Vintage Embroidered Linen Jacket

The wind has been blowing.

The snow has been falling.

But I have had spring on my mind.

This is what it looks like from here.

But I have been busy working on an embroidered linen jacket for spring.

Something to throw on when I work in the garden.

I can also see myself wearing this on a picnic with Hubby.

We love picnics.

But I am getting ahead of myself here.

Spring seems so far away today.

I found this little jacket in my favorite vintage store. I think I paid $6 for it!

It is the softest linen. With real bone buttons. When I iron it, it releases a scent of fresh mown hay.

I love linen. And Flax. And 100% cotton. Fabric Love.

But you can see, it is very plain.

I used a dark linen floss to embroider a cross stitch onto some of the seams.

The rest of the stitching was done entirely in back stitch.

Even the flowers.

To make the back pattern, I simply used a cardboard template, 5"x8", to draw a rectangle with a pencil directly on the linen.  I measured to find the middle, then found the middle of the jacket back and lined them up.

I just drew the flowers in freehand. As you can see, they are thistles. I used a soft moss green for the leaves and stems. I also filled in with the same dark linen color I used for the cross stitching. I used blue and purple for the thistle flowers.

I then stitched the 'frame' in dark linen using the back stitch.

The jacket had lovely pieced seams around the waist and the bottom of the sleeves that I cross stitched.

I also used the dark linen floss to stitch around the collar and pocket top seam using a back stitch.

Soft natural fabrics with prominent seams work best for this technique.
Less than perfect design and stitching give it a vintage country look.

 

 

I hope this inspires you to look for your own vintage clothing to embellish. Simple stitches and soft colors add up to Vintage Love.

 

Now, if only it would stop snowing!