Linen Jacket Rescue

I have been finding many wonderful items for re-purposing of late , at local thrift shops and the Goodwill.

I found this great 100% linen jacket recently but inn my opinion it had very "unfortunate pockets."  Sometimes I just have to wonder," What were the designers thinking ????"

This jacket has great simple lines and a timeless style. Why, oh why would one consider plopping a country themed print on the pockets???No matter, my treasure now!!!  I paid 3.49 for it and came back home to plan  a re-make, rescue!!

Very unfortunate pockets don't you think????

So I set to work using strips and scraps of my hand dyed fabrics and many of my sun printed bits to create this strip pieced fabric a la Rayna Gillman !  Her wonderful book Create Your Own Free Form Quilts: A Stress Free Journey to Original Design has been such an inspiration to me and I can't recommend the book and her wonderful methods highly enough!!

I did add a few batiks form my scrap bin and a few Black and White prints to make all the colors pop, but the rest are my won hand dyed and sun printed fabrics.  Then I had to cut the piece up!!  Not easy, but I steeled myself  and cut away, to create pockets and two decorative accent panels for the jacket front and back.

The jacket front!

The jacket back! 

 After a good press and a few photos , I packed the rescued piece up and sent it off to my mom in MA.  She is recovering from a heart attack and hopefully this will put a bit of a spring in her step as she returns to her beloved Knitting group and volunteer endeavors.  Everyone loves to sport a new original piece of arty clothing don't you think!  I know that this will look smashing on her and she will be so jazzed about the fact that it is a recycled remake!!