The Great Coat Sew-Along

I am done

2011-02-28T22:17:00.003-06:00

Finally, after a long hiatus, my new winter coat is complete.

The details,

Butterick 4665, now out of print, wool melton cloth, with silk tie fabric lining both from Fabric Mart, I think. Some stash buttons. My sewing skills were a bit rusty but things gradually came back to me. I have worn the coat out in the snow in Toronto. I have knit a lot of scarves to go with the coat over the last couple of years, it will be a pleasure to get them out and use them. I am quite pleased with the fit. I feel ready to start another coat or jacket. It does look like my pressing could be better.

Thanks to everyone on the blog who helped me through this and also my husband who photographed and told me how things were fitting that I couldn't see in the mirror.

Welcome to The Great Coat Sewalong

2009-12-25T08:32:00.005-06:00

I'd like to welcome you to view the process and progress of a number of sewists as we've journeyed together to make well tailored winter coats in a venture I titled

The Great Coat Sewalong.

Along the way everyone who's participated has put themselves forward and given and accepted advice and encouragement. Especially I'd like to thank, for their added input and participation:
Linda F - administrative blog stuff
Lindsay T - editing and administrative blog input
Els of the Sewing Divas for her wonderful advice, well written tutorials, as well as for sending over those wonderful sleeve heads.
Tany and Paco Peralta for beautifully written and illustrated tutorials.
Ann Steeves and Kathleen Fasanella for input and allowing links to their tutorials.

And every participant for putting it all out there.

If you are a member of this Great Coat Sewalong and are still sewing (some of us are, you know), you still have posting and commenting privileges.

If you are an observer viewing this for the first time, enjoy! There are links on the sidebar to various different aspects of this sewalong, from sources to a list of who's making what pattern to links to posts with some guidelines. Be sure to scroll way back to the beginning to see what went into the preliminaries, prior to cutting into the fabric. The effort many members put into fitting will be an eye-opener.

If you are not a member here you will not have the ability to comment or post to this blog. If you'd like to comment on an individual's efforts you may follow the links provided in their own posts to their individual blogs. Many of the participants also can be found in the message boards on Stitchers Guild and on Pattern Review.

Have fun!
Marji

*Please note that while you are free to avail yourself of the information contained herein, and you are free to link to this blog on your blog, please note that none of this information may be copied or reproduced. The exception is that content of each participants post's may be duplicated only by the creator of the post, and he/she has the right to publish it wherever they please.

A Gallery for finished Coats

2009-11-30T19:38:00.001-06:00

In the wearable muslin category, Digs got it down, July 13. See more pics and full post here.

Line honors go to Summerset, who finished her project early in October.

Posted Oct 13, 2008

By Summerset, Vogue 2873 Final post here

Posted Oct 22, 2008

Digs Burda 7856 (in addition to or in place of the major project that is in the works)

Posted Nov 12, 2008

KayY's coat. Vintage Pattern. Vogue 2671 Dior Coat. Pattern Review here

Posted Nov 13, 2008

Lindsay T's coat. Vogue 7978 Pattern review here

Posted Nov 23

Tany's coat. Blog details with further links here

Dawn

Ann of Anns Fashion Studio

Ann of Gorgeous Things

Cennetta of Mahogany Stylist

Liana's cashmere coat

MaryPatR

Erika B

Melissa of Fehr Trade

Digs

Digs

Cafe Couture

Still under construction (as far as I know):

Claire S.
Gaylen
Gry
Heidi
LauraM
Lisa
LisetteM
Mary OK
Marji
NancyK
Patti
Rosemary
Sigrid
Susan (fabricluver)
Zoubida

A Second Coat

2009-03-20T16:05:00.005-05:00

I have completed a second coat using V2449. This is a tweed from Emma One Sock, trimmed with a charcoal wool melton and leather diamond appliques.

It is now the first day of Spring and the coat will be put away until next Winter!

Finished my coat, better late than never!

2009-03-19T16:49:00.004-05:00

Here is my finished coat. Finally, with issues along the way. I have now posted a review of it on PR and on my new blog.

Mary OK's finished coat

2009-02-15T11:02:00.010-06:00

Mary OK's coat with Marfy design inspiration.

I finished! Here are some pictures with the coat worn over the suit I wore when fitting the muslin. It is a bit too snug in the arms and across the shoulders, perhaps because I did not anticipate how much room the lining would take up, especially with flannel underlining the body (but not sleeves) of the silk lining. Oh well -- it will look better over a dress or sweater!

I am very pleased with the result, and I have learned so much as a result of this project. I am very grateful to Marji for setting up the sewalong and to the many others who shared their expertise: Tany, Paco, Els, and the many many participants who commented on fit, construction, and other aspects of the project.

The eggplant wool melton is from Gorgeous Fabrics, and is the same fabric Dawn used. The silk lining, collar velvet, buttons, and thread are from GStreet Fabrics, Rockville, MD. I used vintage hair canvas from my mother's stash to interface the front and the lapels, and of course, I used all of the fantastic coat notions - shoulder pads, sleeve heads, tape, wigan - that Marji supplied last summer. Dog hair is courtesy of my yellow retriever mix, Abby!

Some details:

2009-02-04T06:19:00.002-06:00

I'm so close to finishing I can TASTE it! Next up: Hem coat (I basted the wigan in place last night). Insert lining, with a narrow strip of contrasting silk between lining and facing. Sew buttons.The lining is assembled, so I hope the pieces will go together quickly.

Claire S. - starting again

2009-02-03T19:55:00.003-06:00

Well, after the holiday rush in Nov & Dec and the big clean-up and organizing of my sewing room in January, I'm starting on my coat again.

I have the back done - underlined and and sewn together with the shoulder stay piece attached.

I stalled on the front - bound buttonholes or not. I decided NOT - or I may still be working on this coat NEXT winter. So I'm going to go with the snaps, I could have regular buttonholes made later if I want.

My next step is cutting out and attaching the hair canvas to the front pieces. Possibly in the race for last place, but now making forward progress anyway.

Help!

2009-01-31T19:53:00.001-06:00

I've just posted photos of my muslin over at my blog GMarie Sews. Please go take a look and let me know what you think.

Your opinions and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

Progress, finally

2009-01-26T10:52:00.002-06:00

I have finally cut out and interfaced my coat and started sewing the lining. I got waylaid by shoulder problems and then surgery. A whole lot better these days and I am getting some sewing done. I will post pictures when I am further along. Right now I am trying to decide whether to add buttons or not. My dh bought me 2 large buttons on ebay from my favorite jewelry designer. I really need to decide soon if I want to make bound buttonholes, or I'll be taking it in to Jonathan's to make machine made buttonholes because my machine will never work on this thick fabric.

Progress update

2009-01-25T21:11:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry to say my coat project isn't soon to be finished. I worked on it more than 80 hours and yet, I'm at step 25 out of the 75 steps on the instructions sheet.

Saying I'm discouraged is, at this point, an understatement. I realise I shouldn't have selected such an advanced pattern, I was way too optimistic and too confident.The fitting took me an anwfull lot of time. Then I spent an other awfull lot of time testing and trying the traditionnal tailoring of the collar and lapels, only to abandon them for soft tailoring after I realised I can't possibly choose such a slow route or I will spend the entire year working on this coat alone. Then I practised a dozen times bound buttonholes on the very thick wool I use for the coat until I felt I got them down to a T only to end up with a mediocre result on the coat itself. The flap pockets do look OK from the outside but beware looking at the pockets from the inside... Again, mediocre result. These were successive blows to my sewing mojo and confidence since I practised so much and got them just right on practise fabric scraps and then messed them up on the coat. Very disapointing.

I wanted to throw away the whole thing and start sewing kitchen towels at least a dozen times lately. Finally, I decided to be more stubborn than the difficulty at hand and I'm determined to finish the coat. Only, I won't hold my breath... I will most probably take it easy, and not try so hard. May be I need to step away from it for a while, hide it under my bed or some more secluded place, then return to it after I successfully sew few easier, faster, more rewarding things (like kitchen towels ;-))

Right now I'm stuck at the underarm gussets. My hesitation has to do with insecurity after my sad performances on the coat itself despite my tests efforts for bound buttonholes and flap pockets and also because I don't feel I truly understand how the gussets should be stitched.

I suppose I could say rendez-vous in a few months. I can't even say in a few weeks (let alone few days).

Meanwhile, all the beautiful coats I see here are totally inspiring. You all did a great job. I can fully appreciate the amount of work and skills it takes and I say Brava to all of you.

Cafe Couture's Dress Coat Finished

2009-01-23T14:37:00.012-06:00

Hi everyone! I would like to thank you all for your presence here on this blog, such a pleasure to sew along with you all:) I appreciate all the tutorials posted here and thank you Marji for accepting my humble participation:)

Here's my finished coat (actually finished in end october). The only one I finally decideded to sew, as I had problems with the second coat's size grading. Grading a pattern is not an easy thing to do for me and the result was only dissapointing.

Well, let's now focus on my dress coat :) It is actually a short sleeved coat whih I wear with long black wolen gloves, like in the pics above.

This is a vintage Burda pattern from the 1975 and I loved the style. I just altered the pockets and moved the belt above the waist line.

I loved to sew it beacause it's kind of unique and the back is original too.

Here are some details:

And this is the original pattern:

I've Only Just Begun

2009-01-19T20:47:00.004-06:00

I've finally gathered all of my supplies - except maybe shoulder pads, which I thought I had ordered with my samples and other supplies, but. . . . I did purchase some at JoAnns today. I don't know if they will work, but they will be a start. I ordered interfacing today.

I also managed to trace the important pattern pieces for a muslin. My goal is to press and cut the muslin after work this week and get it to photo stage before the weekend.

When I purchase the wool from Ann, she said I didn't need to worry about pre-treating. Should I take it to my local dry cleaners to steam, or will it be fine? Also, how should I pretreat the lining? It's poly? Machine wash & dry even though the coat will be dry cleaned?

I've stalled on converting the sleeve to two pieces. I'm not sure if I'll carry on with that or just use the one piece sleeve since I don't really understand the significance of the sleeve being in two pieces. Okay - off to cook dinner.

still working

2009-01-19T18:16:00.002-06:00

Digs and Melissa, Congratulations! It is encouraging to see the new coats pop up on the blog.

I'm still working on mine. Today it feels like I'm rounding the corner. The pieces are beginning to go together and it is looking more and more like a coat.

IMHO, the best thing about bound buttonholes is that they are DONE! I'm looking forward to not having all the stress of working buttonholes in a finished garment. I expect to finish mine by the end of January.

I have conquered Stalingrad!

2009-01-19T09:38:00.007-06:00

Yes, it's done at long last; I wore it for a test stroll yesterday and to work this morning despite the fact that it's still missing one front button (the local store should re-stock by week's end). Yesterday's photos clearly show the uneven, temporarily pinned up hem with lining peeking out - but all's finished now. I posted a Siege of Stalingrad review for it on Pattern Review. The whole pictorial story can be viewed on my flickr site under the Vogue 1266 set.

This is my 3rd GCSA coat. It was certainly the most complex and time consuming one of the lot. I've learned a tremendous amount during the entire 6-month exercise. Thank you, co-sewers for all your ideas, tips, and process descriptions! And, thank you very much Marji (HUGE BOW), for starting this blog. There's no way in a million years I'd have thought of making a coat without it. Now I see that making a coat doesn't have to be any more intimidating than making a well tailored jacket. Isn't that the best lesson for all future sewing?!

How did I do in comparison with my wishful thinking of last July? Well, I did make the McCall's 5247, but only in a lightweight tartan twill, not the cashmere, which I decided to save for a more interesting pattern. I did make this Vogue coat; I didn't even begin the Burberry-wannabe trenchcoat, but spring is still far ahead; and, to my great surprise, I found a raglan-sleeve Burda pattern for a fun little impromptu short coat that was easy to make and is super comfortable to wear.

OK, who else is still working on their coat? De-lurk and let us rah-rah-rah you onwards!

I finished!

2009-01-14T05:46:00.004-06:00

After months and months of inactivity, I managed to finish this, my first ever coat, while it's still cold outside!

If you'll remember, way back in May I laid out what I wanted from this coat:

As far as my coat needs go, I walk to work about 35 minutes each way every day, and my commute takes me over the very windy Tower Bridge! So I need my coat to be very windproof and warm (which I think the Thinsulate will provide) but also very long so my legs don’t get too cold. I know from experience that the wind goes right through jeans and corduroys, and god help me if I’m wearing a skirt!

I can safely say that I've succeeded! This is by far the warmest coat I've ever had - even when we had gales on the river a few nights ago, I didn't feel a thing through the coat (though I could through my scarf and double socks, ugh!). The walking ease really helps, too - unless the wind is blowing directly from my left, the flaps stay closed of their own accord and my legs stay extra toasty. It's not particularly fashionable and the shape isn't exactly flattering, but it's warm and that's what I wanted!! I feel I could join the Russian army with this coat with just the addition of a fur hat...

I've got a ridiculous amount of photos and way, way more backstory on everything I did with this coat over at FehrTrade.com! Thank you again, Marji!!

Conquering bound buttonholes and interlining

2009-01-08T07:30:00.002-06:00

Like Digs, I'm still working on my coat, but at least I'm making progress again!

I got as far as the material gathering, muslin fit and alterations, and even sewed together the body pieces of the coat before I lost momentum in August. The half-finished coat has hung in my sewing room ever since, taking up valuable space and making me feel bad every time I glanced at it, but the abnormally freezing cold temperatures we've had in London have made me jump back in with both feet to get this finished, because I could really use this on my daily walking commute to work. I've got a RTW long wool coat, but with the wind and extreme cold we've had, I can feel the cold through what I've got now (the papers are gleefully reporting that, at -10C, London is colder than Antarctica right now, and I've lost count of the number of Russian-style fur hats I've seen out and about).

My biggest stumbling block, and the reason my progress halted was that in order to proceed, I had to make the bound buttonholes, which I've never done before, and quite frankly, was scared of. But I'd learned to make welt pockets recently and I figured these were essentially like tiny welt pockets, so that gave me the confidence to finally sit down and try.

Here they are as I pinned the first lips onto all the basted placement lines, with three pins per lip!

After making ten of these for this coat, I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I'm certainly not scared of them any more!

Even back in May, I knew I needed to make this coat extra, extra warm to withstand my daily windy commute, and the way to make a coat warmer is to interline the body and upper sleeve with an extra layer. I decided on microfleece as my interlining of choice way back in June after discarding Thinsulate, if you recall...

I won't lie to you - this took forever to hand sew (and I hate hand sewing!) so I'm glad I had several days off work to just sit on the couch with the dressmaker's dummy next to me to work on it. I certainly wouldn't interline every coat in the future, but for a long, thick coat like this, I think it's going to be worth it.

After the interlining was attached, I then inserted the shoulder pads and sleeveheads, and shaped and attached the collar pieces.

Notice how the white pocket bags in the third photo are on the interior side of the interlining so my hands should be nice and warm inside!

So it's looking like a real coat now, but I still have to finish constructing the lining, then I'll attach it by machine to the top and sides, and finally hand sew the hem and sleeve hems! If you're reading this and you haven't gotten as far along on your coat as you'd liked (and I've not seen anywhere near 100 completed coats here, so I know Digs and I aren't the only slackers!), then step forward and do something on your coat, anything, to get your momentum going again! I was once like you!

(I left out some bits here, so if you'd like to read the full account, head over to FehrTrade.com)

Erica B's - McCall's 5766

2009-01-06T22:19:00.002-06:00

Here's my finished coat! Here are all of the details!

MaryPat's Completed Coat

2009-01-06T16:05:00.005-06:00

I finally finished my coat and proudly wore it to a friend's for dinner the first day!

The fabric is a mostly wool tweed in charcoal and brown with a copper fleck and lined in a grey/brown stripe. Both fabrics are from Emma One Sock and I believe were designed to coordinate. It is interlined with a flannel and has Kasha Satin sleeve lining to avoid bulk.

The pattern is an OOP Vogue pattern # 2449. I changed it considerably, but it was closest to what I wanted. It has a front dart, back princess seams, welt pockets and a back vent.

The coat I was wearing previously saw me through my last pregnancy and wasn't new then, so a new coat was definitely in order.

Thanks Marji for sponsoring this Sewalong. I haven't posted much, but have lurked a lot and wouldn't have gotten this done without it.

There are some more pictures of the completed coat and the construction on my blog if anyone would like to see more. http://merrypatter.blogspot.com/

Progress at last!

2009-01-01T19:56:00.004-06:00

January 13th update: Progress has been slooooow. As soon as I completed the side seams, I deliberately started dragging my heels. Why, you ask? because the very large side seam pockets destroyed the line of the coat and added about 30 kg to my hips. It took a while to convince myself that remedial action was essential (in this case, NOT a visit to the gym). By now I've ripped out the side pockets and reconstructed the side seams. Much better!

The bound buttonholes are made, but their matching openings on the facing not yet. Neither are the single welt pockets on the coat fronts: last night I had to dye some silk jacquard & organza for new pocket linings and facing buttonhole lips. But once those two things are done, I can sew the shoulder seams, set in sleeves & collars, and sew everything together. The undercollar is nicely padstitched, and the facings, underlining, and lining all integrated into a silk-lined microfleece undercoat. Then, just the sleeve & bottom hemming, and buttons. My progress is incrementally tiny each day. The windchill will be -34C tonight, -36C during the day tomorrow, and actual temps are to drop to -31C by Friday: I want to wear this baby already, and start my California-bound wardrobe.

Original post Jan 1st: Finally. Oh yes. I have 3 - count'em - just three nearly to-be-uninterrupted days left before I return to work. I hope to have my Very Serious Siege of Stalingrad Coat all but done by then. My little family New Year's Eve skate yesterday (brrr!), and the temps hitting -20C overnight, said: it's Time! it's Now Or Never! During the holidays I also did a little psychoanalysis aka self reflection, and realized what was holding me back: construction of the lining is always SO anticlimactic for me (hugely booooring!). I couldn't face that, SO to avoid the anticlimax, I started with the innards of the coat instead. Hooorray!!! Today I cut & sewed the lining, cut out the windblock underlining, got at least partway to having it constructed (might even finish before the night is out), and pre-treated the string which is going to be the lining trim (inside a gold coloured satin ribbon).
Oh yea. Oh yes, yes yes. I'm going to have a new coat before the week's out. A nice, long, all the way down there to the ground, made in Canada for a truly spanking Canadian blizzard, Eskimo-survival coat. Yea. Arctic blast, you say? bring it on, baby!!!! I'm going to face 40 below and enjoy it!!!!!

Liana's Coat is Finished

2008-12-31T02:49:00.003-06:00

I got photos of the coat on me, so I'm adding them at the top of this post.

Link to All Photos in this Post

I got the buttonholes finished today, and now I'm completely done. I'm very pleased with this project. I don't have any photos of me wearing it because I dropped the camera on a cement floor while I was taking these photos, and that was the end of that!

I don't think you can see the shaping very well on the form, but it has a very nice, subtly slimming line, and has a lovely shaping to the side seam area, even though it doesn't have side seams as such. Marfy drafting shows its excellence once again, at least in my opinion.

The lining is silk charmeuse, and I used the same corded-look whipstitch with DMC floss to attach the lining to the body of the coat as I used on the pocket linings. I also attached the monogram circle to the right front lining in the same way.

Here's a close-up of one of the buttonholes. I used the same DMC floss to make them as I used on the lining, etc.

The stitches are fairly large, and even at this scale they tend to disappear into the pile of the cashmere. I love the way the bead on the edge of the lips makes a perfect line, and I think the variegated floss adds just a little spark to it.

Here are the buttons buttoned through the buttonholes.

I want to thank Marji for spurring so many of us to start and finish a coat project. I know I would not have attempted such a complicated project with so many new techniques without her encouragement and knowledge.

Vogue 8438 - Finished Part III

2008-12-26T20:17:00.001-06:00

For the past four years I have been fortunate enough to make at least one winter coat per year. Last year, I made a coat for the first time for DD; the year before that I made my sisters coats for Christmas; and three years ago I made a coat for the first time for myself.

Last Spring Marji created a blog called: The Great Coat Sew Along. She invited fellow sewists to participate. Each contributor selected a coat of their choice, posted the various stages of making it, and published the finished coat. Several bloggers and members of PR become contributors to this awesome movement. The Coat Sew-Along is a great source of encouragement and allow each participant an opportunity to take advantage of several tutorials posted on the blog. Big Thanks to Marji for creating and maintaining the site.

At the beginning of the year, the blog will be made available for everyone to view. Several people are still working on the final stages of their coats.

I finished my coat on Christmas Eve and am happy to post my final review of the process.

Pattern Description: MISSES’ COAT AND SASH: Loose-fitting, lined coat, above or below mid-knee has princess seams, front snap closures, shoulder pads, center back pleat and side seam pockets. A, B: ruffled collar and collar band, two-piece sleeve. B: purchased belt. C: standing collar, sleeve with cuffs and optional sash.

I made view A.

Did it look like the drawing: Yes, it did. I added a few inches to the length and made some fitting alterations.

Where the instructions easy to follow: No problems there. Typical instructions for putting together a coat with princess seams.

What did you like or dislike about the pattern/coat: The thing that drew me to this pattern was the "flower petal" shaped collar. I'm always looking for patterns with odd or different accents. The other thing that drew me was the sleeve variations. The sleeves for view C could easily be exchanged between a variety of coat patterns.

After I attached the collar to the coat, I fell out of love with the coat thinking the collar was too big for me and the coat. This back and forth with like/dislike happens occasionally as I go through the process of finishing a garment.

My sister saw the coat Saturday, and she just love it! Especially the collar! She already put her bid in for a swing coat made of "beautiful" wool. No hurry, next winter is fine.;-)

Fabric: Bright Navy - Lightweight Melton CoatingBright Navy - Lightweight Melton Coating purchased from Ann's Gorgeous Fabrics. The lining is a brocade from Hancock. I didn't underline the coat so I thought the brocade would help fight against the strong Chicago winds.

Preparing the fabric: Before pre-shrinking the fabric, I trued the grain making sure the cross grain was perpendicular to the lengthwise grain. Then I folded the fabric in half and basted the parameter. I didn't want to go through the trouble of pre-shrinking it myself. So I sent it to the dry cleaners.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: First I made a muslin to check the fit. Then I transferred the observed changes to the pattern. After posting the muslin photos, I noticed I hadn't sewn the correct seam allowance for the center back seam. Instead of the usual 5/8 inch allowance, the pattern called for about 2 inches seam allowance.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Not for myself. The collar is so unique that I wouldn't sew this version again for me. But I would recommend it to others. It's a fairly easy pattern to follow for a stylish coat.

Conclusion: I'm back to my original thoughts about this pattern. It's stylish and offers a unique collar to a otherwise standard design. It's a nice pattern to try. I wear my new coat on Christmas, everyone love it!

Here are all posting related to making this coat.

Ann's Cashmere Coat - Finished

2008-12-21T09:36:00.002-06:00

I feel kind of like a loser girl. I have been enjoying reading everyone's posts, but I haven't done any posting on my progress. Mostly because, typical of any of my projects, nothing happens and then,wham! it's done in a flurry of activity and flying fabric bits. This coat is no exception. So I give you my finished "Michelle Obama Coat", Vogue 8548:

The shell fabric is a wonderful cashmere that I have had in my stash for a couple of years. I lined it with a brilliant painted silk charmeuse. It's one of those surprise linings that makes me smile and will probably cause comment when I take my coat off.

I posted all the construction details on my blog. The cashmere was tricky to work with. You need to treat it like a napped fabric, and use a gentle touch when pressing to avoid unwanted imprints.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. I was inspired by Erica B's version. This is a really great pattern and I'll be wearing it with pride for Christmas.

Happy sewing!

Alterations and Fitting Vogue 8438 - Part II

2008-12-20T18:53:00.001-06:00

Finally, I'm able to post the alterations and fitting of my Sew-Along Coat, V8438. The pattern alterations were relatively easy. I had to make a FBA and a sway back adjustment. With princess seam style garment I usually don't worry about adding width across the shoulder blades in the paper pattern alteration. As I'm cutting out the garment I add a little more to the seam allowance just in case.

Here I made a sway back adjustment on the back and back lining pattern by folding out about 3/4 inch.

On the side back (also used for the lining), I gradually increase the amount to be removed as I moved toward the seam allowance that joins the back pattern.

On the front and front side pattern I made a FBA.

The adjustment were also made on the front facing and front lining.

Fitting - Front view - No gaping at the front closure across the bust line.

Back view - No horizontal lines across the back. The stitching at center back seam of the collar and the lower center pleat will be removed after the final press.

Side view.

I've already attached the front facing and lining.

Here's a view of the under collar. When I had the coat on the stand on the coat felt a little droopy. But I think I can live with it.

Tonight I plan to hem the coat and attached the lining to the sleeves.

Stay Tuned...,
Happy Sewing!
C

Ann's - Burda 7855 - "Complete"

2008-12-15T20:23:00.005-06:00

I am so pleased - I finally finished my coat.

........................................................Looking at Bradley(my dog :))!

The coat went together quite nicely with no complications.

The style changes I made were minor: I made bound buttonholes and made single welt pockets.

..............................................................................................................................................................................

I used a decorative stitch on the lining hem and then sewed the lining to the coat by hand. (at the hems only!)

.....bound buttonholes and my buttons from The Button Drawer.

......single welt pockets

.........back vent detail. I didn't really notice the instructions for sewing the lining to the back vent - until I was actually sewing the lining to it. The pattern instructions for the vent would have you cover the vent opening, as illustrated in the picture. I didn't care for this, so I ended up modifying the flap lining. I clipped into the lining so I could then stitch the lining around the opening. I've done this before and so I'm pretty sure that the look I ended up with for this vent is not how it should end up looking like - however it's the best way I could think of to finish it, so the vent flap could freely open without being attached to the lining. It's also a shorter vent since I shortened the coat by 3 1/2 ".

I'm very very happy with this coat and I love the fit. I'm so pleased how it turned out and even more pleased with the fantastic information I gained from -

Paco's and Tany 's tutorial - Thank you so very much to you both for sharing your time and valuable information!
Marji - Taking this project on was a huge undertaking and you did a fantastic job. Thank you.
It was a pleasure having so many people from all over the world come together for such a project. It was fun and I enjoyed seeing everyone's jackets come together.
More posts here!

Finished trapunto

2008-12-10T12:27:00.005-06:00

I have changed my mind about this coat so many times. I finally decided to use some soft black wool twill from stash and put a celtic knotwork design down the centre in trapunto. Well, I have the trapunto stitched with batting and stuffed with acrylic yarn for some more depth. Now to cut out the coat!
It is a OOP Vogue pattern, #2449.

Fortunately it is a timeless style and will still be wearable in years to come. However it won't match the scarf I knit in the summer.

Dawn: Done!

2008-11-27T16:56:00.004-06:00

Forgive the not-great photos. I have a cold and pink eye and my husband has don't-like-to-stand-outside-and-take-pictures-of-wife-itis.

Me as a flasher. Just had to show you the inside. :)

Lots of details here on my blog and here is the review on PatternReview.com

MaryPat's progress

2008-11-27T12:01:00.002-06:00

Well, I am still here and still working on a coat. I have just finished a very busy period at work, which left no time for sewing or anything recreational except, apparently, eating. I tried on my muslin today, to find that is doesn't do up any longer. Fortunately for me, I began two coats. I guess I will continue on the looser one and focus on losing some of this extra weight so that what I have done doesn't go to waste.

Dawn: Making Headway

2008-11-24T22:29:00.002-06:00

I've made a bit of progress on The Coat and I thought I would post a tip. I used those garage sale stickers to keep the right side and wrong side sorted out. This is dark purple melton wool and it's hard to decipher the right side. I figured the best offense was a good defense. I attached these stickers to the wrong sides of the fabric as I was cutting so I would always know which side was which. These stickers barely stick to regular garage sale things so I knew that them leaving behind residue was not going to be a problem. Before I fused on the interfacing, I removed them of course. That, and they amuse me. These stickers say Make An Offer. It's funny to "open" all the stacks and see what's inside. It's kind of like fortune cookies but, with these, you have to be much more reflective because most of them are prices.

I took several full length photos of the coat but they were all blurry, dark, and crappy. So I settled on two that turned out okay. This is the princess seam detailing with one of the belt loops and belt. When I take the real pictures it will have to be outside during the few daylight hours we have.

Is this lining great or what? This fabric is from Gorgeous Fabrics.

All I have left is to attach the wigan, attach the lining sleeves to the fabric sleeves, sew the hem, attach buttons, sew buttonholes, do a lot of pressing, and do a little topstitching. I am using the Kathleen Fasanella jacket bagging series to line this coat. Although, I'm pretty sure the last time I used this tutorial these was another group of photos that actually showed the process of attaching the lining to the sleeves and everything. Anyone know where it went?

It seems like a lot now that I wrote it all out. Hopefully I'll have it done by the end of the week.

Tany's coat: finished!

2008-11-23T17:07:00.003-06:00

Here’s the finished coat:

I was planning to take better pictures of me with the coat on, outside and with natural light but my family came to visit and all my plans have changed, so these are what I have for now (I’ll post better pictures as soon as I can). Photographing black velvet is very hard and the flashlight really changes the coat’s appearance; it looks like it has more reflexes; the coat is much more beautiful in real life and I feel really great wearing it!

You can see more pictures and read a full review at my blog (click here)

Still Here, Still Working - Liana's Coat

2008-11-20T21:35:00.001-06:00

Great idea for the roll call Marji! Thank you. I'm still plugging away on my coat, and although life has definitely gotten in the way, I will finish this.

To answer, yes, I'm back working on my coat, although it's been a harrowing process. I've been somehow unwilling to take the next steps with it, and I finally decided that it's because I don't like the extra I added to the front per Roberta Carr's instructions. After careful looking, pinning and checking of both the muslin and the actual coat in process, I've decided to cut off the extra and go with the original Marfy drafting. I don't know why I thought I should try to improve on them, they obviously know more than I do. Ann Rowley some time ago noted that this was NOT the way coats were done anywhere she's been. They always tape the edge and pull up on the tape if it wants to swing open. After my testing, I suspect that Marfy has already taken the whole issue into account somewhat anyway. So, as usual, I make work for myself that I don't need. Part of this epiphany came about after I pulled out my corduroy/suedecloth Marfy carcoat I made last year and thought about it as I wore it. It's about the same circumference or narrower than the cashmere, and seems to be fine, even though I whacked it off shorter than designed. I had forgotten how much I like it until I put it on again. I do wish I had done padstitching in the lapels, but I didn't really know enough I guess. I'm now wondering if I could do a little remedial stitching invisibly through the back of the lapels and get results. Any opinions, or even the voice of experience?

I also have been working on cutting the patch pockets and flaps, and realized quickly that I really can't match the pattern perfectly since there's a dart that ends below the top of the pocket. So, I'm going to match the front and lower edges of the pocket and match the flap to the pocket and call it good. As busy as the pattern is, I think that will be fine. I only get one chance with this since the repeat is large, and I have to have a pocket and flap that match on each side, and I don't believe there is enough fabric to do another set. I'm going to trace 2 copies each of the pocket and flap pieces so I can place them all before I cut.

So, work is progressing, although not as quickly as I could wish. I don't want to rush though, or try to do tricky things (like match and cut out the pockets) at less than optimum times, like late at night when I'm too tired to realize I'm too tired to do things right.

It's so wonderful seeing all the beautiful finished projects here. I hope we're going to be able to extend the life of this blog until most of us finish.

Jenny - I'm back.

2008-11-20T14:44:00.002-06:00

It's so great to see some finished coats. They are giving me the inspiration to make the trek to the finish line with mine. In September, I found out I'm pregnant and quickly lost ALL desire to sew (morning sickness has that effect on me). Anyway, I'm almost done with the first trimester now, so I'll be getting back to that coat in the next week or so. I have to finish it in time to get some wear out of it while I can still button it!

Gry: Progress of a kind

2008-11-20T02:45:00.000-06:00

Great to see the finished coats and thanks for the roll call.

In my last post I wrote that the coat would be done soon and that I only needed to

Finish the collar
Sew the lining
Hem
Sew snaps on

Hah! The coat is not done yet, even though I really need it now and have begun wearing my old worn-out coat again.

I have worked a lot on the collar. My main problem was to find the right interfacing; I wanted an interfacing that would add a little body to the collar without making it stiff and inflexible. I spent a lot of time visiting different shops and making tests. Els has helped me a lot, both by sending me a set of interfacing samples and by explaining how to make test swatches. I think the main lesson I learned in this process is that you should not be limited by what instructions are given with the interfacing. One of the interfacings I ended up preferring was really intended for silk and much, much lighter than anything suggested by the shop assistants I have asked. From now on, I will save left-overs of interfacing to make samples before I start on new projects.

After a long process I finally cut and made collar and found - alas! - it was too small. I had made the collar larger as Els had suggested in the comments to this post, but not enough. It has taken me very long to make up my mind about whether to cut it again or not since it is only a little too small, but I have decided to do it again. I used silk organza for this first collar which gave the right kind of body, but I think I will use a very light fusible interfacing for the second attempt.

I have made the lining, but have not attached it yet. I have bought snaps and did begin to sew them on, but wasn't quite satisfied with them. They are hard to open and I don't know if I will use them. I work as a volunteer in a second-hand shop and a couple of weeks ago I found a beautiful old coat with a very well-made hidden placket. It is sold by now, but I took pictures of the details (picture below). I am much inclined to try to make a hidden placket after all, now that I have seen how well it can be done in fabric similar to my own.

So this is where I am. I need to redo the collar and decide about the closing of the coat. I really hope to be finished soon - I am very tired of this project and I need that coat.

Vogue2884--almost there!

2008-11-19T10:27:00.003-06:00

Of course, being the Person With No Camera, I have no pictures. Perhaps I will ask my daughter to come take photos over the upcoming holiday weekend.

I finished the wool/cashmere shell (cranberry) and have assembled the lining (a printed silk with hot pink roses and bronzy green leaves on a black background). I've decided I would like to add some thin hot pink piping where the facing and lining meet; it would, I believe, give a more finished look to the garment.

It took me a long time to make friends with fusibles and sergers, because I enjoyed handsewing and traditional methods. I did come 'round, and have enjoyed the speed and ease with which garments can be made (and I am aware that some newer fabrics simply behave better with newer methods). The journey back to traditional tailoring methods and materials has been the second best part of this process--the best is yet to come (actually wearing the coat!).

Still Here

2008-11-18T05:15:00.002-06:00

Hi Marji, yes the shout out was a good idea. I've let my coat slide a bit as well, but it's still going. I got sandbagged with work for the last several months, and have reverted to smaller projects and some knitting which is more portable. The coat is semi-constructed, lining cut out, and all stacked on a chair in my sewing room. Last weekend I finally holed up in the sewing room, but decided I needed some winter pants so took apart an old pair I loved (and wore out) and made a new pants pattern instead. I'll wear a new pair today. Since it's 25 degrees outside, and we have snow on the ground this morning, the coat is more appealing. I don't know when I'll get to it, the yarn came yesterday for my SWAP cardigan and I'm itching to get started on that.

I love looking at the completed coats, and hope to have mine on my blog within the month. Football weekends (at least the kind I travel for) are nearly over, work is getting under control, and the weather has made any idea of outdoor stuff unappealing, so I'll get cracking. K

Ann's Progress

2008-11-17T17:41:00.005-06:00

Hi Marji,

Great idea to roll call :)

I have been working on Burda 7855 and I have made great progress with my coat.

I did blog some on my blog. I guess I've been pretty silent during my progress. I felt that I wasn't really taking great big steps while making the coat, so at the time didn't figure I should post here.
I have the coat and lining done, but not sewn together yet!
From the start I had trouble finding just the right buttons, and just last week, did find what I hope to be the perfect ones. I'm still waiting for them to arrive from The Button Drawer. When they do arrive I will just have to make my bound button holes (a bit out of sequence but still ok) /sew the lining in/ buttons/ hems......take pictures....

Even though it's taken what seems way too long to make this coat,I've had allot of fun.
Congratulations to those who have finished their coats. They all look wonderful and are all very impressive!

WindPro as sew-in interfacing?

2008-11-17T12:26:00.003-06:00

One of the advantages of having made the little Burda coat recently is that it allowed me the wearing experience of an interlined garment. I think I'd have preferred it if the interlining was attached to the coat itself rather than the lining. Since my big coat's interlining is a very stable fleece, Windpro from Malden Mills, I'm wondering if that wouldn't suffice, if pad stitched to the fashion fabric, as interfacing support? I realize this sounds a little unconventional - would any of you like to weigh in and help me think this through? Thanks so much!

Michelle L. Stalled for a Long Time, but Forging Ahead Now

2008-11-17T07:39:00.003-06:00

I am working on the now-out-of-print Vogue 7988 for my fiance.

For a long time, I was completely afraid to cut into my fabric, because I felt completely overwhelmed and like I didn't know what I was doing.

I also spent a long time reading through some more books and internet resources on men's tailoring. But the best thing I did was I bought a men's coat from the goodwill and completely dismantled it so I could see how it was put together.

After that I was ready to cut into the fabric, and I am in the process of doing all the padstitching.

I also had to purchase a buttonholer for my sewing machine. I tried on scraps of fabric to make the buttonholes by hand, but I am a dismal failure at handmade buttonholes. I can make them on the machine, but I sew on a Singer 401 and 603, so no computerized buttonholes, I had to wait for Ebay to come through for me. Fortunately, it didn't take long.

There is a template for keyhole buttonholes, and I am sure it does a much better job than my shaky fingers do.

Now that I am "forging ahead" I will have some photos of coat progress soon.

Tany's coat: setting in the lining sleeves

2008-11-17T06:14:00.008-06:00

Well, these are the last images before showing you the finished coat; at this point I still have to finish hand sewing the lining to the facings, sew the french tacks to the hem and stitch the buttons in place (besides cleaning the lint out of the coat!)

The lining was applied following the instructions in the Reader’s Digest “Complete Guide to Sewing” book so you may need to refer to that book to see additional details and diagrams of the process (I own both the vintage 70’s edition and the newer one and both books explain the process in great detail).

The tailored lining is constructed separately (the sleeves are constructed but not set at this point), leaving the shoulder seams open, and it’s entirely hand sewn to the coat; besides slipstitching the lining to the facings, the lining’s side seam allowances are also tacked to the coat’s side SAs using short running stitches (these stitches should not be visible on the right side of the coat; the needle catches only the SAs). I started by performing this operation on the side seams and then I hand basted the lining to the facings, neckline and shoulders. The lining should also be attached around the armholes using short running stitches on the SAs side. The body of the lining becomes attached and well secured this way. Only at this point we are ready to set in the lining sleeves and that’s what I’ll be illustrating next.

As we did for the coat side seams, the lining and coat back sleeve seams should also be tacked together. To do this the sleeve and the lining sleeve should be wrong side out with the back seams facing each other. The two SAs are basted together by short running stitches, ending 10cm from the sleeve cuff edge:

To turn the lining sleeve over the coat sleeve, I must insert my arm through the lining sleeve and hold to the coat’s cuff, passing the lining through the arm over to the coat’s sleeve:

Before stitching the lining sleeve to the lining, here’s how the armhole looks with the shoulder pad and the “moustache” sleeve already set in place:

Here’s a better view of the shoulder pad before attaching the lining to the facing and shoulder:

The sleeve SAs are turned in (the sleeve cap should be eased and the bottom armhole stay stitched and clipped) and slipstitched using a double strand of thread on the needle for reinforcement:

Now I have to slip stitch the lining to the facings, shoulder and neckline and sleeve hem, remove the bastings, hem the lining, make the French tacks and sew the buttons in place. I will try to get the coat finished by tomorrow. See you soon!

And the responses to the roll call are rolling in

2008-11-16T17:06:00.001-06:00

Dawn has left a new comment on your post "A Gallery for finished Coats":

I have the front and back put together and topstitched (did that this morning). I am just trying to figure out how to do the collar. The pattern directions have you sew the undercollar to the lining and facings and the collar to the coat. Then you sew everything together RST. Is that an okay way to do it? I don't know exactly how to do that whole "Pad Stitching" gig because my coat doesn't fold over, it just has the collar.

Dawn, you're still making this Burda coat, correct?
Check out the illustration on the pattern cover. You do have a bit of a lapel and a small roll line.
In any case, even if you decide not to shape the lapel with padstitching or fusible interfacings, you should be creating some shaping in your collar with the inner structure.
You may want to go back and have a look at Paco's tutorial, or the page from Threads on fusing in the shaping.

Paco's photo
__________________________

Patrice sent an email:
Funny you should email today... I'm working onB5145 now. :) All I have left are buttons/holes :)

__________________________

Adrienne sent an email
Hey Marjorie! I changed my mind COMPLETELY! LOL I plan on working on Vogue 8548 this week! LOL

Lindsay T: Finished my Chanel-style bouclé coat

2008-11-13T15:13:00.006-06:00

I honestly never thought I'd see the day when this coat was finished!

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and this sewalong was a great help. Thank you so much, Marji, for organizing and overseeing it. And many thanks to the experts who posted tutorials here—I relied heavily on your advice.

Stop by my blog for photos of me wearing my coat while shopping in Soho (NYC), my thoughts on the whole coat sewing process, and more detail photos of my coat. Here's my review on PatternReview.

KayY - I'm done!

2008-11-12T19:12:00.004-06:00

I'm checking back in after a long hiatus (my last post was September 7). Since then a lot of stuff got in the way of sewing my coat, and I was making such great progress. I knew it was too good to last! However, I overcame my sewing-related hurdle and had some time, so completed the coat yesterday as I had the day off. There are more pictures on my Flickr page.

When I last posted I was in the midst of the assembly of the shell. That went well until I hit a snag. I had altered the pattern to make it loose-enough for a winter coat and among other things, I extended the shoulder 1cm. This was a mistake. When I added the sleeves, they weighed down the shoulders terribly and made the coat just sag unattractively. I had to do some ripping out, cut the shoulders back and re-set the sleeves. Luckily this was a relatively simple task, just took some mental preparation.

This is what I did inside the shoulder. I decided against putting any padding in the shoulder but I did cut another layer of stiffening following the pattern piece for the shoulder inset (which is shoulder pad shaped). I used 2 layers of the stiffest hair canvas I had, and fused them together using a pressing ham to get the shaping. This pic shows the resulting layer stitched in place by hand. You can also see my home-made sleeve head which I cut out of fleece, using the sleeve cap pattern. This emulates the nice curved sleeve heads that some of you bought - but honestly, they are the easiest thing to make, and if you use your own sleeve pattern they are precisely the right shape and size for the garment.

Here is the sleeve hem, which I did while I had the sleeves off the coat. I used a bias strip of the hair canvas, which is placed over the fold line and extends above the hem edge, as you can see. This supports the hem. In this pic you can also see the black underlining (mystery fabric) which I hope will block the wind.

And the hem. It is faced, using lining fabric. I cut a 3" (or so) wide strip, following the hem edge of my coat pattern pieces. The strips are seamed, serged, and then sewn along the lower edge. This did 2 things for me. It allowed me to maximize my coat's length and it avoided bulk. It also made for a nice finish at the facing edge, as you can see.

Here's my lining. It's an odd black-on-black printed Kasha, purchased in Montreal at a warehouse-y place near the highway, where they practically needed a forklift truck to get at some of the fabric way up high.
And a closer shot, showing my pockets and the red strip (lining fabric, cut on grain) which is sewn between the facing and lining. This adds a subtle pizzazz but, more importantly, stabilized the bias facing/lining seam. It won't stretch now.

My coat pattern had NO POCKETS! I briefly considered making inseam pockets but the side seams are very far back and they would have been awkward. So, I just made big patch pockets in the lining. I added a little patch to the right hand one, for bus tickets.

Last but not least, here is the coat with 2 different fur scarves. Bring on the sub-zero temperatures! I'm ready.

Claire S. - Underlining's Done

2008-11-10T21:45:00.005-06:00

The underlining of my coat is done...doing a bit here and there, it took all week. I just finished. These are all the pieces, each showing the underlining side and the wool.

On to the interfacing................

Tany's coat: Now I really understand…

2008-11-10T06:01:00.009-06:00

…why a custom tailored coat is so expensive! The amount of hand work is tremendous, there are many hours spent perfecting little details. And the difference shows, I assure you: the coat is heavier, the collar/lapels are crisper and better shaped and the coat hangs much better when it’s on. As a side note, working with velvet on such a project is really hard; besides the mess (my living room’s floor is always covered with little black spots of velvet fur, no matter how many times I vacuum), the velvet acts like a magnet to all the lint/dust around and it’s looking “dirty” until I brush it in the end, so don’t pay any attention to that!

The collar is nearly finished but I still have to finish hand tacking the facings inside (so there is a little rippling on the inside of the collar but it will disappear once I finish the facings). The following pictures show the collar right after the under collar was set (following Paco’s method, the facings/upper collar are stitched first and then the under collar is first machine stitched to the outer edge of the upper collar, turned to the right side under the upper collar and finally stitched by hand to the neckline and lapel’s corner (turning in the SAs ). I still have to press and prick stitch under the edges, but you can preview the clean crisp look of the collar and lapels already:

I also managed to make some progress on the hems; they were cushioned with bias cut interfacing strips, a little wider than the hem allowances, and set by hand (following the traditional method). I also stitched a wide cotton tape to the hem edge; this tape will cover the interfacing that is peaking out of the hem. I like to do things this way because the lining will be free hanging on this coat. The hem is not finished, just hand basted so I can evaluate it’s final aspect:

Another detail that I want to share is the way that the coat’s waist is slightly eased to the satin tapes on the back; I did this to better shape the waist on the back and to avoid adding a center back seam to the coat, as I had determined with the muslin:

This was the result of a weekend in which all the free time was used to work on this coat; there is still much work ahead: tacking the facings (and finishing the buttonholes on the facing side), constructing and setting in the sleeves, applying the sleeve heads and shoulder pads (I have Els' excellent tutorial to assist me on that task) and constructing the lining and applying it to the coat (I’ll be using the traditional method, so the lining will be entirely hand sewn in place).

Claire S. - I'm missing a step somewhere

2008-11-08T20:51:00.003-06:00

I've only got 2 more pieces to baste with the underlining and can move on to the interfacing.

I've got sew-in hair canvas to be made into interfacing pieces for front/side front under underarm and for the back per Marji's interfacing post - oh, and the collar, too.

The front facing has me stumped - I've gone through all the posts and if there are instructions for the facing then I've missed them completely.

Does it get hair canvas, interfacing, underlining, nothing ?

Someone? help please...

Claire S. - Moving along

2008-11-07T06:49:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in awhile but I AM finally making some progress. Bits & pieces of progress were posted on my blog.

I've cut out all my wool, and flannel underlining and have started basting the pieces together - I was hoping to have them all done by the beginning of the weekend but it didn't happen, so maybe by the END of the weekend ?

Dawn's Progress

2008-11-04T22:10:00.002-06:00

I don't know whether this is something to be happy about or sad but I finally cut out my coat pieces! I am far, far behind. :( I guess life got in the way. Now that it's cut hopefully I'll be quick about sewing it together.

Just thought I'd check in and let people know I haven't given up!

Tany's coat: satin tape and more on the buttonholes

2008-11-02T02:59:00.009-06:00

As promised, I’ll show you some details before starting the padstitching on the coat. For attaching the interfacing, tapes and reinforcements I’ll be referring to Paco’s tutorial.

Let’s start by the satin tapes around the waist, which must be set before the interfacing and after stitching all the vertical seams of the coat’s body; the satin tape is hand stitched because I didn’t want to take the risk of damaging the velvet by using the sewing machine:

Another detail is the buttonhole treatment after basting the canvas in place. The right front interfacing must have the buttonholes cut out as rectangles, slightly bigger than the buttonhole size:

The buttonhole’s SAs are slipped through these rectangles as seen in the next picture:

The canvas is then hand basted to the front; the buttonhole Sas are trimmed, graded and tacked down to the interfacing:

Now I’m ready to start padstitching!

Tany's coat: bound buttonholes

2008-10-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

This is a very time consuming project and I am extra limited because the fabric is black and I avoid sewing black fabrics at night, hence my progress has been so slow. Up to this point I’ve made the buttonholes (the welts were hand sewn in place), sewn all the body’s vertical seams (I left the shoulder seams open), tacked down the SAs and I started hand sewing the satin tape to the waist of the coat. The main reasons for all this hand sewing are: the presser foot could flat down the pile when sewing on the right side of the fabric and avoiding the slide effect when joining two layers when at least one has pile (sewing straight is very difficult because of this sliding effect). I could minor this problem by extra hand basting but I’d risk damaging the satin tape. Hand sewing provides more control and the result is much neater; the only disadvantage is that it takes extra time to get done.

Today I will show you the buttonholes; I used the “window” method, explained in a previous article at my blog (read it here). The only difference is that I’ve hand sewn the welts on instead of topstitching them.

The window method always uses a patch to make the “window”, a small rectangle of sheer fabric on the same color as the fashion fabric. It is placed on top of the buttonhole marked set place on the right side. Then a rectangle (the size of the finished buttonhole) is stitched, using a short stitch setting, and then it’s cut (both patch and fabric). The patch fabric is slipped through the resulting hole to the wrong side of the jacket/coat front, and pressed (see the link to the tutorial provided above for more details and pictures). I used black silk organza for the patch, and the resulting “window” is this (right and wrong side):

After stitching both welts together using a long stitch/loose tension setting, I made a few long running stitches using contrasting thread (basting cotton in this case) so I could see the two welt junction and better center it on the buttonhole window:

In the following picture you can see the process of hand sewing the welts to the buttonhole window (take extra care so each stitch goes through all the fabric layers so the resulting welt is sturdy).

This is how it looks on the wrong side; the canvas will have slightly bigger cut out rectangles at the place of the buttonholes and the allowances you see in the picture will pass through those rectangles when the hymo is set in place on the right front piece. These allowances must be trimmed and graded, and finally tacked down to the hymo. I will share some pictures when I get there.

This is how the buttonhole looks on the right side:

In the meanwhile I’ve started hand sewing the satin tapes around the waist of the coat. I will share pictures when I’m done!

Lindsay T: Progress made, plus a question

2008-10-27T11:25:00.000-05:00

I made considerable progress on my coat this weekend. The body is all done, having been pad-stitched, catch-stitched and machine-stitched; the sleeves are assembled and ready to be attached. Marji, you'd be pleased to know I'm actually getting into making this coat.

I also spent some time thinking about what extra touches I want to incorporate, as the OOP Vogue pattern I'm using is basically a blank slate. I photocopied the pattern illustration and then sketched various pocket and trim ideas. For now I've added two flaps at the high waist and I like the definition it gives my rectangle figure. Fabulous buttons will be a must, of course. You can see one of my sketch ideas at left.

Question: The pattern calls for inseam side pockets. I tried this with my coat and then ripped them out because it made me look thicker through the middle, and I want this coat to have a slim fit. I like the idea, though, of pockets as a place to put my gloves when I'm not wearing my coat. Is a patch pocket inside on the lining a bad idea? Any thoughts?

Nancy K: So much for having all my materials in place

2008-10-26T09:46:00.003-05:00

I finally have all my issues with fit and pattern worked out and was about to block fuse the pieces that will use the same interfacing. I am short! I just ordered some more and hopefully will have it in a couple of days. I am using Palmer Pletsch's heavy interfacing for the under collar, on bias, as I really feel the need for a lot of support so that this collar will actually hold it's shape. I'll use a weft interfacing for the body and facings. I don't like the method of attaching the facing to the lining and sewing it on together. I think that sewing the facing to the jacket gives more control. I also prefer to hem my coats so that it doesn't fall after a while. The method I like for bagging the lining calls for a back facing, so I made a pattern for that.

Digs: A rethink?

2008-10-22T23:59:00.010-05:00

So, fall is all around us, and it's starting to feel cold. Still, I haven't progressed much beyond my two muslins. I decided that my little coral coloured McCall's can wait till spring. By the time I finish it, it'll be too cold to wear it!

The big Siege of Stalingrad will have to get done, but it seems such a huge project! I hate the thought of tackling it. And it's such a SERIOUS coat - black with grey pinstripe.... that coat's never going to have any fun.

So today, looking for instant gratification, I made a little fall number from Burda 7856, view A, to cheer me up.

This is the easiest garment I ever tackled. I picked the size based on the finished bust width (10 had tons of room for me, I have a suit jacket under the coat in the photos here and it still feels roomy), cut, sewed - well no, it sewed itself. I made no adjustments for my height - it's a little longer than on the model, but I like it that way. Because it's wide across the middle I thought it would make me look like the pillsbury doughboy, but surprisingly no, it's cute. I love the big, wide open collar; I also love that this project was practically free: I used a piece of wool coating (woven in black & red giant herringbone, very geometric) I'd bought a thousand years ago to serve as a bedspread/blanket. It's been begging me for another life for years.... Love it - bouncy tough stuff, I felt it needed no interfacing anywhere, but I did interface the under collar. The lining, a silk jacquard with a Christmas motif, and the interlining, a soft knit poly fleece, were Fabric Mart freebies. No design changes except cutting the upper back on the bias, and adding cuffs to the sleeves just for the fun of it. It's SO much easier to "fire all torpedos, full speed ahead" when the fear of wrecking some pricey and delicate piece of cloth doesn't enter the picture.

I've been wearing it since last week, and am happy to report the interlining is keeping my core warm even though the coat's too short to do much for my legs. The oversize beret's a hit: DH said, "it's very Left Bank", and my little son's been stealing it every night! He's asked for one for himself: so that'll be this weekend's project.

The photos, btw, are courtesy of the first snowfall of the season, 11 cm overnight, even before the leaves are off all of our trees. We Canucks DO love our weather.

Mary OK: Bound Buttonholes

2008-10-21T18:01:00.010-05:00

I have spent the last 3 weeks or so learning how to make bound buttonholes. I looked at the references Marji provided, but found this resource to be the easiest for my fumbly fingers.

Susan Huxley. Sewing Secrets from the Fashion Industry.
Search for bound buttonholes to see the text on pp. 92-94. (I LOVE Amazon's book reader!)

left, buttonhole test for center front
below right, buttonhole test for sleeve vent
buttons from G Street Fabrics, Rockville store

Question: are the cf buttonholes long enough?

Tips:
Use the sharpest marking pencil you can find. I used a plain white Crayola colored pencil to draw the lines on the interfacing.

The directions call for 1" strips of bias or straight fabric. The melton fabric seemed to need a little more for turn of cloth. For the center front buttonholes, I used strips 1 and 1/8" wide. For the sleeve vent, the strips are just a hair over 1 " wide.

Use a fine silk basting thread. The finest thread gives the least room for error. Stitch all basting lines by machine and measure before AND after stitching. Do it over if there is even a hair of difference.

Baste the cut folded edges together to keep them from opening out.

Start stitching from the same end of the buttonhole, for both top and bottom.

Count your stitches! Use the same number of stitches top and bottom for all buttonholes.

Check the back -- Make sure your stitching lines are parallel to each other and absolutely straight. Do over if needed.

When you line up the little triangle to stitch over the lips, center it perfectly over the lips. If you don't, the lips may come out uneven on the front.

Nancy K: Not so sure about this coat.

2008-10-13T08:11:00.005-05:00

I have a second muslin finished and I stopped. For several reasons. One of them being I am not sure that I want such a low opening on this coat. The collar is huge, so I was thinking of folding out some of the depth to in both the collar and the separate lapel area so that I can raise the opening. The coat is actually lower and wider than the drawing appears. Though this could be that the coating will take up more room.
The second question: The coat doesn't call for shoulder pads, which is kind of understandable with the monster collar. However, I have a low shoulder and I either need to take up that shoulder and or do a combination of adding a small shoulder pad and taking up the shoulder seam. SB says if you lower your shoulder you also need to reduce the outside edge of the collar. Without a shoulder pad the fold out in the collar would be 1", double the amount I lowered the shoulder, which without a pad is 1/2" front and back. Her book is the only place that I have seen this mentioned. The left shoulder could benefit from a small pad too. This totally eliminates any diagonal wrinkling pointing to my shoulders. Advice please?

Tany's coat: some progress made

2008-10-12T16:21:00.006-05:00

During this weekend I was able to make some progress on my coat.

At this point I’ve cut all the velvet pieces, underlined them with the thin knit fusible that Paco sent me, thread traced them all, cut the canvas interfacing and the lining. I’ve initiated the construction by making the in-seam pockets on the side seams (I’ve decided to maintain the original pocket placement). The pockets are located in the seam that joins the upper side-front and upper side-back (both these panels are to be stitched to the bottom side panel next). You can see the upper lateral here:

The pocket bag is made of a lining part and a velvet part. The lining is stitched to the front panel and the velvet to the back (don’t forget to reinforce the pocket opening) and the finished pocket bag should be set towards the front. You can also observe that I’ve topstitched the front opening, to avoid the lining peeking out accidentally.

Here’s the wrong side:

And another detail of the seam treatment: you can see that I zigzagged the SAs but if you look carefully, you’ll see that the SAs are also catch stitched, so they remain flat and open:

Next I will join these panels to the bottom piece of the side panel. There’s yet a lot to do before attaching and padstitching the canvas to the coat: the bound buttonholes and the waist embellishment (satin tape); I must join all the vertical seams of the coat so I can apply the satin tape to the waist as a continuous tape. The shoulder seams will be left unstitched until the front interfacing and back shield are set in place.

Happy Sewing everybody!

Claire S. - V8346, Lapel Pattern Pieces

2008-10-10T05:41:00.005-05:00

In answer to a question from Marji,

My front, front facing and lapels are 3 separate pieces and look as shown below:

Facing - the white paper is my new seam line after adjustments.

Front and Lapel - you can see the lapel lines right up with the front.

I was/am considering laying a lapel in place next to the facing and the front and cutting each of them out as one piece. I think I'd prefer that to a seam at the roll line.

What do you think ?

Q&A October

2008-10-08T09:04:00.010-05:00

Hi all,
I'm deep into wedding sewing at the moment, so am not quite keeping up with the construction and question notes here. Pls have patience.
Claire and Susan, I appreciate that you've been finding some of your answers by just reading past posts and making use of the internet tutorials out there. Several members here have written excellent tutorials while constructing jackets and coats too - be sure to look at their blogs and use the search function on their blogs.

I can think of several relevant tutorials on the blogs of (in alpha order):

Ann and Els (The Sewing Divas)
Kathleen (Fashion Incubator)
Summerset
Tany

From Claire- Lapels - this pattern has separate lapels (instructions say to cut 4, interface 2 and stitch 1 interfaced piece with 1 un-interfaced piece then turn right side out) - All the example pictures shown so far have a front piece that includes a lapel all in one piece, so to follow the sewalong techniques, What on earth do I actually do with my pieces ?

If your lapels are separate, but together with the coat front piece they look like a coat front that is all cut together, it's perhaps a design issue, but also possibly just a fabric use issue. If the coat front is large (double breasted comes to mind) and the collar is oversize, it's entirely possible the seam is there just to make the cutting layout and the fabric usage reasonable.

In the case of the jacket I'm working on, the collar had a "collar stand" piece - surely a design issue. Anyway, I just interfaced both the collar stand and the collar and seamed them together, then proceeded to pad stitch the roll lines. I would suggest that you think it through and make the decision on how to interface based on what the pieces look like. Where is your roll line? Is it on the seam line? on the lapel side of the seam line? on the jacket side of the seam line?

You can interface separately, stitch the pieces together and then pretend the seam doesn't exist and proceed with your shaping padstitching per Paco's tutorial (which is probably what I'd do, but it's dicey saying that without seeing your pieces).

From Lisette:
I was going to interline my cashmere/wool blend fabric with cotton flannel but the added bulk in the lapel (notched collar) worries me plus I have a welt pocket that extends along the side front and the front and according to Marji I should interface instead of underline. What do you recommend? I'm leaning to just interface with the fusi-knit and forget about the flannel...Can I still padstitch with this method? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need a push to move forward!!

Going back to the information on cutting, and interfacing/underlining etc -
I'd recommend underlining the side fronts, side backs, back, sleeves. The front gets fully interfaced - so it's supported and doesn't need the added underlining. It's also, to a point with most coats, overlapping at the CF along the buttons, so underlining there for warmth is not necessary.

You're right, you don't want flannel underlining in your collar and lapels. Around the welt pocket, I'd stitch the princess seam, mark the welt pocket, cut the flannel out of the side front (your fronts are not interfaced yet) and fuse an interfacing where the welt pocket goes, make the welt pocket, then catch stitch the flannel interlining back to the edges of the pocket seam allowances. Then I'd apply the hair canvas to the front and proceed. There is a good argument for simply cutting a box out of your hair canvas too around the pocket and catch stitching the edges, although if it's not too much, I'd be tempted to just let the interfacing sit on top of the pocket, between the pocket and the lining.

Lindsay T asked about interfacing the front of a collarless jacket.
Louise Cutting dissected an Armani jacket some years ago and wrote an excellent article in Threads on the front shoulder stay he used (it's not the on-line article about an Armani jacket that Marci Tilton wrote). If you have that issue, please speak up. I have it, but it's buried right now and, with the wedding sewing, haven't been able to find it.

Anyway, the gist is, cut a shoulder stay pattern from your front and side front just as we did with the lapel jackets - EXCEPT - the CF line, which would normally be on straight of grain, is placed on true bias. As Louise explained, this puts the neck edge, that you want to stabilize and keep from stretching, on the straight, which then acts as a stay, and puts the area across the front on the bias, which allows for more comfortable movement. Quoting Louise (from a conversation, not necessarily the article) "ingenious."

For your coat LindsayT, you definitely want a shoulder area stay across the front and back. And you want the interfacing to extend into the sleeve seam allowance.

Miscellaneous Construction Notes

2008-10-06T12:17:00.007-05:00

Back intefacing stitched to underlining.
You should have this piece in your jacket regardless of your collar style.
If your jacket is collarless (LindsayT) you'll want to tape the seamline at the neck edge, same as taping line along lapel that Paco illustrated, Except you'll clip the tape along the curve to allow it to spread. Or you may use a fusible bias tape and fuse your neckline stay tape on.
If you have the Singer Tailoring book there's a good pic in there that shows this.

From my tailoring class notes, c 1980
Stitch undercollar to jacket
Pin undercollar side up, stitch from one dot across to other stitching TO dot, not through it, stitch jacket side up.
Now clip to dot (not into dot), Turn undercollar around corner, pin again, dot to dot, matching dotes carefully, and stitch, backstitching on both ends.
stitch upper collar to facing.
in same manner.

To attach Facing to Jacket
Set jacket on top of facing making raw edges even. Match all markings, Pin, then hand baste right on seamline.
Don't ease too much facing to Jacket, or else facing will roll out to jacket. If jacket side is larger ease it to facing below waistline. Above waistline facing should be larger than jacket.
When stitching slightly stretch vertical front from waist to lapel corner.
At point, stitch to "one stitch away" from corner, with needle down turn work in machine and take 2 diagonal stitches across corner, then with needle down turn again and stitch remainder of lapel, to dot but not through dot.
Pin collar to undercollar from CB to corner, baste, stitch same as for lapel, cutting diagonal at corner.
Trim interfacing from undercollar and neck edge seam allowance
Trim sm allowances to 1/4", Grading so that longer seam allowance is on the public side. This will mean that at the end of your roll line along the front of the jacket you will switch the grading. Above that point the sm allowance on the facing side will be the longest, below that point the sm allowance on the jacket side will be the longest.

Method for hemming.
I hem my sleeves, then hand stitch the lining at the hem, before setting the sleeves in to the jacket.

Stitch hem allowance to wigan.

Claire S - Have I used up my quota of questions yet ?

2008-09-30T19:43:00.009-05:00

'Cos I've got a few more...

Muslin - done, cut apart & ready to go
Flannel underlining - preshrunk (4 times !) pressed, straightened & ready to go
Wool flannel - london shrunk, pressed & ready to go - NOPE - it's not squared up

DH & I tried to straighten it by pulling, no go. So I checked around the 'Net and found some possibilities. It went into a sink of water with Euclan (sp?) for 20 minutes, spun once in the washer and 'then' pressed while damp, stretching to straighten it. NOW it's straight - hopefully to stay that way.

I'm ready to lay it all out and here come the questions...

- Wool - I cut all the pieces (front, side front, side back, back - sleeves, collars & lapels)

? - Flannel underlining - I cut side front, side back, back and sleeves - ~~Since there is a front facing, do I also cut an underlining piece from the front, or not ? The facing piece is only about 1/2 the width of the front piece~~ - OK just re-read the underlining/interlining post - no front underlining

? - Interfacing - following Marji's interfacing post, I'll have to make interfacing pattern pieces
Full front piece, top of side front, - using Marji's diagram
Side back, back - using the diagram from the Tailoring book included in Marji's post
Will the front facing be interfaced as well ?

? - Lapels - this pattern has separate lapels (instructions say to cut 4, interface 2 and stitch 1 interfaced piece with 1 un-interfaced piece then turn right side out) - All the example pictures shown so far have a front piece that includes a lapel all in one piece, so to follow the sewalong techniques, What on earth do I actually do with my pieces ?

This ought to be enough to get me through the next step.

Thanks everyone - as always, any advice is appreciated.

Lisette M: Back to work!!

2008-09-29T18:52:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone!

I'm finally back to working on my Burda WOF coat. My fabric a cashmere/wool blend tore nicely to check the grain and I will take it tomorrow to have it steamed at the cleaners. I started transferring all the changes to my patterns that I made to the muslin. I'm also reading all the wonderful tutorials that have been posted that will guide me through this project.

Marji, how do you recommend I pretreat my silk jacquard lining?I can't find any reference on how to treat it.

Hope to have some more progress soon!

Guide: Pockets

2008-09-29T08:55:00.002-05:00

Inseam Pockets
Welt Pockets
Patch Pockets

There isn't much I can do to improve on this chapter on tailored pockets at the Vintage Sewing site, mostly having to do with various types of welt pockets, and a bit on patch pockets.

There are also countless welt pocket tutorials around the net. If you've written one you'd like to have included here, please post a link in the comments, and we'll make sure it gets into the body of this post.

A note about inseam pockets - you'll want to fuse the fold line using a woven straight-grain fusible tape or strip of interfacing

Patch Pockets:
My preferred method of attaching patch pockets

Assemble the lined pocket
Cut lining just a hair smaller so that it is recessed behind the fashion fabric layer
Topstitch the pocket if topstitching is desired
Hand baste the pocket in place on the front of the jacket
Flip the jacket front over, to the inside
Beginning at the top corner, using doubled waxed thread, stitch pocket to coat/jacket, as shown.
At the end of the pocket (after working all the way around, for this quick sample I just did a few stitches) reverse direction of stitches and retrace outside edge of the pocket, crossing the initial stitching line.
Back at the top, reinforce with extra stitches both vertical and horizontal.
The stitches will be invisible on the right side; however if while working your stitches you flip to the right side and pull the pocket away from the stitching line to see what is happening, this is what it will look like.

It's my opinion that patch pockets that are topstitched onto a coat front tend to look a bit as if they're "stuck on." I know this is more hand stitching, but it creates a much neater pocket application.

As a parting shot, an interesting link: An article by David Page Coffin on tailoring a mens coat from Threads

Guide: Buttonholes

2008-09-29T08:48:00.001-05:00

Because bound buttonholes must be made at the beginning of construction, you need to make a decision about buttonholes early on in your construction process. If you're going to make handworked or machine worked buttonholes, once you've made that decision you can forget about them for awhile. If you decide to make bound buttonholes, then you need to work those in the front before you stitch your shoulder seams or side seams.

Buttonholes:

Bound buttonhole - make these before front facing is attached, then finish back through facing after garment is fully assembled. These are a hallmark of a finely tailored women's coat or jacket. You will not find these on men's coats.
Hand worked buttonhole - these are worked after garment is fully assembled.
Machine worked buttonhole - these are worked after garment is fully assembled

You have the choice of making Bound Buttonholes, appropriate for women's coats, and the time to make them is before the jacket is put together. Because your entire front should be interfaced with the hair canvas or interfacing that you're using to support and shape your lapels, it is a good idea to put your buttonholes in before applying the hair canvas. The hair canvas should not be sewn into your bound buttonhole. It is appropriate to add an alternative interfacing in the area of the buttonhole.

For any method you'll first need to mark your coat front with a "ladder" to make sure that your buttonholes are consistent and lined up. Using thread tracing stitch the CF line, then a line for each end of the buttonholes - so you now have 3 vertical lines. Then you'll add the horizontal lines to mark the placement for each buttonhole.

3 methods of bound buttonholes:

What I call Patch and Wrap - I'm honestly not certain if there is really a name for these. After the patch is cut through the center, the patch is wrapped around the seam allowances in the center and stitched down.

Summerset has already written a great tutorial for this here
Simplicity has a clearly illustrated tutorial here
A tutorial for another patch method may be found at Vintage Sewing site.

Corded Bound Buttonholes: Does anyone have an illustrated source for the old fashioned way to make the corded bound buttonholes? The type where you make a corded piping, then sew the piping to the buttonhole box, cut the fabric, then turn the corded piping through and stitch the triangles on the ends?

Hand worked buttonholes
I chose to make hand worked buttonholes for my military style jacket, made with a cashmere/wool blend coating weight wool. I just thought that bound buttonholes would not be in keeping with the style of this jacket. And, just to show you that I'm along with all of you, I'm having to make samples, work on technique, and practice some of this stuff that I don't do often. I'm going to post pictures of the first sample buttonholes I've been making for my jacket. It's obvious that I need to practice. But, I'm showing you my first and second buttonholes here - which are pretty miserable. Thankfully, by the time I got done with my 6th they're looking much much better. If you click on the picture it'll get large enough to see.

These are the epaulettes that go on the shoulder. I made one set that came out lopsided, even though I carefully marked my seamlines, so I used them to practice the topstitching and buttonholes. The topstitching is by machine, using a 5mm stitch and Madeira Lana thread. I'm very pleased with the look of the topstitching. I had to experiment with widths from the edge.

I made my first hand worked buttonhole using Madeira rayon embroidery thread. Too shiney, and the stitches were really uneven. The second buttonhole I tried using Madeira Lana thread, doubled. Too heavy, although I like the matte finish of the thread on the wool, and again, I still need a lot of practice with the handstitching.

Next I tried the regular Gutterman All purpose thread, doubled and waxed. The thread buried so deep into the wool that it didn't look as if there were any buttonhole there at all. So then I tried a single thread of the Madeira Lana wool thread. It's what I ended up deciding to make in the epaulettes.

I've made the buttonholes for the epaulettes and stitched them onto the shoulders of the jacket. I'll practice more before making them for the front. I'm being realistic, even the 5th and 6th hand worked buttonholes I made weren't anywhere near perfect enough for the front of a jacket. But the epaulettes will never be unbuttoned, and those buttonholes will not show. I did want working buttonholes up there, I think it's better looking than just popping a button on top and stitching the end of the epaulette down.

Machine Worked buttonholes.
All I can say, if you're planning on making buttonholes by machine is "Sample sample sample!" Practice before you make your first one.

Fabricluver: Attaching wigan?

2008-09-28T09:46:00.005-05:00

Could you give us more information on this please? On your blog (Marji) you state "attaching wigan at hemline - stitched to side seams and hand stitched with running stitch along fold line. Still needs to be pressed to fit shape of hem."

I can see that you cut it to match each pattern section and that it is sewn to each piece before the side seams are joined. It looks like you have left about 5/8" below the hem line and the bulk of the wigan above the hem line. Is this correct? Does the running stitch come out later? How is it pressed to fit the shape of the hem? It looks as if there is a lot of wigan above the hemline.

As I'm sure you can tell, I've never used wigan before so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

***Edited to add: I really should Google first. Found it here

Response From Marji

Susan, that's a great resource link you found.

As far as the wigan I'm using, and what went out in the packages that I sent, it is the lighter weight 3" wide wigan that Kathleen talked about.
Kathleen is a professional coat maker, so I'm sure her information is more correct than mine. I do it the way I was taught back in the 80's by a European tailor, so my photos may look a tad different than hers.

I use a 3" wide wigan for a 2" hem, and attach the wigan over the fold line so that it is included in the folded hemline.
I cut the wigan to the lengths needed at the hemline of each body piece. I then use chalk to mark a line 1/2" over the edge, and stitch that to the hemline. In this case I hand stitched it, right along the fold line using stitches that do not go through to the right side, and those stitches will stay in.
I then stitch the wigan into the side seam

The wigan is a stiff bias product, and may be shaped with pressing just like a bias binding tape.

Els: Sleeve Heads Tutorial

2008-09-22T20:44:00.020-05:00

As promised I would do a small tutorial how to use the sleeve heads.

The sleeve heads are sewn at the armhole after the sleeve is set in. You can see that the left and right side of the sleeve heads are different in length and shape.

If you fold the sleeve head at the shoulder notch (small slit) you will notice that one part is longer and has a more angled shape at the end, the longer length needs to be placed at the back side of the armhole, the shorter part needs to be placed towards the front side of your jacket or coat.

I am making a jacket from a silk tweed which I ordered from Melody (fashionistafabrics) I used a very thin stretch fusible interfacing for the whole jacket and sleeves.

I use 3/8 inch (1 cm) seam allowance at the armhole and sleeve, and have used a fusible bias cut tape to stabilize the armhole.

Pin the sleeve head shoulder notch matching the shoulder seam, with the edges matching from sleeve, armhole and sleeve heads.

You can sew the sleeve heads into the armhole while you are removing the pins or you could baste the sleeve heads in first which I did here for an example. I used orange basting thread and basted over the stitching line from the set in sleeves.

Sewing the sleeve heads in with the sewing machine and sew a hairline away (towards he seam allowance) from the previous stitching (sleeve inset). The sleeve head is placed towards the machine bed so I can see the previous stitching from the set in sleeve. I used a 3 mm stitch length which is just a bit larger than my previous stitching to set in the sleeves

view from the sleeve head the basting thread is still visible.

Remove the basting thread, the seam allowances are heading towards the sleeve.

Done.

Fabricluver: Supply package question

2008-09-21T07:46:00.006-05:00

Marji - or anyone

In the supply package I purchased from Marji there are two 1/4" pieces. The black is the stay tape (at least it looks like stay tape) but the white 1/4" looks as if it has shiny fusible side? What is this? Where do I use it?

Reply from Marji, who's breaking into your post to reply ;)

I included both fusible AND sew-in stay tape - use one and save the other for another project, another time.
I didn't want to have to sort out who was using fusibles to do their shaping, and who would be going the handstitching route, so I included both in the package.
Actually, I used the fusible straight tape to stabilize my in-seam pocket line.
If you have fusible stay tape and aren't using it for anything else, the pocket is a good place to put it, OR you may use a strip of fusible interfacing to stabilize that line - the fold line for the inseam pocket.

I have the posts almost ready to put up on bound buttonholes and pockets - give me til the end of the week. I've got a long work schedule this week.

Jenny: Seeking shoulder pad opinions

2008-09-20T05:31:00.007-05:00

I sewed in my shoulder pads, and I think they just look monstrous! My husband says I look like a linebacker. These are pads for a jacket or a coat, and they didn't look big in the package (they're not from Marji's kit since I live overseas). Here are the pics - details are pretty washed out (white coat in the sun), but you can see the outline. What do you think?

Here is a pic I took before I put in the shoulder pads (or finished messing with the collar), for comparison.

I'm still happy with how this is coming along. I finally got the collar the way I want it. It stays put without having to mess with it every five seconds. I got a LOT of padstitching practice last week! After I work out what to do about the shoulder pads, I'll finish up the sleeve buttonholes and the sleeve and bottom hems, I think. Then comes the lining!! I've waited this long to finish the sleeves because I have freakishly long arms. Having long enough sleeves without a two-sizes-too-big coat is half the reason I'm sewing this coat, so I want to make sure they're perfect.

Shaping the Lapels and Collar: a tutorial from Paco Peralta

2008-09-15T18:00:00.001-05:00

Quite some time ago, before his August holiday, PacoPeralta offered to write the directions for pad stitching and shaping the lapel and collar; and Tany graciously offered to supply an English translation.

I'd like to thank each of these individuals for their contributions. Please enjoy the very complete following tutorial.

The achievement of the perfect hang on a tailored garment doesn’t rely exclusively on the choice of the right fabric, fit and the mastering of the best sewing techniques; the choice and care invested on the underlying structure (underlining, interfacing, padding, etc.) is very important. Though it is not seen from the right side of the garment, this underlying structure must be thoroughly planned and constructed. For light jackets and coats it is advisable to use thin woven interfacing. For heavier fabrics, the best choice is hymo interfacing (horsehair, wool or blend of both) canvas interfacing (sometimes referred as tailoring interfacing) and also stabilise the fashion fabric by the use of underlining (“triplure”).

The next pictures illustrate the construction steps for achieving the optimal underlying structure.

First, if we are dealing with a lightweight fabric like velour, bouclé, etc. we must reinforce all the fabric parts by underlining. In this case I’ve opted for the use of bi-elastic fusible interfacing (nylon fusible knit), which stabilises the fabric without changing its body (photo 1 and 2).

[Photo2]

After stitching together all the front pieces (center panel, middle panel and side panel), we must apply the tailoring interfacing to the front (photo 3).

[Photo 3]

When using woven interfacing, we must assure that the grain of the interfacing matches the grain of the center panel – CF or Center Front). The interfacing is hand basted (long straight or diagonal running stitches) along the front edge, roll line, etc (see photo 4).

We make a small diagonal cut at chest height (photo 5) to be able to shape this area.

The padstitching of the lapel (photo 6) should begin a few millimetres behind the roll line. It is very important that when holding the lapel in your hands for padstitching, you roll it over your hand so there will be less fashion fabric underneath the interfacing and the round shape is permanently set as you padstitch. These stitches should be barely visible on the fashion fabric side. The padstitching is formed due to alternating ascending and descending small diagonal stitches parallel to the roll line, forming a chevron pattern; you should catch only one or two yarns from the fashion fabric underneath the interfacing. Do not stitch over the seam allowances.

For the collar it’s the same procedure. The undercollar and the interfacing are cut on the bias with a central seam (photos 7 y 8).

The undercollar will be padstitched on a similar fashion as the lapels. Personally I prefer to padstitch the collar following a longitudinal direction, stitching a few rows close to the neck stitching line to hold the fabric and then shaping it round by working the rows from the neck stitching line to the collar edge (photos 9 and 10). There is yet another way, which is starting from the middle on an obliquely direction.

Once these operations are done, we observe that there is a little extra fashion fabric along the lapel and collar edges; this extra fabric should be trimmed away so the interfacing and fabric SAs (Seam Allowances) are even (photos 11 and 12).

Next we trim away the interfacing SAs and carefully catch-stitch trimmed interfacing edges (photos 13 and 15)

Finally we catch-stitch the interfacing along the armholes (photo 14) and secure the interfacing in place along the vertical seams by making long diagonal running stitches (photo 15).

In photo 16 (collar and lapels padstitched) we can observe the final result and the obtained round shape on both the lapels and collar.

The lapel edges and roll line must be stayed for stability; the twill tape (pre shrunk) is hand sewn in place over the interfacing, one edge against the seam line, and whipstitched on both sides, ending on the lower edge (photos 17 and 18):

If additional reinforcement is required, we can add a chest shield made of pure horsehair or extra strong interfacing (much stiffer). It is basted in place over the interfacing all but along the shoulders and armholes, which will be finished after setting in the sleeves (photos 19 and 20). The shoulder seams are stitched.

Photo 21 shows the outcome of the previous steps:

Note from Marji:

If you haven't already, at this point it is appropriate to make the bound buttonholes in the right front (women’s coat or jacket). You want to make sure to cut a square out of the hair canvas, as your buttonhole should not be made through the hair canvas. It would make for too bulky a buttonhole.

It's also the appropriate time to make the welt pockets if there are any, see additional posts for info on pocket and buttonholes.

Next, we will join the uppercollar to the front facings. Then the facing is stitched along the front edge (on the interfacing side), ending at the collar notch point (point where collar meets lapel) (Photo 22).

It’s very important to stitch a few reinforcement stitches across the lapel corner (Photo 23) to blunt the corner. This will ensure a perfect lapel corner.

The seams are pressed open using a sleeve board or tailor board, SAs are graded (and clipped/ notched as necessary) and the corners are notched (Photo 24)

Then the facings are turned to the right side and the edges are basted and pressed, maintaining the round shape of the lapels. The upper collar is stitched to the neckline and the inner edge of the facing is catch-stitched to the interfacing (photo 25).

Now its time to sew the undercollar to the collar and, as we did previously with the lapels, we press the seams open, grade, clip the corners, etc. The undercollar is hand stitched to the base of the neck, turning under the SAs and using invisible stitches (Photos 26 and 27). After finishing with the remaining construction process (setting in the sleeves, hems, etc.), we are ready to give the garment a final press and proceed with making the lining.

After a time consuming mostly by hand process, we can add a certain “Vintage” or “Couture” look to our garment by applying the lining on a handcrafted manner. After the lining is constructed, it is pinned in place on the outside-out garment and stitched entirely by hand along the facings with tiny invisible stitches (Photo 28).

Photo 29 illustrates the end result for the sportive notched collar with lapels:

INNER STRUCTURE BY USING FUSIBLE INTERFACING

If we wish to make our garment (jacket or coat) using faster methods, not at all less effective, we can use fusible interfacings. This is the procedure for using fusible interfacings as the underlying structure of a tailored garment:

1) We fuse the interfacing to the appropriate fabric parts (front, side panels, facings, collar, hems, etc. We also fuse special purpose reinforcement tape to the armholes, lapel and front edges. A good practice is applying the tape in a way that it holds to the inner (not seen) edge, which is the lapel on the front piece and the front edge on the facing (photo 30).

In this case I also added an additional chest shield that can be held to the roll line at the same time with the fusible tape. For this purpose I’ve used a 2cm wide fusible tape (photos 31 and 32). A strip of thin fusible interfacing cut on the grain can also be used for this purpose.

We will proceed as explained before: applying the facings to the front (photos 33 and 34), seam treatment (photo 35), etc.

In this particular case, we can apply the front facing with the lining already attached to it and catch-stitch it down to the front facing using wide stitches (photo 36).

As an added extra, I will show you an easy way to attach the collar that provides an excellent end result.

We’ll need a commercial ready-made undercollar (it’s made of felt, already interfaced and can be bought at special purpose tailoring/dressmaking notion stores). We’ll also need to cut the upper collar with about 4cm SAs on both sides.

Next we trim the undercollar SAs (photo 37):

The under collar is stitched using a machine zigzag stitch to the upper collar (right side) along it’s wide edge, matching under collar’s edge to the upper collar’s stitching line (photo 38).

Turn the under collar under the upper collar and stitch it to the base of the neckline using sideway stitches (photo 39).

Finally we turn the collar narrow edges to the undercollar and hand stitch these edges to the felt undercollar (photo 40).

Photo 41 shows the final notched collar using this method:

CONCLUSION: Obviously, these techniques are not necessarily strict and incompatible. We must not forget to test first, because there are many variables involved, as the quality/characteristics of the fashion fabric, the characteristics of the chosen model, etc. For most situations the two approaches (traditional and contemporary) are combined in order to meet our notions availability, necessities and skills.

Post in Spanish: “Paco Peralta” blog

Post in Portuguese/English: “Couture et Tricot” blog

Claire S. - I'm Done !

2008-09-14T20:54:00.007-05:00

That is, of course, unless someone looks at these pics and cringes because something is REALLY wrong.

Today's adjustment was the left armhole, had to take in the back at the bottom of the armhole - same adjustment I did last week on the right side. Both adjusted shoulders/armholes...

Front & Back

I started to fiddle with the waist line again, but on this pic, the waisline and the hemline are 'almost' straight.

The waist is comfortable as it is, so I'm going to hope that the weight of the wool flannel, the cotton flannel and the lining will all help this hang evenly. I think now feels like the right time to just 'go for it' and move on to the next step.

Fabricluver: Stitching techniques on YouTube

2008-09-14T10:29:00.003-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGB7EwAAVZU

This is a great reference if you are like me and have never done any of this before.

Fabricluver: How to preshrink hymo? Order of underlining & interfacing

2008-09-14T08:35:00.004-05:00

I am getting ready to layout and cut all the pieces for the coat but realized that I haven't done anything to the hymo that I purchased from Greenberg & Hammer. Does this need to be preshrunk (is that a word?)? If so, how?

I googled and found where someone soaked theirs in water - hot or cold, how long and then line dry? The mohair was drycleaned, the silk organza and the flannel backed satin for lining in water and line dryed. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The mohair is ready to cut and I'm going to do it first. The pattern V2884 calls for the front, side front, and back to be underlined. Since I am using mohair and don't want it to bag out, I think I should also underline the sleeves also - with silk organza on all pieces. Is this correct?

The hymo will be used where the pattern calls for interfacing. Those pattern parts are: front interfacing, pocket facing, under collar, and sleeve facing.

I am guessing the silk organza gets basted in first according to Ann's instructions and these stitches stay in. Then the hymo goes in with all the pad stitching according to Paco's instructions. Am I right or totally backwards?

a Q&A - Marji

2008-09-13T08:56:00.002-05:00

From Melissa - The vintage diagram looks like you cut the underlining without s.a. and then hand stitch it to the s.a. of the fashion fabric, is that right? And I know I don't underline the sleeves, but what about where my coat crosses over itself for the double breast? It seems a bit unnecessary there if the wool is two layers already.

Making any garment involves making a series of decisions. The points you've brought up indicate you've thought this through, and I agree with your conclusions. If I were making the coat you're making, and adding a lofty interlining, I'd be tempted to underline the sleeves with something like cotton flannel (well preshrunk), and only use the interfacing for the front pieces since they overlap, as you indicated.
Then I'd construct the shell, and then mount the interlining as indicated in the picture I posted, using catch stitches and stitching it to the seam allowances.
If it were me, I'd probably add the underlining to the shell After the sleeves were in, after the sleeve heads and shoulder pads were in, but before the lining went in. It'll just be easier to work with without that interlining attached.

Order of Construction

2008-09-11T18:07:00.000-05:00

There are or will be individual posts dealing with instructions for every phase mentioned here. This is just an order of construction to guide you along the way.

Muslin for fit.
Cut apart muslin to use as pattern OR transfer all changes to pattern tissue
Cut fabric
Cut underlining/interlining
Make interfacing pattern pieces
Cut interfacing/hair canvas
Mount underlining to fabric
Make Bound buttonholes in right front (if using bound buttonholes)
Mount interfacing/hair canvas to front and shape with pad stitching
Mount interfacing to undercollar and shape with pad stitching
Stitch side front to front and make pockets.
Stitch side back to back and mount shoulder interfacing/back stay
Stitch shoulder seams and attach undercollar
Attach front lapel/facing and upper collar
Stitch side seams. Place wigan in preparation for hemming later. 15a. attach interlining layer to add warmth if you skipped the underlining in favor of a loftier interlining.
Make sleeves.
Set in sleeves
Insert sleeve heads and place and insert shoulder pads
Construct lining
Insert lining
Make hand or machine worked buttonholes if you didn't make bound buttonholes earlier.

Some of you may have other design elements to be concerned with, so be sure to think through your construction in light of your own coat and its particular design.

I'm seeing some posts saying that you're confused about cutting/underlining/interfacing and the tape/wigan/sleeve heads and shoulder pads and what to do with them. Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion.

as far as the supplies in your package:

The tape will come into play after pad stitching the lapel and collar.
The wigan is used to interface the jacket hem and sleeve hem, and is not coming into play yet. If you do not have the package, or wigan, you may want to cut bias strips of hair canvas, or save some of the hair canvas for bias strips to cut later, to interface your hems.
The sleeve heads and shoulder pads go in after the sleeves are set.

A word about progress - Marji

2008-09-11T08:56:00.003-05:00

Marji, do you think you could dash off a post that offers words of encouragement to us novices out there? Speaking for myself, I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Some of this stuff just feels so advanced. It's not that the instructions aren't clear or that I don't understand what to do.... It just feels like I've never sewn anything of this magnitude before and I'm concerned I'm going to make some fatal error. For example, I don't usually have a fear of cutting fabric, but I keep putting off cutting out my coat.

This is an excerpt from an email I just received.

So I'm wanting to conduct an informal survey -

where are you in your coat construction?
Are you stuck? Do you feel ready to move along?

The muslin fitting stage extended beyond where I intended (my fault entirely for not keeping up with the timeline), and I think we lost some momentum.
I know several here have continued on and we've been treated to pictures of their progress.
Thank you to Gry, Kay and Jenny. Your coats are coming along fabulously. I appreciate the pictures and progress reports you've put up.

If you've finished your muslin but are reluctant to move ahead I'd like to offer these words of encouragement:
If you take it all step by step, and just do the next one, it'll all come together and soon you'll find it's just about done. Most of you are working with wool, and wool is wonderful to work with - and Very forgiving.
If your muslin fits or mostly fits and you're happy with it, then get it laid out and post a picture if you want someone else to check it before you cut.
As far as the underlining or interlining goes - which is the following step, just allot time. It's time consuming to lay the underlining over the fabric, hand stitch it together, and then thread trace all your lines. Not hard, just time consuming.
I put on an audible book and just have at it. Fortunately, I have a table that is the right height.
Break up the session by sitting down in between pieces to make some buttonhole samples.

My own progress
I've decided, working on my burgundy wool/cashmere jacket, that bound buttonholes are not appropriate for this quasi-military style jacket that has epaulets/belt/sleeve tabs and is double breasted. So I was able to move right on to the interfacing for the front. My buttonholes will be made at the end of construction.

Because I'm not confident of my ability to get wonderfully perfect straight lines doing my padstitching, since I don't do it every week, I draw lines in pencil on my hair canvas. This is commonly accepted practice.
My pattern didn't have a roll line.
I neglected to mark it before (remember my admonition to mark the roll line before taking your muslin apart? That's because I didn't! So I chose to draw the roll line from the large dot.
Last night, while watching Project Runway I got the first lapel padstitched. Then I draped it on my front, with the collar piece, holding all together, and realized that I should have chosen the straight mark as opposed to the round one. So, I added 3 lines. If you click on the picture to make it larger you'll see the merge of the two angles. I could have been really AR and taken it all apart, but I didn't. It's fabric. It'll roll.

Remember the dart that I cut out when I made the pattern? To stitch it I just butted the lines together and made a multiple stitch zigzag. Acceptable practice is to also butt the edges together and stitch over a piece of seam binding/hem tape.

If you've been hesitant to get started, in the words a certain athletic wear manuf: Just Do It!
If you have questions or concerns, just come on back in here and ask.

Guide: Underlining and Interlining

2008-09-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

For the purposes of clarity I've isolated this part of the post from the post of July 30 on layout, since the information appears to have been buried too deep in the post. --Marji

For those using a sewn-in underlining for structural support:
Your next step is to cut out and mark your underlining using all the body pieces that will be underlined and not interfaced. This is typically:

side back
back
upper sleeve
under sleeve
side front (unless you have a welt pocket extending into the side front, in which case you'll be interfacing and not underlining your side front.

I don't cut an underlining for the front, since the whole piece is being interfaced, and the support of underlining and interfacing would be a bit of overkill.

Ann wrote a nice tutorial about a month ago on underlining. I'd like to excerpt her instructions here regarding mounting the underlining to the face fabric.

From Ann:
Attaching the underlining
First - pretreat your underlining. Shrink it before you cut into it, so you don't have a disaster later. Also make sure you cut your underlining on the same grain as the fabric. For precision, use a single layer cutting layout for your underlining. After all, if you're taking the time to do an underlining, you might as well take the few extra minutes to get it perfect, right?

Once it's cut, I attach the underlining to the fabric by hand basting it to the body of the fabric. My basting stitches run parallel to the grain of the fabric. They are 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, and I catch just a thread or two of my shell fabric at each stitch, as you can see here:

This takes time, but it's far superior to basting only at the seamlines, because it structurally reinforces the shell fabric. This is critical for areas that will receive a lot of stress from being bent and sat on, like elbows and rumps. It helps your fabric retain its shape. It's really, really important if you're using a cashmere or fur fabric, which has a tendency to bag out.

Thank you Ann!

Along with her mounting method, I like to stitch along the stitching lines too--which acts as thread tracing as well as holding the two layers together along the stitching lines.

__________________________________________

For those using interlining to add warmth, not structural support:
You may attach your interlining, depending on what it is and how bulky it is, in one of several different methods. If you're just using a layer of cotton flannel I'd be tempted to treat it the same as underlining and use the method outlined above. If you're using Thinsulate or a fleece or lambswool as a layer for warmth, that layer is likely to be bulkier than you'll want in your seam allowances.

Below is a picture of how you may want to insert the interlining to keep it out of the seam allowances. The picture on the far left (in red) is an inside-out illustration of the coat with interlining, sans seam allowances, catch-stitched to the constructed body of the coat. I'd recommend waiting to cut the interlining until after the first garment fitting.

The Complete Book of Sewing

By Constance Talbot

_______________________________________

If you're looking at Paco's tutorial, he's basted the interfacing on using a stitch that holds the interfacing in place securely, and will come out after the garment is stitched together.
If you're looking at Ann's tutorial above, those long stitches only go through the first thread or so, not all the way through, so they don't show on the outside, and those stitches are meant to stay in.

There are more ways than one to do any of these steps. Ann wrote the instructions to mount the underlining using an allover basting stitch that stays in. This is especially relevant in making a coat where there are larger expanses of fabric between seams, or, as Ann noted, when using more fragile fabrics that are more susceptible to deforming. Paco illustrated his jacket using perimeter basting stitches that come out. Both are correct.

____________________________________________

Conclusion:

At this point, you now have all your fashion fabric (coating) fabric cut out and your seamlines marked. Make certain that you also mark your match points, notches, etc., too. I use tailor tacks, or on a cotton underlining a wash-away marking pen for those types of markings. Chalk has limited shelf life for marks, so if you're going to reference the marks in fairly short order, chalk is good too. If your coat pattern included lining pieces, you should have transferred all of your alterations to your lining pieces also.

____________________________________________

As promised - Here is the link to the Flickr set containing all the pictures from today's post. If you're interested in seeing any picture in full size, click on the "all sizes" icon just above any pic, and it'll take you to a larger photo.

I'm out of town now, writing on my laptop in the hotel breakfast room. When I get home I'll take some photos showing how to hold your lapel while padstitching. I'll also get some photos of my underlining mounted to my jacket.

Interfacing, the Next Step

2008-09-10T19:15:00.000-05:00

Originally Posted Sept 7, moved to arrange order of instruction

In case you missed it over the summer months, here is the post written July 30th, on layout and cutting your fabric. You may want to copy and paste this into a Word doc and print it out - there is a lot of info. I can only stress what I wrote somewhere in the middle - Do Not cut your fabric if you are tired. Lay it out, get it all ready, then look at it with fresh eyes to make sure you've added seam allowances and got all your pieces included BEFORE you cut.

Many of you will be happy to know that I started illustrating and writing this post earlier today.
As someone stated in an email to me last week "though I think I'm not the only one behind on schedule. More difficult to think of a wintercoat in summer than we thought perhaps?"
And I'm sorry to say, I found this to be very true in July and August. When we started this and I wrote the timeline I had no idea I'd have so many formals to make this summer, nor did I have a concept of how difficult it would be to make time to work with wool once the temps climbed over 90F and stayed there.
Anyway, it's September, and much of my other obligatory sewing is finished, and I'm devoting my full attention to the coat sewalong for a bit again.

Hopefully several of you are at the point where you've cut your fabric, cut your underlining and are ready to interface.

If you're using entirely fusibles to support and shape your garment see This Article at Threads. And This Chart. Somewhere in there are detailed instructions on how to curve the fabric while fusing to impart shape. I'll just have to look further, but if you find it, pls post the link. Thanks.

If you're planning to use a sewn-in hair canvas for interfacing read on:

At this point you are going to want to cut interfacing for your

front that extends all the way to the armscye,
upper back
collar

If you've followed my method of cutting apart your muslin to create a pattern for yourself, OR if you've made significant changes to your paper pattern, OR if you don't have specific interfacing pieces in your pattern envelope, then you'll want to use this method to create your interfacing pattern pieces.

lay your front and side front pattern pieces together on the seam lines. In this case, this is for an armhole princess seam. If you have a pattern with a shoulder princess line, the process is Exactly the same. Remember, as you're looking here, this muslin was cut apart along the seamlines, so there are no seam allowances on the muslin, so I've put the pieces next to each other exactly as if a seam were sewn.

trace along the seam lines around the front all the way to the armscye. Notice that where the shaping occurs for the princess line, this becomes a dart.
Add seam allowances. They will stay at the side seam. They will be removed later along the lapel. But for now, you'll want to add them. As you pad stitch the shaping will eat up some of the interfacing from the seam allowance. I've found myself short in the past and regretted not having a bit there.
Transfer the grain line to the interfacing pattern piece also, from the Front piece.
IF you have a welt pocket that crosses the princess seam you'll want to interface both the side front and the Front.

The following two pics are from The Complete Book of Tailoring by Margolis
Notice the directions here for creating the back interfacing piece.

I'm going to post this right now as there is some anxiety and I want to allay that, however, I'm going to be adding to this tonight as I get the pics for creating the pattern for the back.

***Hopefully BEFORE you cut your muslin apart you marked the roll line for the collar as well as the buttonholes. If not, try to go back to your paper pattern and find those marks and translate them to your pattern.

Guide: Laying Out and Cutting Your Fabric

2008-09-09T10:45:00.001-05:00

originally posted July 30 - moved to bring to top

Are you ready?
Now that you've got so much time invested in your muslin, I'm going to recommend you cut it apart. This is how I work with an altered muslin.

If you have very few alterations and prefer to work with pattern tissue, you can transfer your alterations and new markings to your tissue, and use the tissue to lay out and cut your fabric. I prefer the following method:

Mark match lines, moved pocket placement markings, notches for sleeves, everything that you want to make sure you have marked, prior to cutting the muslin apart.

Make sure you've marked your planned hemline.

Cut the muslin apart on the existing seam lines. You are cutting off your seam allowances and throwing them away as scrap. I'd also recommend that you cut off your pattern along your proposed hemline.

Press the muslin to use as pattern.

The pattern that you are left with is a pattern without seam allowances. I like to have my revised markings in a new color (here I used green Sharpie fine point), and cross out the old markings (here in blue) if they're no longer valid.
**if you are using a fabric that has a plaid or print match, drawing some horizontal markings as match lines along your seam lines, before cutting apart, is a good idea to aid in your layout. See image at very bottom of this post.

Pull out of the envelope the remaining pieces that weren't included in the muslin.

At this point, for any pieces that will be cut from the wool and are structural pieces, I cut off the seam allowances so that ALL my pieces are consistent. Above I've not cut the seam allowances off the pocket bag and the epaulet piece, but I have cut them off the collar band. Be sure to extend the notches and other markings to the seam line before cutting off seam allowances.

Transfer ALL alterations to relevant pieces such as facings.
In the pics below I show the process of translating the forward shoulder and high back changes I made on the muslin to the facing pieces. Keep in mind that the muslin has no seam allowances. What was marked as original seam allowances on the shoulder got changed when I made the alteration.

At the end of this post there will be a link to go to the Flickr set where all these pics can be seen in larger detail.

Lay out the muslin pattern pieces on the fashion fabric (coating wool)
Be sure to leave room for seam allowances between pattern pieces.
***At this Point, until I get the posts up about allowing for Turn-of-Cloth - DO NOT CUT out your collar or undercollar, but leave room for them in your layout.

Before cutting I use a chalk-o-liner and draw my seam allowances right on the wool, in part so that I don't make any mistakes and cut off my seam allowances. I added a 2" hem allowance for this particular short jacket. For a full length coat, depending on how full the skirt is, I'd be tempted to add 2.5".

Even though I go through extensive fitting in the muslin process, I still have a tendency to cut 1" seam allowances on the vertical seams. I'll trim those after my first fitting in the fashion fabric. I cut 3/8" sm allowances at neck edge, collar pieces, etc. and 5/8" seam allowances at the armscye and along the front and lapel lines.

Double-check that you've got all pieces necessary laid out on your fabric. Double-check that you have allowed for seam/hem allowances. Go ahead and cut your fabric. Note- do not do this late at night or when you are too tired.

**Note: If you are using a fusible underlining you'll want to have block fused your fabric prior to cutting.

Thread tracing for those who are not underlining.

If you are not underlining, or if you block fused prior to cutting, you will now thread trace your stitching lines and add markings to all your pieces.

You will want to use silk thread OR a rayon machine embroidery thread (such as Sulky or Madeira). Any contrast color that you have on hand is fine.

The reason to use silk or rayon is that you can press over it and it will not leave thread indents. You wouldn't think that the indents would be a problem, after all, how thick is thread? But once you've spent time pressing and getting your garment just perfect, then realize you've got these snakey lines pressed in, you'll see why you wanted to use the correct thread.

Tany has written a post about thread tracing two layers at a time then separating them here. I will generally trace single layer, although it is more time consuming, because I like the smooth lines. Either way is correct.

Conclusion
At this point, you now have all your fashion fabric (coating) fabric cut out and your seamlines marked. Make certain that you also mark your match points, notches, etc too. I use tailor tacks, or on a cotton underlining a wash-away marking pen for those types of markings. Chalk has limited shelf life for marks, so if you're going to reference the marks in fairly short order, chalk is good too. If your coat pattern included lining pieces, you should have transfered all of your alterations to your lining pieces also.

As promised - Here is the link to the Flickr set containing all the pictures from today's post. If you're interested in seeing any picture in full size, click on the "all sizes" icon just above any pic, and it'll take you to a larger photo.

**to layout a fabric that has a pattern that must be matched, use the lines that you've conveniently drawn for yourself on the muslin, across seamlines, to match the pattern and using a single layer layout, layout your garment. This is when it's super important too, to have written on each and every piece, because you want to layout your pattern pieces all right side up so that you don't end up with two left fronts and no right front. Below is a pic of a jacket I cut out in January. Unfortunately there isn't enough detail in this pic to see my little hatch marks at the seam lines, but they were terrific in aiding the plaid layout.

Next up: Interfacing, and shaping for lapels

KayY: How to move forward

2008-09-07T18:34:00.007-05:00

Helloooo out there! Is anyone else cutting their wool? Have questions? Our fearless leader Marji is pretty busy with other projects but I'm sure the collective wisdom here can answer your questions.

As for me, I'm making progress. I cut out my fashion fabric, underlining, interfacing and lining last week, and am busy assembling the shell of my coat.

I am using a vintage Vogue pattern which came with specific interfacing pattern pieces. These are designed for non-fusible hair canvas which is pad-stitched to the fashion fabric/underlining layer. My coat is also unusual in that most of it is cut on the bias. The interfacing is cut on the straight of grain, meaning that the interfaced portions (CF, shoulder area and armscye) are very stable. I am posting some pictures of the interior of my coat.

These inside shots show that the hair canvas is placed around the entire armscye, in the under-collar and down the CF (it goes to the hemline). It's attached with pad-stitches which are just rows of stitching that catch a tiny bit of the fashion fabric, relatively loosely attaching the hair canvas to the fashion fabric.

If I was making a more conventional coat or a jacket I'd give serious consideration to interfacing the entire front. Here's Kathleen Fasanella's take on interfacing.

In the case of a collar, lapel or other part of the coat that curves, you build the curve in by letting the interfacing roll over your hand (or other convenient object), mimicking the final shape of the piece. When you pad-stich the 2 layers in this configuration, you build in turn-of-the-cloth (the layer that is on top of a curved piece has to be longer; the amount by which it's longer depends on the thickness of the layer). Here is an illustration of what I mean (from another project):

In the first pic, I'm padstitching the collar, holding it in the shape I want it to follow. In the second, the completed collar illustrates how it is pre-shaped. Finally, in the 3rd I have flattened the same collar. See how the interfacing ripples? That's because it is longer than the fabric underneath. The rippling disappears when it resumes its intended shape. This is what I mean by turn of the cloth.

In my coat, I built shape into the collar (which has a slight 1" or 2.5cm stand), and the shoulder inset pieces.

Finally, here's a picture of the completed collar from the back.
It's hard to see the shaping but it's there.

Claire S. - V8346, I think I'm close

2008-09-07T12:48:00.004-05:00

But I'm not sure how close...

I redrew the seam line on the back armhole to take up some of the bunching on the back. Then I reset the right sleeve with the shoulder dot back in the original spot.

The new pic is on the left, the mess from the last post is on the right.

The armhole now looks like a smoother line. There is still a bit of bunching just at the bottom but do I try to get rid if it ? At what point am I overfitting ?

Gry: Shell Finished

2008-09-04T13:07:00.001-05:00

Autumn is getting nearer, so I thought it was about time to get that coat finished. So far, I have assembled the coat shell:

I am not quite satisfied with the position of the pockets, but I will leave them as they are.

Still to do:

Finishing the collar
Sewing the linning
Hemming
Sewing snaps on (I gave up the hidden placket thing because I thought the fabric was too heavy for another layer).

I need to read a bit about linnings and hemming and I still have a problem with choosing the correct interfacing for my collar, but the coat should soon be finished.

I have written far and wide about the process on my blog fromthestash.blogspot.com.

Claire S. - V8346, what am I doing wrong ?

2008-09-02T21:53:00.005-05:00

Here we go again - Sleeves had diagonal wrinkles - after checking Els' instructions, I unpicked the sleeves and moved the shoulder dot forward about 1/2"

The wrinkles seem worse than before, should I have just left the sleeves alone or done something other than moving the shoulder dot forward ? And any ideas what to do now ?

The pics show tonight's change first - compared against the same view(s) from my last post.

Back...

Right side...

Left Side

Jenny's coat shell - part 1

2008-09-02T15:43:00.011-05:00

So I decided to just go for it and started constructing my coat shell last weekend. Here it is so far. It looks a lot like my muslin since it's a creamy white color wool flannel. You may notice it's a bit shorter than my muslin was. This is totally a result of material constraints. I bought the fabric before I had a pattern in mind, and it's a miracle I got all the pieces cut out. I should have bought more fabric. Anyway, I think I'll be just as happy with a shorter length coat (as opposed to knee length). It means less white wool to get dirty.

After I took the above picture, I made my bound button holes. This is only the second garment where I have used this button hole technique, so I'm pretty happy with the results. In the picture, the lengths look a bit uneven. I'll have to check that out tomorrow. I'm spent for this evening.

Next, I think I'll put on the facings for the front, and then the collar (connects to the funny curved shoulder piece, not the fronts), and finally the sleeves. I'm still a bit undecided about the horizontal pockets and flaps. I left space for the inseam pockets, but I accidentally (wasn't thinking) sewed the horizontal pockets closed. I'll have to check those out and decide if I should just take out that stitching or do some kind of welt. I'm not sure, and of course, being a Marfy pattern, there are no instructions. I must admit, I'm finding that pretty liberating. I just do what I think should be done next. So far, it seems to be working out ok...

Again, I'm using Marfy pattern 1414 for my coat.

Rosemary: B4665 Muslin done

2008-08-26T01:36:00.003-05:00

This was taken a couple of weeks ago and I think I have the fit fairly good now. I am wearing a different sweater underneath, so the muslin is a little looser. It looks like I should adjust my skirt as well.
Since the last group of pictures, I have taken a tuck in the upper back, sleeve and front, this resulted in the neckline fitting better. Then I added an inch to the bodice length at the waist.
I like the length of the sleeves, I will add extra to the length of the coat. I like the current length and not the suggested hem line. I lowered the bust point but had to give that several tries as there was not enough seam allowance to just do a reshaping of the area. I think I still have to work on the curve a bit more. I have to more the buttons as well.

Ann's Muslin - Burda 7855

2008-08-25T16:56:00.012-05:00

I finished the muslin on Burda 7855, and I am very happy with the fit, however you would never think that from these pictures. I used a cotton for the muslin that is absolutely horrible as far as wrinkles, and the camera shows them "all". (The sleeves are the worst and believe me I ironed this fabric several times for the pictures but it really was no use!) After taking a gazillion pictures I am going with these or I'd never get any posted.

The only alteration I will do is on the sleeves. The fit is fine, there is no tightness but as you can see one sleeve does not look so good. The sleeve cap has too much fabric, see red circle/picture taken outside. I removed some of the excess on the right sleeve as I pinned the sleeve to the arm, and then sewed it. The sleeve looks much better after having done this. I believe Tany had a similar issue as well. So for the sleeve paper pattern I will use Tany's method , she posted a great tutorial explaining this alteration in detail! Thank you Tany! ( Here it is on Tany's blog for those not participating in the Coat Sew Along).

There is what appears to be a lots of wrinkles on the back, and the sleeves, but trust me when I say it's the fabric! I am pleased with how the jacket fits and how it feels when I'm wearing it.

I may shorten it somewhat but I'm still pondering this change :)

KayY: MUCH less boring!

2008-08-24T14:24:00.007-05:00

I have made progress with my coat - er - my muslin.

Here again is the Vintage Vogue Christian Dior pattern I'm using

After I graded the pattern, which if you recall is described as "high - fitted", I made up a muslin out of hideous curtain fabric - it's slightly shiny and stripey which shows off the bias cut. Despite the flaws of the fabric, the coat looks pretty good. The only problem is that it is so fitted (quite nicely I think) through the shoulders and arms that there would be no way to actually wear it over anything.

Round two saw me add to the width in these critical areas. I extended the shoulder point and side seam at the lower armscye out 1cm each. I also lowered the armscye by 1cm. This gives me a total of 4cm more width just below the arms, blended into the original side seams around waist level.

I also made the sleeves wider to match the new armscye.

The only fitting change I made was to curve the CB seam in more at the waist/hip level as it was quite baggy.

Finally, I decided the coat needs to be 4cm longer to cover most of the skirts/dresses I would wear it with. I kept the original hem circumference.

Here are the pictures of my first muslin (tight jacket fit)

And here is the shorter & bigger muslin, worn with a jacket underneath.

I had better get going now. I have to finish the rest of the pattern pieces and cut this out. I have decided to use a mostly windproof underlining and kasha lining. I have hair canvas on hand, and I will decide about whether to use the lambswool I bought once I have the shell constructed and can get a sense of the heft of the coat.

Kay

Question from Jenny

2008-08-23T13:23:00.003-05:00

I have a problem. My fabric smells bad. I followed the suggestions for preparing my fabric (wool flannel), and now is stinks. It first smelled bad after I wrapped it in the sheet, but I figured that was just a wet wool issue. I've steamed it, though, and now it is dry, and while it's not as bad as when it was wet, it still smells. Any ideas what happened or how to fix it? Also, will it smell like this whenever it gets wet (like if I'm caught in the rain in my new coat)? Thanks.

Once I resolve the smelly fabric issue, I think I'm ready to cut everything out. If you didn't see my muslin and are curious, here it is.

I also have a photo of all my materials (except the flannel interlining). The white-ish fabric on the bottom is the coat material, the blue with butterflies is the lining (a nice, thick brocade - not silk, though, unfortunately), and, of course, my buttons for front, back belt, and sleeve cuffs.

Claire S. - V8346 - I've got Sleeves !!!

2008-08-16T18:00:00.010-05:00

I've made it through another attempt at sleeves.

The McCalls sleeve was giving me trouble and I was still fighting with it (it was winning...) when I saw the Threads instructions for converting 1-pc sleeves.

I psyched myself up and spent 2 evenings tracing and redrafting the 1-pc Vogue sleeve into a 2-pc sleeve and here are the results...

Front & Back :

There are 2 right sides here, the one taken in the shade looked pretty good till I saw how the sun really showed up the wrinkles.

I've just seen Els' post on the diagonal wrinkle problem and I guess I'm going to have to move the notch forward a bit on the right sleeve. I don't think I have to do anything to the left sleeve, do I ?

The last time I asked about resetting a sleeve I was told to take the whole thing out and set it in from scratch...is it the same now ? Would I be able to unpick the basting on the back of the armhole seam and just ease it all forward a bit ? I didn't gather the ease between the notches, I pretty much eased most of the armhole - just left the underarm with no easing, about 4-5" or so.

Looking at the whole body shot again from the side, I see the waistline is not actually level yet...CF is still higher than CB. I think I'll adjust this yet again, CB needs to come up at least another 1/2".

So, any thoughts, re: the sleeves or anything else you may see ?

LindaF - Muslin with sleeves

2008-08-16T09:24:00.008-05:00

Burda 7855

Here are my final fitting photos (hopefully).

I apologize for the terrible shots. First off the front is not pinned correctly. I was in a rush yesterday, but wanted to get photos taken. I didn't even check it in the mirror and the front is off by a good inch. I think that explains the terrible looking back. I'll double check that later.

Also I am bloated, so there are drag lines where they shouldn't be. I purposely don't tackle fitting issues during a certain five days of the month for this very reason. I can go up a whole cup size. My doctor told me that this thing should go away any time now, given my age. But if only my body would listen, sheesh.

I have read Els's entry for the sleeve wrinkle problem. I am going to take one of these out and fix it per her instructions. But I am going to wait the five days first.

My fabric is at the cleaners getting a good steam press. I have a local source who will take the fabric for me. Many thank to Marji who suggested this to me. But for pieces this large they send it out some where, so it is taking two weeks to get it back. I should get it back in time to keep on schedule.

Take care everybody.

Els: Diagonal wrinkles in sleeves

2008-08-16T08:17:00.008-05:00

I made an example diagram about diagonal wrinkles in sleeves caused by and what to do about it .

Hope this will help some of you who has those wrinkles.

Sleeve 1
Diagonal wrinkles coming from the back of the sleeve starting at the armscye and can appear from the elbow too can be caused by a very straight posture. To get rid of those wrinkles mark a new shoulder seam notch (see the red line) and match that new notch with the shoulder seam. The sleeve should be moved more forward into the armscye.

Sleeve 2
Diagonal wrinkles starting at the front part from the upper arm till the elbow line can be caused by forward shoulder posture or by a high round back.To get rid of those wrinkles mark a new shoulder notch (see the red line) and match the new notch with the shoulder seam. The sleeve should be moved more towards the back into the armscye.

KayY: Boring, Boring, Boring

2008-08-15T13:56:00.007-05:00

I made a muslin of my coat, for which I'd chosen a BWOF pattern:

I used some medium-beefy corduroy for the muslin which does a decent job of being a coat muslin. However the lines I dutifully sewed in to mark CF and waist etc. are lost. I have drawn in a black line at the marked waist in this picture of the front.

The sizing for this coat starts at 38 (12) whereas I'd usually choose a 36 (10) in WOF sizing - I went ahead based on earlier reports that this coat had little ease, and the fact that the pattern ease on the 38 measured OK according to Marji's guidelines. I am wearing it overtop a jacket (which also has shoulderpads) and I think it is a size too big in the shoulders but more so in the back. I think the bust and hips are OK but the waist/shoulders/upper back are just sloppy.

Things to note about the picture:

- I didn't pin to secure the leading edge of the left front, and it is sagging a bit, which I think is causing those wrinkles in the upper left front (leading to the pin)
- the lower front edge was curling under a bit
- the picture is a little off the vertical (I'm not that crooked)
- the shoulders are too wide, as is the back from the shoulders down to the hip
- the sleeves are too long (they are folded up at the hem line in this picture, and need an inch or so less)

More pictures are here.

Overall, this pattern is just not grabbing me, even a little bit. Less so when I think about my chosen stash fabric.

Sooo my friend Gail (who also thought the muslin was kind of meh) brought over a couple of Vintage Vogue coat patterns from her extensive collection for my consideration. Interestingly, both have inset pieces of the same kind as the BWOF pattern.

Here they are:

I am kind of leaning to the Christian Dior, except will have to pay careful attention to the fit as it's noted to be "high-fitted", which I assume means a close fit, and is a size (ahem) 8.

Edited later the same day ...

I am so going to make the Dior pattern! I opened it up and it's cut on the bias, which is just fascinating to me somehow. My wool has a noticeable straight-grain weave, so the bias should look really good (the inset front band is cut on the straight grain, as are the sleeves).

I started a crash course in grading (Threads issue 101) and will cut a muslin tomorrow. NOW I can get excited about making a coat!

Cennetta: Vogue 8438 Muslin

2008-08-15T12:39:00.005-05:00

Boy I'm so behind on the Great Coat Sew Along. Two weeks ago, I completed the first go round of the Muslin fitting and have a few adjustments to make. I didn't attempt to make any of my normal changes, straight from the pattern. Here are the photos and noted changes. If you can identify additional changes needed, please don't hesitate to comment.

I think I need to do a FBA. There a bit of gapping at the front closure across the bustline

Too much room from the shoulder blades through the waist area. I forgot to insert the shoulder pads. They will elminate some of the excess.

Remove some of the fullness along the lower half of the front princess seam. Sway back adjustment needed. Coat stand away from the small of my back.

Last week I went to Vogue fabrics hunting for the perfect lining but came away empty handed. I'm also thinking about adding a unlining to help protect me from the Chicago winds.

This weekend I'll start making the adjustments mentioned above.

Happy Sewing!
C

Mary OK's Marfy F1022 knockoff muslin changes

2008-08-12T19:07:00.003-05:00

At Marji's suggestion, I took out about 24" of the width of of the muslin to make the shape of my coat more like the design I am copying. The pleats are now 1 - 1.5 " deep, instead of 3" deep. Here is the result:

I optimistically named these photos "last muslin," but I'm not so sure about the wrinkles on the sleeves. Will they fill out with sleeve heads, lining, etc? I do like the design change, though.

Mary Pat, I am behind too. I have been working on a silk dress for a party this weekend. I can think about the coat again after the middle of next week.

MaryPat: A bit behind

2008-08-11T11:55:00.003-05:00

I am behind on my coat. I have fabric. lining, interfacing etc. I have changed my pattern a few times and I do not have the mockup done. I might use a pattern I have used in the past as a way to catch up.
However, I do have a scarf knit that matches my coat, or at least the fabric.
We were on holiday at my SIL's cottage in Northern Ontario last week and on the long drive North through Michigan we stopped in Mackinac City. I went to a lovely little yarn shop there and stocked up on novelty yarns to knit on the trip. All were marked down by about 75%.
So, my priorities might be a bit mixed up, but now I need to make the darn coat so I can wear the bargain scarf.

Drafting a 2 piece sleeve using a one piece pattern.

2008-07-30T13:25:00.002-05:00

A member here was kind enough to send me this on drafting a 2 pc sleeve from a pattern for a one piece.
It's what I would have done, had I taken the time. It's an art - not an exact science, the conversion of a balanced symmetrical sleeve pattern, so be prepared to have a couple of goes at it in the muslin stage.

I'm not going to leave this up long, so if you plan to do this, read through it and get the directions down. Consider this a lending of the info. I'm going to take this down when I return from my next trip, August 10.

The article is by Margaret Komives and appeared in the Dec/Jan 1991 issue of Threads.

Gry: My final collar

2008-07-30T06:15:00.008-05:00

After a lot of experiments, I think I have finally found the perfect collar.

I think it fits the coat quite nicely. It is large enough to balance the A-line shape and has the right vintage feel to suit the coat.

I had quite a bit of fun constructing it. Details about the construction on my blog fromthestash.blogspot.com. However, I think I need a little help in how to sew this collar in the best way.

Here are the pattern pieces. I know they look kind of weird, with the very curved stand and the straight collar piece, but this is what gives the draped effect. I am going to cut the stand grain-wise and interface as I would do with an ordinary collar stand. The problem is the collar pieces. Both over and under collar are cut on the bias without a centre back seam. Should I make a centre back seam? I am also uncertain if I should interface the collar? The interfacing I have bought is woven and fusible.

Here is a picture of the fabric. I don't know the name of the type of fabric, but it is a medium-heavy quality, tightly woven, almost like felted.

I just need to make a few adjustments on the pattern and draw linning pieces, then I am finally ready to cut the fabric.

Muslins: A Review

2008-07-28T19:40:00.000-05:00

I offered to help Marji review the steps she has presented for analyzing a muslin. As a good teacher, Marji has modeled the thought-process for us. It is now up to us to help each other, and comment on each other's muslins. I have so appreciated the comments people have shared with me. Maybe we can each resolve to comment on at least one aspect of another person's work each day. Most of us participate in a project like this because we want to share the experience with like-minded people, and we all find the conversation motivating.

Marji sent me this quick checklist of what to look for in a fitting muslin.

First, start with an overall look: If it's so tight that...

it doesn't hang straight from the shoulders
it hangs up on your body instead of gliding over it
it has horizontal wrinkles
- showing the strain as it goes around your body;
- showing where wider parts (as at hips) ride up to provide more room at waist
it gaps where you pin center fronts together

...then let it out (that's what the 1-inch seams are for!).

Begin at the top, and making ONE change at a time:

Check neckline for proximity to neck (light chain around neck is great for this) .

Claire S. is wearing a light chain in one of her muslin pics, and this is where Marji began to advise her to adjust the size around the neck. See the start of that conversation here. Scroll to the bottom of the post and click on the picture on the left to enlarge it. Look at how the neckline sits away from Claire's neck in relation to the chain. See how nice it looks now.

Tany discussed the fit of the neckline of her coat. Els noticed that it seemed to stand away from her neck, and Tany checked it for stretch and shoulder slope. She adjusted the fit by changing the shoulder pads. See the first neckline here and the adjusted neckline here.

Check shoulder seam placement (should run from bottom of ear to top of shoulder). Marji demonstrates this on Claire's muslin here.

Check shoulder width/upper chest width/upper back width (horizontal ripples indicate it is too tight, vertical ripples mean it is too loose) Liana's first muslin has a large vertical fold down the back, which she has corrected in the second set of pictures in this post.

Check for fit at bust. The ripples on Poppy's muslin point to the bust, indicating she needs a full bust adjustment.

Check width and ease through waist/hip (horizontal ripples indicate it is too tight, vertical ripples mean it is too loose—the ripples may point to the problem)

Check that bust/waist/hip lines are horizontal/perpendicular to floor

Check that vertical seams hang straight —particularly side seams and CF/CB. Cafe Couture realized her vintage pattern is smaller than today's sizing. The center fronts do not line up in her first muslin. I've had persistent problems with my side seams, and finally have realized the pulling at my bust indicated a need for more length there. See here and here

Check sleeve fit (horizontal ripples indicate it is too tight, vertical ripples mean it is too loose).

Claire S. - The Neck Fits !

2008-07-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

"this post has been draft since Thursday, waiting for pics" - here we go...

I just didn't quite 'get' the instruction to cut a strip of muslin 2 sizes smaller from the neck of the original pattern and sew it on the muslin. BUT, I read (and re-read) all my books, searched the Net, and re-read the books again for making a neckline smaller. I'm not sure I followed 'proper' sewing tecniques but the neckline now fits alot better.

Those 1" seam allowances came in handy. I had already done a round back adj. and the CB was sitting ok on my neck. The long seams where the lapels will go had the 1" seam allowance. What I did was mark 3/4" on each shoulder seam seam allowance closer to the neck and just drew a line from CB to that mark, decreasing the neck width, and tapering back down the lapel to the original marking at the bottom. The S.A. on the back neckline was a tad short but it was just enough to get this basting stitch in.

How did I do ? and am I now ready to try the sleeves again ?

I've also noticed that although the line I drew from my ear to shoulder on each side matches up with its seam and looks ok, I only moved the shoulder seam forward on the RIGHT side. The seam on the left side is the original one which seems to have moved into place after adjusting for the high round neck and adding shoulder pads - is it possible to only have to move 'one' shoulder ?

Mary OK Burda redrafted to Marfy F1022

2008-07-26T17:41:00.000-05:00

Edited 7/26/08 to add:

Thank you, Digs, for noticing the forward tilt of the sideseam. This has been a persistent problem for me. I finally added a 3/4 " wedge of fabric at the bust line. This has brought the side seam back in line. Hooray!

7/20/08:
Here is the redrafted muslin, looking more like Marfy F1022!

I used the instructions in chapter 8 of Modern Pattern Design by Harriet Pepin (142) to adjust the sweep of the skirt. In the design for the eight-gore skirt, she distributes the movement to increase the sweep toward the back. The changes :

Add width to each panel according to Pepin's instructions on P. 19 of chapter 8
Start the break 3" below bust line in front, side and back
Draft the pleats to be 1" deep at the top and almost 3" deep at the hem, throwing the pleat on the bias
Change the grain on the side front and side back pieces, so the grain line runs down the center of the panel (drawn on this muslin, but cut according to the old grain line)
Reduce sleeve cap ease by 3/8". There is now 1 and 3/8" ease in the sleeve cap.

I'm still wondering if it tilts up too much in the front. I think there is enough room in the back:

I also tested the sleeve tab as shown in Burda 9/2006 #101. I don't like it. See how the sleeve is twisted on the model's arms? Makes ya wonder. . . . I will probably do a long sleeve vent instead, or a diagonal cuff in velvet (same as collar), as in the bottom picture:

Note from Marji

2008-07-25T11:55:00.002-05:00

I'm working today and tomorrow on the blue silk dresses I need to make for dsd's to be in their uncle's wedding at the end of the month.
While taking breaks I'm going to work my way down through the muslin posts and try to leave everyone some feedback.

In order to keep information together, I'm using the admin priviledge of going in and adding the feedback as an edit right in the body of your post.
If you don't want me writing an edit on your post, email me and tell me to leave it alone. I won't be offended.

Funny, but now that I've gotten started on the coats, I want to keep going and get all my underlining mounted and the thread tracing done....and here I am back to working on silk dresses.
I'll post on my regular blog on Monday with the results of the dressmaking.
Marji

Marji - my own projects

2008-07-24T11:20:00.005-05:00

I'm hoping to get 3 garments made in the process of hosting this The Great Coat Sewalong.
I'd started to muslin the vintage pattern Vogue 1356 when I had occasion to flip through my whole collection of Patrones and Burda WOF looking for something else, and came across this.

I set everything aside for awhile and I evaluated muslins, worked on other projects and went on vacation. And, I searched for buttons - there are a lot of buttons on this coat. I found one locally that I loved, but it's a long discontinued button and doesnt' exist anywhere anymore.
I still need to trace this pattern, and make a muslin to see if it'll even work on me. And, I need to make a decision about buttons. This is where I am so far. The two on the right are my top choices at the moment.
Input gladly accepted.

Meanwhile I had to begin working on a project for this TGCSA. The other two projects I had in mind when I started this group are short jackets. My need for coats is seriously dwarfed by my love for coats, and my existing collection. Whereas I will get significantly more wear from short jackets. It just doesn't get cold enough here, long enough, to warrant a lot of coat wearing.
The jacket I chose to work on first is a double breasted tailored number by Guy Larouche from Vogue. And of course, it's just gone OOP, although it is still available on their website.

I altered my pattern per my usual alterations for Vogue, and cut my typical 1" seam allowances, and constructed the muslin.
I wonder how many people have made this pattern as is?

Look at the shape of the side front on the pattern tissue, and then look at my revised piece after alterations in the muslin. (the muslin pattern piece is under the pattern tissue). The front actually pleated along that princess line there was so much fabric and flare drafted into the original pattern.
There is that much flare built into the back too, however, since I would normally have had to make a sway back adj - which I didn't do since I was making a muslin and I wanted to see how much I would need in actuality rather than arbitrarily making the alteration on the tissue - and I would normally make a bit of allowance for my protruding backside, I didn't have to do much to the back. The flare built in by Vogue took care of that particular fitting issue for me.
The interesting thing is, this isn't supposed to be a flared jacket.

Other than that though, I added a bit more in the bustline at the princess seam, and added additional length to my CF panel, and the pattern fit ok.

For this jacket I'm using the double face cashmere/wool blend coating from Gorgeous Fabrics.
For the lining, I rifled through my rather prodigious stash and came up with the perfect use for a piece of Vietnamese Silk I have been hanging onto for the last 4 years trying to come up with a suitable use for it. These are very interesting jacquard woven silks, being a cottage industry in Vietnam, and being woven on some very old looms that some villagers have pulled out of storage. The woven width is less than 36". Somewhat recently I thought I saw some for sale at Waechters.

The colors are perfect both for the coating wool I'm using and for the wool that I'm planning a pair of pants from to wear with it. The pant wool has been in my stash since ... the days of cavemen? Since the 80's anyway.

The color of the jacket matches perfectly one of the colors in the plaid of the pant, and will be great together. (ignore the yarn).

Ignore also the fact that I've cut the lining out already. I'm trying to work ahead a bit to get some installments written in advance of when they're expected to be up. ;)

Rosemary: B4665

2008-07-23T13:13:00.004-05:00

I've been quiet mostly pondering my adjustments to my muslin. I am getting quite happy with the fit. I have done the tuck above the armseye, voila the neck fits. This has left me thinking and pondering about most of my necklines, gaping v necks and bunching of extra fabric over my bust and of course why sometimes I can't move my arms! It is quite the learning curve, I can only compare it to therapy when you learn so much about oneself.
That said, I also added extra to drop the waistline, that put the hipline below my crotch. I still have the adjustments in the bust area and the shoulder width and I just took the collar out of the envelope. The upper collar seems to have the extra for the turn of cloth but I am still just looking at it. The lower collar is cut on the bias and seems to be longer in length and it also says stretch along the collar edge. Another ponder is in order.

Marji, I am not sure of my skills yet to recommend fitting advice to anyone yet. Looking forward to the next part of the process, but I must admit I have periods of being overwhelmed. (not quite the right word)

I'll post pictures soon.