A Post of Its Own

So last week I posted this picture for Me Made May.  I wore it two days in a row, then Missouri weather hit, and we were in the 90's.  Did I stress?  No.  I know that the weather will swing the other way before too much longer, just as unpredictably as ever.  It took a couple of days to get some better pictures, and I still don't know if I've gotten them.  

The facts: 

Pattern: Sewaholic Robson trench

Fabric: 4 yards of 60" wide Organic cotton twill (similar fabric here)
Notions: medium weight interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply, 5 packages of Wright's 1/2" wide bias tape, 1 + 1/2 jumbo sized spools of Guterman thread, 16  7/8" buttons.
Time to complete: 3 weeks of sewing in 1-2 hour bursts
Total cost: about $37 for fabric, $18 for the pattern, $10 for buttons; maybe about $70?  That sounds steep, but if you're considering a trench coat, quick Google-fu reveals new ones run about $250; used about $130 on ebay.

The Details

First off, the pattern is well drafted, and everything fit together nicely.  I was a little stressed when I realized that it is rated an advanced pattern after I had ordered it, and honestly, I wouldn't considered myself any better than intermediate; some days even less than that.  What made it advanced?  I don't know.  It wasn't HARD, but rather intricate, in that each and every seam is bias bound and top-stitched.  That means 4 passes for each seam.  Wrangling all the heavy material once the shell was together was also tricky, but not hard.  Most of the mistakes I made were the result of lame decisions on my part: not marking the button/buttonhole placement until after it was put together, accidentally sewing a button through the middle of a pocket, deciding to buy more binding rather than piece together my remaining bits.

So, maybe I would rate it as intermediate-plus.  Not hard, but requiring endurance.

Also, I made a straight size 8, without making a muslin.  The numbers fit my measurements fairly well, and with other Sewaholic patterns, I've used an 8.  The style is a fitted trench, and I lucked out--it fits perfectly.

I used a cotton twill, which technically isn't waterproof.  I'm still trying to decide if I want/need to Scotchguard it.

What are your thoughts on Scotchguarding?  Yes? No?

I hate floppy facings, so to avoid future Botox, I slip-stitched the facing to the jacket.  Not that my stitching is in anyway less than perfection, but if it were the case, these stitches would hypothetically be covered by the back storm flap.

I strayed from the pattern directions here in order to avoid catching my ring/watch/random finger on any part of the sleeve hem that may stick up.  The top row of stitching on the bias binding is the only row of stitching that appears on the front of the sleeve.

I used a closely spaced zig-zag stitch to anchor the belt loops. A small child could probably hang from these with no problems.

Although the pattern calls for 3/4" buttons, I upgraded to 7/8" buttons because I liked them better.  I wasn't sure if the smaller buttons would look underwhelming.  Truthfully, I like big buttons and I cannot lie.


What I'd do differently next time: 


It will be awhile before I have time or hopefully need to make another trench coat again, but here's what I would do differently:

• not attach interfacing into the seam lines of the collar and or undercollar.  That is some thick seaming there, even though it is graded and trimmed.
• Cut the belt correctly.  Stupidly, in order to handle my fabric easily, I laid my pieces out and then cut it to a manageable size.  Which is dumb, but I don't have anywhere I can lay out 4 straight yards of super wide fabric for pinning and cutting.  I KNEW the belt had to be cut on grain along a fold, but late at night, I cut off the section I was saving for the belt.  I ended up salvaging the belt by cutting a size 6-ish belt. Don't tell anyone, and they'll never know.
• Figure out a better way to bind sleeve seams.  My sewing machine does not have a free arm, as it is set in a table.  I was able to attach the binding with my machine, but had to hand finish the binding on the other side.  I'm complaining, just be aware that it takes a little something special to hand bind  a double layer of thick twill with poly blend fabric.

In a nutshell, it's not perfect, but I am elated! My friends and family were honestly surprise that I had made it (which I take as a compliment), and even though I'm coming out of trench coat season, I know it will get a lot of wear again in the fall.  If you're debating this pattern, I highly recommend it.