In the Pink

Work is, officially, still kicking my butt right now.  

But that doesn't mean I haven't been stealing minutes here and there to sew.

It just means those minutes are fewer and farther apart, and that sometimes, I choose to use those minutes to gork on the couch with Nutty Bars instead.

The back of this coat needs a belt/sash, but it's wearable for now.

This friend needed some loving, and I couldn't make him wait.  : )

The Details:

Pattern: Sewaholic Robson, minus the storm flaps, shortened by 8 inches, and with pockets raised by 1 inch.  Otherwise; Sewaholic Robson.  Sizewise, I cut a 10 through the shoulders/bust, and graded to an 8 at the waist and hips.

Fabric: hot pink wool and poly polka dot lining, both from Fabric Recycles, a local fabric store that buys and resells stashed fabric and notions

Notions: medium weight fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply, 16 buttons, 2 spools of thread, copious amounts of steam, chocolate cake, yard beer

Time to complete: about 3 1/2 pounds (see above re: chocolate cake and yard beer)

Necessary tools: bamboo point turner, big block of cedar fencing and a couple of pieces of oak hardwood flooring scraps to use as clappers, steam, steam, and more steam, and a walking foot.

Sources referenced: The Singer Sewing Manual, by Mary Brooks Picken, copyright 1962 (ish), The Sewtionary, by Tasia St. Germain, copyright 2014.

So, about this coat: I decided I should try bound buttonholes.  

On a coat with eight button holes.

Try them, they're fun! my mom said.

Spoiler alert:

Fun! would've been one.  Maybe two.  Perhaps even three.

Eight was work.

 

Enter stage right: The Sewtionary.  I ordered this book in April or May, and the pictures are really nice.  I love that the samples she used to demonstrate techniques were on patterns I already owned, or at least was familiar with.  After a couple of tester buttonholes, I was good to go and knocked out the eight buttonholes pretty quickly.  Use lots of steam to press the bulk flat is the only tip I'd pass on that wasn't in the book--otherwise I'd give it 5 stars: great eye candy + informative + useful.

The problem came when I tried to make life harder for myself and line the coat.  I used the same basic coat pattern pieces, but cut the back piece on the fold, and folded in the excess seam allowance into an inverted box pleat.  Then attached the facing pieces to the shell, and attached it the jacket as you would in bagging a lining.

And, um, I hadn't yet cut the windows for the backs of those button holes.

I wish I could tell you I figured out a trick that may change your life, but really it was careful marking, cutting, and 2 evenings of handstitching on the couch while watching The Roosevelts on PBS.

Tip to change your life? Cut and press those windows before attaching the facing? Or handstitch the lining to the facing after the button holes are done?  Your guess is as good as mine, as I am not motivated right now to experiment with that.  Leave tips the comments, please!  

Easy pattern addition: a petersham ribbon hanging loop.

(Stole Repurposed the ribbon from a Boden shoe bag.)

Sleeve cuff tab!  

And finally, we all know it: Hidden polka dots are the next best thing to exposed polka dots.

Maybe even better.

I've got polka dots that you don't even know about.

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.