My Favorite Things Coat

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen jackets...
Fabrics that press with a nice shot of steam,
These are a few of my favorite things!

Well, there is nothing like not blogging in a really long time, only to come back with a wool coat in July.  In full disclosure, I have been sewing a lot of pink things lately, and am keeping my hypocrisy and shame to myself.

But THIS coat, I am in love with.

I love it.  LOVE it.

This is my second go-around with this pattern.  The last version was a couple/6 years ago, not blogged, but worn a lot.  It's a good length for errand running--I don't sit on it in the car, it doesn't choke me, and the sleeves are short enough I can keep it on in stores without overheating or knocking crap off shelves.  (This is beginning to sound like I have a terrible life; not true!)  It's kind of cape-y, but not!




Pattern: Simplicity 5415 (copyright 1964)
Fabric: green/gray wool coating, gray bemberg for lining
Notions: interfacing from fashion sewing supply, two different weights
buttons salvaged from retired coat

In anycase, the old version was getting pill-y, and the wool blend was never really great to feel along my neck, and well, it was Catholic school uniform plaid.  Or at least, my Catholic school uniform plaid. So it's literally a step up when I say this new version reminds me of my high school coat.

The green/gray wool is something I purchased at Fabric Recycles, along with the gray bemberg lining, but not together.  I had originnally planned to reuse the navy lining from my old coat, but that was a bitch to take out, and I realized I had enough of this, so that was that.




I did a couple of things differently this time:

1.  I added single welt pockets at the front.  A jacket without pockets is not a good time.  Last time I added patch pockets smaller than illustrated, and they were very useful.
2.  I used bound button holes, using the spacing from the longer version.
3.  I added a hanging loop.  Which is really cool, but very underwhelming when typed out like that.

Cool change #1

Cool change #2

Cool change #3

And might I add, I've figured out how to do the bound button holes with a lining without teaching my children eight new inappropriate words.  Ignore the next part if you don't care, this is a note me for next time.

Dear future Joanne: 
Cut and press the windows on the lapel facing, but don't slip stitch  the sandwich closed.  Bag the lining.  THEN finish slip stitching the button holes. It's okay to have flappy windows in the facing till you get back to them.  Also, you actually did the top button hole all the way, and it was okay.  : )

PS.  Interfacing the window hole didn't work--it was too bulky.  
PPS..Whack the crap out of finished button holes to make them lay flat.  Like really.  People should come running to see what the noise is.  And steam.  Lots.

Pockets are lined with leftover polka dot scraps. (Secret polka dots)

And two more pictures just because:

Hands in pockets...

...and blurry back.

My oldest son took pictures for me, and you have to hand it to a kid who doesn't ask why Mom's wearing a coat and long-sleeved shirt with shorts when it's 110 degrees outside.

Out-of-Season Sewing

As far as I'm concerned, the only downside to sewing out of season is pictures. 

 I, for one, am perfectly fine catch-stitching warm layers while sitting in sweet, air-conditioned loveliness.  I'm fine steaming wool hems safe in my basement while tornado sirens whine outside.  I'm even fine ditching sewing projects to go swim or ride bikes, or road-trip for a couple weeks, because Lord knows, I'm not in a rush to finish.

But venturing outside in the hot, muggy, Missouri July in long layers is not something I'd rush to volunteer for.

Even the camera fogged up after two pictures outside.  True story.

Pattern: Butterick 6169

Fabric:  Theory High Risk Red wool coating,  acrylic lining from inherited stash

Notions: Atom red 18" separating zipper, medium weight weft interfacing, 1/4" shoulder pads and sleeve heads, each trimmed to thin a little more.

This was not my first rodeo with this pattern; the first version was in chambray, which I loved in theory, but in reality just felt a little limp.  So when I saw this sweet, soft wool online, I knew they would work well together.  

Again, I used the sewalong to add sleeve heads and bag the lining.

And you know, not being in a hurry, I went full force.  I block fused all the pieces, and when the shell was complete, catch-stitched all the seam allowances to the interfacing. That's a lot of seams.  

The lining is this funky stuff I inherited from my grandmother's stash.  I'd originally passed it up when we first started going through everything, but my mom spotted it and set it aside. It's a little creepy/charming, but it grows on you.   There were about 4 yards of it, and while originally I'd planned to use it with some green wool I have, I kind of like it here.  I don't know where it came from, but it's not without its faults--there were a couple misprints where the red wasn't aligned right, and double printed on one stripe and completely missed further down. Perhaps it was a factory second?  

Can you see the line of double printing?  Both misprints are in the sleeves.

When Kansas City had a garment district, you could go down to the factories and buy overstock yardage, remnants and trims, and I know that was something she liked to do.  This has kind of a nubbly texture, but is light-weight, like rayon, and holds a press nicely. I did do a burn test just for fun, and it melted, making a hard, black, irregular bead.  Some burn charts further classify acrylics, but I think we can just agree it's synthetic and call it a day, right?

In any case, I'm saving this coat for another day.  My youngest is looking forward to sweatpants and hot cocoa, and we'll just park this over there for awhile.  Maybe I'll work on a scarf to go with it.

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.