Quilting on Unconventional Material: Mccall’s 7695
Originally published with the Modern Quilt Guild on January 14, 2019.
One of the best things about southern living is that the temperature only falls below 30 ° for a few weeks during the winter months, and if we are lucky, we may see snow for a day or two. Of course, that means, that heavy winter coats are not necessary for my essential wardrobe. Since heavy winter coats are not a basic wardrobe necessity, and I believe quilted outerwear looks good on me, the most recent DIY was a no-brainer. Because I own a dark green quilted bomber jacket and a bright red quilted knit sleeve jacket, I felt that adding a brown piece to the mix would be great.
I selected McCall’s 7695 because Palmer Pletsch patterns usually include great guidelines for fit adjustments, which is helpful if you do not fit the standard pattern block (and I rarely do). After ordering several swatches from mood fabric, I settled on the brown-fashion weight faux leather, mainly because I love the darker brown shade. However, I was strongly considering this warm brown faux leather bonded to cream a shearling. This fabric option would have eliminated the need to baste layers of fabric together before quilting.
Let’s talk about project materials. If you are not accustomed to doing leather projects, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind. First, get yourself some wonder clips; using pins to hold your pieces together is highly discouraged. Once you puncture leather with a needle, the hole remains forever! Now, this may not seem to be a big deal at first, but depending on the texture of your leather, small holes in various places all over your finished project is noticeable. Also, it gets pretty hard to pin through leather plus layers of fabric, so wonder clips will eliminate that problem. Second, take your time when sewing. It is true when sewing any project, but it is especially true when quilting on leather. Again, once you put a hole in a leather piece, there is no going back. Last, but certainly not least, I highly recommend that you use a walking foot and teflon foot for leather projects as it will ensure that the fabric moves smoothly under the presser foot and along the feed dog.
I decided to a do a combination of view A and C. I wanted the high neck collar from view A, with the pockets from view C. I made a toile first to check fit, which led to me shortening the length of the vest by three inches. I also made an armhole adjustment as it fit too tight under my arm on the toile.
My quilting sandwich consisted of the brown faux leather, warm and white cotton batting, and lightweight, inexpensive quilting cotton. For the lining, I used blizzard fleece fabric from JoAnn. For the most part, I followed the instructions, but I did deviate a little. For instance, I did not hand-baste the three layers together (remember what I said about holes in leather); instead, I used my basting spray to hold the three layers in place. I also did not quilt one large piece of fabric and then cut the main parts from that large quilted piece. Instead, I drew a large square around each pattern piece. I cut out the square and used it to cut the batting and backing. I basted the three pieces together and then drew my quilting lines using my chalk roller. After I finished quilting, I used a damp towel to remove the chalk lines and then proceeded to cut each piece for sewing.
I did give the vest a good press after I finished it. I made sure I used a pressing cloth because I did not want to damage the faux leather. All in all, it took me about an entire day (as in 8 hours) to complete this project from cut to finish. This pattern is excellent for anyone who has not sewn outerwear before. It is pretty straightforward if you sew up one of the views on the pattern envelope. I see myself wearing this a lot during the winter, and I cannot wait to pair it with my heavier winter sweaters.
