that I continue to add to until the fabric completely disintegrates.

I promise photos to come.

I also blog at: Weight for Deb and BlogHer on Wednesdays and Saturdays.