Monday, May 26, 2008

Tany - My plans for a winter coat

Hi sewing friends! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Tany, a Portuguese sewing addict and author of the blog Couture et Tricot. I finally gave in and joined this great sew-along and this is what I have planned for my winter coat:

This model is featured in the Patrones n247 magazine and the original is made of wool with a diagonal weave twill (I’m not sure this is the right word – Marji, please correct me if I am mistaken Thank you Marji!). Here are some detail shots of the coat:

As you can see all the seams are topstitched; I will pass on the topstitching since I plan on using velvet for this coat. Today I purchased the fabric (100% cotton black velvet), and some of the notions, including a beautiful red jacquard lining, the buttons and the satin ribbon for the embellishment:

I will be posting my project notes both here (in English) and at my blog so the Portuguese speaking friends can follow my progress too.

Finally I want to thank Marji for making all this happen and for all the help and support she has been providing to all the participants. With everybody’s help we'll live a wonderful and rewarding sewing experience in which everybody will learn from each other!

14 comments:

Marji said...

Tany, this is going to be a fabulous project, and we're privileged to be along with you while you make this.
(in English, I believe the words you're looking for are wool twill)

Tany said...

Thank you Marji!

Jenny said...

Your coat idea looks beautiful. I love velvet! I keep reading about Patrones and hear it's hard to get in the States. I live in Germany, so I'll have to hunt one down.

Tany said...

Jenny: Hi and thanks! If you live in Germany you can find several auctions for Patrones on the German eBay. These magazines stopped being sold here in Portugal, to my despair. The only way I can get them now is by asking some friends who live in Spain

Dawn said...

I have a fall Patrones magazine. They do have some very cute designs. But, since I don't speak spanish, I figured making one when I have almost no experience with coats would be a bad idea. I'm excited to see your version.

Tany said...

Thank you Alexandra! I hope this will turn out well too; I have been willing to make a velvet coat for quite some time! In the past I've made a velvet dress (dark blue velvet, princess seams, gathered knee length skirt, 3/4 sleeves), a velvet skirt ensemble (black velvet, close fitting jacket and pencil skirt, cut-out apliquee embellishment) and I've used velvet for some collars, flaps and cuffs. A velvet coat will be a good challenge for me!

Marji said...

Dawn, this is probably exactly the place where you should try to pull out a Patrones coat pattern, since we'll be walking all through all the steps together to make a coat, and the lack of instructions won't be much of a hindrance to you.

Tany said...

Thanks Dawn! In case you don't know, Paco Peralta has published a good Spanish-English reference at his blog: http://pacoperaltarovira.blogspot.com/2008/05/diccionario.html. Patrones instructions are not always clear and they are short and lacking information but with some sewing experience the models are feasible. I'd advise you to try some of the easiest models first so you can get used to their instructions and the way the patterns are drafted (no SAs, different notching system, etc). These patterns are built with more wearing ease when compared to BWOF's patterns so a muslin is always advisable.

Tany said...

You're quite right, Marji!! And we have some Patrones experienced participants who will be willing to help along the way!

Nancy K said...

Great to have your expertise here Tany! This is some group we've got going! 75 people is just amazing. I am so excited to be participating.

Ann Made Studio said...

Tany I love your garment choice - fabric / notions and all. It will be beautiful:)

Tany said...

Thanks Nancy and Ann, I share your excitement!

nancy2001 said...

What an elegant pattern. The black velvet and buttons are wonderful choices.

Tany said...

Thanks Nancy2001. I will try to make a coat that I can wear no matter the ongoing trends so I looked for a classic and timeless design. Yet I believe that velvet will be a very trendy fabric next winter.