I have been wanting a new Baltimore Ravens Jacket ever since I sold my previous one because it was like 12 sizes too big (I lost 50 lbs last year). I guess I have bad timing because all of the jackets in my size that were to my taste are sold out - and they were like $175.00 anyway~!... So I decided I would make one for myself. So I started the hunt for a pattern.... That search was difficult as well... See I wasn't exactly sure yet of what I wanted the jacket to look like, which is a common issue for me when I start with a "Blank Canvas" because there are limitless possibilities and I have to really go through many thoughts to narrow down my desires. So, after a few weeks, I decided I wanted Bomber style jacket, and during my looking for patterns and materials, I had the fortune one evening of finding a blank jacket that I could sew all of my designs onto. During these weeks, I was widdling down the jacket style, the material of the jacket I wanted, coming up with ideas for layouts, wondering whether I was making the jacket from scratch, or buying a blank... ANYWAY, so that evening, I actually found two jackets I liked, so you will see them both here as I make them. The ripstop nylon jacket came first, so I started working on that one. Here is where I began, and I will keep posting until I'm done.
This is my drawing plan that I came up with for my jacket. The first Jacket I am making here is a variation of this design. This design has a background of a simulated football field, a large Ravens head logo patch, a field goal post, and the lettering "Baltimore Ravens" You'll see how my first jacket mimics this design simlarly. However, you will notice that the football field in my first jacket is basically a replica of the Ravens' field. (artistic license not withstanding) :-D. Let's get started...
I started off with a gold lettering "Ravens" to practice the new technique I was trying for the first time. I had always wanted to try it, but wasn't sure if I knew the right way, so I checked with a fellow sewer (Marianne) at the office that said she did a lot of applique, and after asking her, I felt confident to try it! I was going to "freestyle" an applique and use a material with pile and an outline font as a base, then mount it on a background, to then be sewn onto the final item (my jacket) with the same applique technique. I added this picture here to show you a picture of my machine, since my blog
doesn't really have one yet.
Here is where I started my "Baltimore" lettering. I decided to do this one in purple, thought the purple might be a better choice after seeing the gold lettering. Using the same material with pile - this is actually furry felt - a whopping $4.99/yd plus 40% off. only needed about 9 inches for one word and 11 for the second, and it's like 20 inches wide, so you can do two words for a $1.50. Make sure you iron on the wrong side though so you don't ruin the pile...LOL...
Sewing out took about 1/2 hour or so. I uploaded the fonts from a font CD I have from Summitsoft and used my digitizing SW to set up the wording to sew out. The SW allows for sizing, set up, and what not.
This is the result of the Baltimore word appliqued onto Purple felt background that will be sewn onto the jacket. I was thrilled at how this turned out and was encouraged to plunge forward... Mind you I was still really "testing" things out, but thought it came out how I wanted, so I decided to use it in the final design.
Next, I wanted to incorprate a football field design, and had already bought a 1/4 yard of a woolblend felt that looked like grass turf, you know, for testing.... Well I sat for about an hour or 2 and designed the field in the SW program...It took two hoopings to sew out, since it was like 20 inches long. This is the start...
I had the field done, and showed my husband, and asked him what he thought. He thougth it would be real neat if I could personalize the field with something in the end zones like what the Raven's have on their field... I totally agreed! Do you see how my projects take on a life of their own???? Now not only was I going to have a football field, I was going to have a RAVENS football field :-D...
Here is the field with the end zones added. I added the emblem at the 50 yard line as well! (see below)
Here is a picture of the back of the jacket with just the three custom embroidered pieces I made today. I have more items and patches that will go onto the jacket before it's done, so I will post those later...
So, what do you think so far?? Even though it's not done yet, I'm still going to wear it tomorrow! afterall, we won our game today. We're 4-1-0 so far this season. Today's win was not pretty, but we'll take the "W". Talk to ya later when I get more on the jacket.
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