The Chateau Velvet Reverse Appliqué Jacket

​Increasingly, Pinterest is my go-to place for fashion inspiration. You can search decades, genres, or designers and thousands of pictures come up – you may end up looking at designers you've never even heard of. I've had a gorgeous coat, designed by Eloise Ptito-Echeverria, pinned to the top of my fashion inspiration page for months. I kept going back to it and one day it hit me - I could do something similar with the Chateau Coat! When a gorgeous cranberry Wool Melton arrived at our door I knew it was time to bring my idea to life. Read on to learn how I created my version of a Chateau reverse appliqué jacket. 

The original jacket was light and bright in a gold, pink and red combination. I wanted my jacket to skew darker for the winter and I loved this incredibly soft, geometric print Wool Melton, which is still available in the Rust colorway. Part of the appeal for me of the reverse appliqué' circles in the original coat is the crinkled texture that contrasts with the smooth outer layer. I found a gorgeous Tie Dye Velvet that had both gradations of color and texture. Though the colors of the two fabrics are similar, the velvet reflects the light in a totally different manner from the wool, creating a visual contrast. 

​After cutting the Chateau pattern out of the Wool Melton, I randomly chose where to place my circles. I will demonstrate the process using a sample piece of fabric, as it is hard to see on the larger pattern piece. I used multiple sizes of circles as an added design element. To begin, I used a Chalkoner to trace circles - for the large ones I traced a cereal bowl, the smaller ones were a mug and teacup. 

After tracing, I simply cut out the circles using scissors. 

Once my circles were cut, I used the pieces as a pattern for the velvet insets. I added a ⅝″ seam allowance around the circumference of the circle. 

​The velvet is a woven and could possibly unravel in the future, so I finished the edges on a serger. 

I matched the round pieces to the coordinating openings, pinning and basting around the edges. 

I used an edgestitch foot to stitch around each circle. 

​I used a tapestry needle and acrylic yarn in lime green for the embroidery. I kept it simple with a chain stitch that mirrored the curve of the dot and then branched off in different lengths. 

Instead of adding a stitching feature to the sleeves, as my original inspiration did, I decided to add a design element with a 2.5″ border of the velvet. The wool melton worked well with the overlapped seam method, but I was concerned that it might start to unravel along the cut edges of the front lapel and bottom hem. To combat this, and also to add a little extra design detail, I added a front facing and bottom border in the velvet. I think you can definitely see the inspiration coat in my final design, but the additions of the velvet also add a Paul Poiret-like look to it. I love how luxurious the coat feels with the cozy wool and soft velvet! For some people, this may be considered a "dressy" coat, but I have a feeling I will be wearing it a lot this winter!