Although I love buying new clothes, I also cannot resist a good bargain! I have found some of my favourite suit jackets among the racks at our local Goodwill and Thrift stores! I decided to find some women’s “fancy jackets” at one of these stores. And a bargain I sure did find! These two beautiful silk jackets were under $11 for the pair! I paid $13 for two coffees on the way home.
I decided to rip them apart and in doing so, the darker one had a price tag still in the sleeve for $290!
Once I had them cut up I found a complimentary fabric from my own stash and went to town not really with a plan but with great fun. I kept some of the original seams and button holes. Once pieced in an “abstract” fashion, I quilted it on my longarm machine then did some hand stitching and added some beads. I wondered who had worn these jackets and for what special occasion they were purchased.
Creating art from something that was once so special and then tossed aside probably after one wearing makes the challenge even more exciting. I will never just look for men’s suit jackets again while thrift shopping! ( What a great challenge this would make in my Design Course)
Approx. 18″ X 40″
Al, I’m so glad I may see you hanging around my favourite haunt – the Thrift Shop. (We have Goodwill too in Australia). The silk jackets become a treasure in your hands and get to live a second or third life as ART, a fitting follow on from the first life as beautiful clothing. Long may they reign. I don’t usually find much in the way of silk. My treasure to turn into ART is wool. 100% pure new wool, lambswool, Mohair, Cashmere, Angora, Camel, Alpaca. Quilting with wool is my new thing. Maybe I’ll see if I can find some silk too, because yours looks so luscious!
It is always surprising when we fiber artists take an item and recreate something completely different from it. Especially clothing is doomed to go to the dump so quickly. One stain on a silk blouse, – gone. One little hole on a jacket, – shred it. I wish more people think like you.
Hm, nice job, but I like that second one before it was cut up! haha.
Great finds, Albert! The beads and hand stitching add to the yummy texture of the silk.
LOVE the restoration of these beautiful garments – and the CIC design, a beauty in its own right and the memories will be with you for a long time!