Here's my tute/take on a quilted jacket.
Once you get going with it, it's actually pretty easy, but if you get confused, don't hesitate to ask me in a PM.
1. Get your sweatshirt. Any color that will compliment the colors that you are going to use. I have a gray one because that's all I had. This one is going to be mine and I really don't care if the gray doesn't match all that well.
Make sure the sweatshirt is a bit bigger for you. You really don't want your jacket fitting all that tight. I suggest maybe a size larger.
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2. Remove the ribbing from the sweatshirt. I preferred to rip the stitching out, but if you want to cut the seams, that's fine too.
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3. Once all ribbing is removed. Lay the sweatshirt out on your ironing board/space and iron a good crease up the side to where there would be a side seam. Once that is done, cut up the crease until you reach the underarm of the sleeve.
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4. Remove the stitching from the sleeve, both around the arm hole and down the side of the sleeve.
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5. You may have this sort of stitching at the front of your shirt, just rip that out too...it doesn't hold anything and the stitching comes out pretty easy.
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6. Last but not lease, take out the shoulder seams. Now you have it all taken apart.
7. Lay out the front part of your shirt, fold in half carefully and iron down the front. You might want to measure to make sure you have the exact middle of the front. A "whisker hair" off won't matter, but inches WILL matter. You don't want a wonky front!!
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8. Once you have the middle of the front, cut the crease. Now you have 2 halves.
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Now the fun begins!!
Pick out your fabric. I used 14 fat quarters for mine. 14 different prints/solids. You can use different fabric or you can use 6 of the same, 2 of the same, doesn't matter. This is your jacket, make it the way you want.
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Cut your fabric into strips. I preferred using 3 inch strips, but if you want 2 inch strips or 1 inch or 5 inch, it's up to you. All depends on how big you want the squares on your jacket.
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I decided to make a bit of a design with my strips, so I took 7 strips and sewed them together, then took 7 of the different fabric and sewed them, so I had 2 sets of strips sewn.
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Once you have these all sewn, cut them again into strips the SAME SIZE as the original strips. If you cut your strips to start at 3 inches, then you will cut the sets at 3 inches. If you cut at 2 inches, then the sets will be cut at 2 inches and so on and so forth.
I failed to get a picture of the strips cut, but you can see them in the following pictures.
Are you still with me???
Now that you have your strips cut, it's time to start making the jacket!
Keep your strips in seperate piles so you don't get them jumbled up. I only have 2 piles, so it makes it pretty easy for me.
Take one of the front pieces. Lay it flat and take one of your strips and lay it at the middle of the front...the long cut that you have. If your strip isn't long enough, no worries, just sew another strip to make it long enough!
You can either sew onto the fuzzy part (inside) or the not fuzzy part (outside). It doesn't really matter. I like sewing to where the fuzzy will be the inside of the jacket. It's all up to you, like I said, this is YOUR jacket.
Oh, make sure that you use the SAME color thread that matches your sweatshirt.
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Pin this down and sew 1/4 inch seam right at the edge.
Take your next strip, lay it next to the one you just sewed down. Audition it so it is in the perfect spot that you like it at. Make sure you have at least 1 1/2 of the squares (if you cut your strips at 3 inches) overhanging at the top. Once you have your strip where you like it, lay it on top of the first strip, right sides together, pin it down carefully and sew the strips down onto the shirt piece.
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Once that is sewn down, flip it over, iron it out.
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It's starting to look pretty, yes?
Continue on until you have the entire piece covered. Make sure you have overhang at both top and bottom. I usually make sure I have at least one extra square at the top and one at the bottom. If you are using smaller squares, you would probably need 3 or more for your overhang.
Ok, you are probably asking....What about the armhole? It's a funky shape and I don't know what to do!! Well, just sew a strip over it, it's ok...we like overhang at the moment.
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Now, I have this little area about almost an inch showing. I'm not going to waste a strip on it, so I'm going to use the scraps that was left over from my cutting. I know, it's not going to look all that great, but you'll see...
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Now, the front piece is all covered. Turn it over and you are going to trim up the overhang. Before I do that, I take a bit of Elmers Glue and tack down all the pieces that aren't sewn at the edges. It makes it easier to cut precisely. The glue will wash out, so don't worry.
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Now that you have it all trimmed, this is what you have.
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Now, you have one side done, go for the other side!
By the time you have both sides done, I SHOULD have the sleeves AND the back done for you to see!
I hope I haven't confused anyone so far. If I have, just send me a PM and I'll help you out.