Beaded tapestry denim jacket

Beaded tapestry denim jacket
Originally uploaded by Stormeejean

When I received a box from my aunt containing some of the sewing items of my grandmother's, I was thrilled. It contained lots of items that Grandmother had collected through the years. I will blog some of these later.
One of the items in particular was what looked like a work in progress. It was a shirt all cut out and ready to sew. The back of the shirt had this beautiful tapestry (I did not know what else to call it) on the back. Grandmother had beaded parts of the jacket, I thought it was so beautiful, at first I tried to finish the shirt, but the tapestry was a little heavy and it made the shirt hang funny. So I cut the tapestry from the materiel and created this jean jacket which holds the tapestry well. I decided not to trim the shirt fabric because it was so pretty. I added some more trim and not this jacket is ready to wear.

Denim Jacket

Now don't you love denim jackets? They are so versatile you can dress one up or dress it down. There is a funny thing about denim, it is so durable and classic. It doesn't matter how long you have had that jacket, it might have been your mother's or your grandmother's jacket, it doesn't matter because the older it gets and the more you wash it, the more you love it. I have two jackets now that I have had for a long time, I have put them in the box to go to the Salvation Army so many times but everytime I get ready to go to the SA with the box, I try the jacket on one more time. Then it ends up back in my closet and I wear it for another season.

The jacket in this post is a jacket I made for a special customer (all my customers are special) she wanted me to do something special on the back of the jacket. I was happy with the results. What do you think? I also highlighted the front and collar of the jacket with mudcloth and used some very creative free-motion quilting stitches to finish it off. The diva on the back is embellished with rhinestones and shells. I know that my customer is going to love the attention she will get when she wears this jacket. You will have to enjoy looking at it on this post because it is definitely a one of a kind.

And of course it carries the PJBSW Seal of approval.

Late Autumn in Tennessee Part 2

Ok the vote is in, I will make a kimono style jacket out of this beautiful piece of fabric. Thank you everyone that voted, that helped alot. The next time I make a piece like that I will do another poll. So stay tuned. Here is a picture of the fabric I am going to use. It will be a lined jacket and I will use a soft maybe sheer fabric for the lining. Also here is a picture of the style of jacket I plan to use. When using this kind of fabric, the less detail the better.

Would you like to have one of these jackets in your wardrobe collection? What would you wear it with?

Me and the First Lady!

I was invited to a friend's house for her birthday. And guess who came to the party! Yes Michelle Obama. She even let me have my picture taken with her. The first thing Michelle did when she came in the door was kick her shoes off. She is a very nice person.
The person who had the birthday was Helen Miller, she is the state senate representative for Fort Dodge, IA. She commissioned me to make a jacket for her and she is also a very nice person.
This is a very historical event and I am so proud to be a part of it.

Before Christmas Sale and Trunk Show

Right now there is a sale going on in my Etsy Shop! You are invited to come browse and purchase anything in my shop at a whopping 30%off. So if you have been eying one of my one-of-a-kind items at 30%off. To get your 30% discount just go to my shop and purchase your item at regular price (using PayPal), and then I will immediately return your discount amount. If you choose to pay with a money order, you can send the amount minus the discount. Also receive free shipping within the Continental USA. So this is a great time to purchase your original design by Stormee's Ultimate Designs.

This sale ends November 30, 2008.

The Scrappy Jacket

This is the Scrappy Jacket that is listed in my Esty shop. I thought I should model it myself. I grabbed a bag of my silky scraps and sewed them all together (randomly) then I cut out the jacket. It was interesting how it came out. I also lined the jacket with a soft coral silk fabric. I also hand sewed small square (plastic) crystal beads all around the band and sleeves. This jacket is so nice, it is light and airy and you feel good when you wear it because it does not feel like you have anything on. If I look good in it you know you will too. If you want to purchase the jacket, you can leave a comment on this blog, go purchase the jacket and I will give you 25% discount. Just purchase the jacket (using paypal) and I will refund you the 25%, what a bargain.

I love Paris Swing Jacket

I have always loved the swing jackets, I was going through some old photes in my family album and came across a photo of my mom in this swing jacket, it was a black and white phote so I don't know what color the jacket was she had on. It looked like it might have been white or off white. I always loved the way my mother looked in that jacket with it's big cuffed sleeves. So I decided to recreate that jacket. I made my jacket with denim fabric. Also I used a method where you cut the denim full of small holes, then wash the piece so that it frays, then quilt it to another piece of fabric. I used denim as a backing fabric for this project and I free-motion quilted the two layers together. Then I used that piece for the facings for the jacket and the cuffs. It gave a very nice contrast. I then lined the jacket with beautiful bright green satin lining. Oh and then I added a bag. You won't be able to resist it. It is so nice. And the denim is so soft.

Now that I live in Paris, Tennessee we have an Eiffel Tower Replica which I found to be a very nice spot to take pictures. My friend Yolanda, was a willing model and I think she complimented my swing jacket very well. Visit my Etsy shop for more information and pricing.

A Sudoku OOPs

I had the idea to work out a sudoku puzzle on the back of a jacket. So I made 9 squares of 9 colors and tried to work the puzzle without refering to the book. I had a book of sudoku puzzles but do you think that I would have taken one of those puzzles and created the grid from that? Oh no. I tried to do it myself as I made the jacket. Anyway I thought I had the puzzles solved but if you look close enough you can see that I have two of the same pattern in the same line. That is why it is called Sudoku OOPS. But you will have fun creating your own sudoku puzzle. You might want to start with a pencil and a book of sudoku puzzles.
Here is my jacket, you can view it on my webpage, it is the jacket at the bottom of the page.

A Jacket for Auntie Bettye

My aunt asked me to make a jacket for her. She wanted a chenile jacket,but Auntie is a small woman and the chenile jackets that I have made in the past are very bulky. So I designed this black and white chenile jacket and also this big roomy bag. With the princess seams it will look very wonderful on my Auntie. I have some more chenile jackets in my etsy shop. Check them out at.
www.stormeejean.etsy.com

CZ's Garden

My friend CZ has a beautiful garden. Everywhere she lives. When she asked me to create a jacket for her, I had to think about her beautiful garden and this is the jacket that emerged. Can't you see the beautiful echinaeca flower and oh the daisies. She does have a colorful garden.
I loved creating this jacket because I tried to use every color I could think of.
By the way, if you would like purchase some of
my art or have a piece created just for you, just
visit my shop
www.stormeejean.etsy.com
there is a lot to see there, also you can contact me
send your measurements, and I can create one of
these for you.