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Further Fortuny

Me in My Fortuny

I really enjoyed Kenneth King’s article about making the Fortuny fabric into a shirt.

About 23 years ago, someone gave me several yards of stunning red silk brocatelle, in a drapery weight perfectly appropriate for a jacket, and Fortuny marks woven into the selvage. I gave half to a friend, and made the other half into a jacket, using my favorite pattern.

I wanted to interrupt the large drapery “flowers-and-flourishes” pattern, and was lucky to find a narrow woven stripe silk charmeuse in just the right color to cut bias strips for embellishment. I also sewed all of the seam allowances toward the outside, then covered them with the bias strips. I made seamed-edge facings, and covered the shoulder pads with the brocatelle. This gave me a completely finished inside, without the added bulk of lining. I made a simple short sleeved shell of the charmeuse to wear under the jacket, although it's just as great with black jeans and a t-shirt.

It remains one of the best things I’ve ever made for myself.

Pattern or design used: My Own Design - Carol Plaia

copperwoman, member
Posted on Sep 14th, 2010 in design, garment construction, fabric, embellishments, reader's closet, vintage silk, bias embellishment

Comments (6)

4mythreads writes: Copperwoman:

Really beautiful color. Love your design.
Posted: 2:37 pm on May 9th

fabrichoarder writes: Beautiful - great color and use of fabric is impeccable.
Posted: 2:12 pm on April 19th

JustMe2 writes: Your Jacket is lovely. I really like the way you embellished it. Very stunning. Thank you for sharing.
Posted: 1:18 pm on September 24th

copperwoman writes: Thank you, ladysewsew and Stitichy! Your lovely, immediate comments have inspired me to share more. I think I'll send my one-and-only quilt next.
Posted: 8:41 pm on September 15th

Stitichy writes: Wow! This is gorgeous! You're very talented.
Posted: 11:08 pm on September 14th

ladysewsew writes: You did a beautiful job. I love the color and the details are perfect. Thanks for sharing. I am inspired.
Posted: 4:02 pm on September 14th

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