Gry: Progress of a kind

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.

Gry: Shell Finished

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.

Gry: My final collar

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.

Gry's Collars

I am getting a little stressed about my coat. It is past mid-June and I am not ready to cut the fabric yet. I have bought the fabric and prepared it. I have been to the library and have found out how to do the hidden buttons thing. I have worked with my pattern, and, I think, improved it. But I am not ready yet. The thing is that I don't know what collar to put on the coat. Until I know this, I cannot finish my pattern and get started on the coat.

When I first made the muslin, I thought I would leave the coat collarless, but I have changed my mind. I think the A-line coat needs a collar to balance it. The question of the collar is no easy matter. I have made coat-sketches since last Christmas without coming to a conclusion. I decided I would try out some different collars on the muslin. A secondary motive for doing this was to get some experience in drawing collars. So far, I have sewn 4 collars and drawn a couple more. Here are the two first.

Collar 1: Mandarin collar

A very classic collar, it makes the coat look like something from one of my vintage books. Perhaps, it is a little too classic for me? Besides, I don't think that the collar is big enough for the coat (I know, it is impossible to judge this from the picture).




Collar 2: Peter Pan collar

This collar is very sweet, but not quite what I am looking for. The collar might work better if it was bigger.






I will add more collars and full-figure pictures on my blog.

Gry's coat

First, a few words about myself. My name is Gry and I live in Copenhagen, Denmark. I am interested in pattern drafting and have the last three years been taking evening classes in pattern drafting at Københavns Tilskærer Akademi. This was a school of pattern drafting in Copenhagen. Sadly, it closed last month due to lack of pupils. The courses I have taken almost cover the same curriculum as the full-time course, but of course there were a lot less exercises at the evening classes. So I know the theory, but lack experience in pattern drafting. So far I have only made simple designs for trousers and dresses, and this is my first big project based on a home-drafted pattern.

The coat is based on a jacket I saw at H&M last winter. I wanted to buy it, but since we were doing wide raglan sleeves at my evening classes, I thought I might try to do it myself. I made the pattern at classes and adjusted it, but never got as far as to actually make the coat. So when I heard about this sew-along, I thought it was time to take up the coat again.

The design is an A-line coat with wide 3/4 raglan sleeves and vertical intersections. The pattern was based on a well-fitting block, so I mainly did the muslin to work on the design. Overall, I am very satisfied with the coat. The raglan sleeves fit very nicely. Still, there are a lot of details to work with:

• The collar. Right now, I am most inclined to leave the coat collarless, but I have had about eight different collars up for consideration. A flat Peter Pan-style collar would give the coat a 60's look, a mandarin collar a 50's touch and a funnel neck-style collar a more modern look. I have also thought about more advanced collars. I will probably make a couple of different collars and try them out on the muslin.
• The intersections. I will try to alter the slope a bit and make the intersections a bit more vertical.
  
• Buttons. I like the look with just one visible button, but I don't know how to make the hidden buttons? In one BWOF magazine I found a model that used snaps instead of buttons, but I have also seen coats in shops with hidden buttons in different styles.
  
• Pockets. I have made in-seam pockets, but I am still considering the details (I don't know the correct English term for the kind of pocket I have in mind).
  
• Fabric. I designed the coat with a specific fabric from my stash in mind, but there is not enough fabric. It could work if I shortened the coat 2 inches, but I don't think I want to do that.
  

This the curse of home-drafted patterns. Every little detail must be considered, and there is no 'just doing as the pattern suggests'. The time spent on each project escalates rapidly as I gain more experience and get more options.