Skip to main content

Coat Progress - Part 5

I hesitate to consider this the "big reveal" because the coat does look very incomplete without buttons and because the pictures are really lousy. Uncooperative weather and an overly busy photographer have conspired against me.

Burda Talea

It was really windy outside when we took these pictures. This was the only one where the coat wasn't flapping in the breeze. I should have pinned it closed. It doesn't look so good here. The shoulders/chest are a good fit when the CF's are pinned how they will be buttoned. I used red thread to mark buttonhole placement on the right front and to loosely tack down the other button locations.

Burda Talea

I really like the seaming on the back and the back latch. But, I feel really defeated by those sleeves. They look beautiful from the front, but they aren't smooth in the back. I think they look worse here because of how  I'm holding my arms, but maybe not - it's hard to know. I matched up the marks, but it seems like they must be rotated improperly as there wasn't much easing necessary at all.

I'm trying to maintain perspective about this (this is my first wool coat, everything else looks great, yada yada), but the look of the finished sleeves has sucked a lot of the joy out of this project for me. Sleeves are my nemesis. I just really wanted to get them right on this coat. Even after a lot of fiddling and following all the right instructions, I still didn't get it. Hopefully when I pull this out of the closet when winter rolls around again, I will be more satisfied.

Now it's time to start thinking about buttons. If this were your coat, what kind of buttons would you look for?
Labels:

Comments

  1. VanessaMarch 18, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    I like the coat, and the sleeves don't look bad! I have not sewn a coat so I am not sure about button choice.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LoriMarch 18, 2011 at 4:49 PM

    Your coat is very pretty. I am with you the seaming in the back is beautiful. I think the seams looks fine in the back. Great job and good luck with the buttons and buttonholes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marie-ChristineMarch 19, 2011 at 7:38 AM

    It may be that vast amounts of steaming may make these puckers disappear. Do you have a ham? It'd be indispensible for this kind of operation. Or if you're lost in a god-forsaken place without good notions, you could probably get a good independant dry-cleaner to do it for you. Next time, consider that sleeve cap ease isn't necessary at all, http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/sleeve_cap_ease_is_bogus/ and get rid of it before you start..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Marie-ChristineMarch 19, 2011 at 7:39 AM

    PS: it looks very good all the same, and it'll be warm as soon as you put in the buttons :-). And it's positively fabulous for a first coat!

    ReplyDelete
  5. BeccaAMarch 19, 2011 at 1:14 PM

    Your coat is gorgeous! I love the back seams. If it were my coat, I'd use leather buttons. Wool is well behaved when steamed, and it is worth a try to have a cleaner steam it to get rid of the puckers as Marie-Christine suggested.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ann Made StudioMarch 20, 2011 at 7:14 PM

    Your jacket is beautiful and it fits you extremely well.. I love all the details and for your first try you should be so pleased with how it turned out :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. MushyWearMarch 24, 2011 at 4:28 AM

    What an amazing job you have done! I am excited to see it with the buttons too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Burda Skirt Again

I'm not sure what prompted it, but awhile ago I decided that I needed a green skirt. The last time I was at Fabricland I saw this green wide-wale corduroy. I wasn't really looking for the skirt to be corduroy and the color was a little different than I was hoping for, but since I had my eyes peeled for awhile and hadn't seen anything better, I thought I'd try the corduroy. After looking for a suitable pattern, I settled on the Burda 2/2010 skirt that I've already used three times . Because of the weight and bulk of the corduroy, I didn't want to try to mess with too many details. I'll use another skirt pattern soon. Really, I will. One of the things I really like about this pattern is the pockets. This time I made the pocket facings and part of the pocket bag out of a cotton woven solid to reduce bulk. Since I'll be wearing this skirt with tights I added a lining. Adding the lining was really simple except that I cut the lining exactly the sam
14 comments
Read more

Grocery Bags

More gifts! These are just like the still-all-too-ubiquitous plastic grocery bags, but they're fabric.  I followed this tutorial and you actually use a plastic bag as a pattern.  The instructions are very good and include a pocket so that the bag can be folded up and is easy to keep in a purse or a car's glove box. Mostly for the sake of the gift recipients, here's how to fold up the bag.... 1.  Lay the bag pocket side down and fold it length-wise using the edges of the pocket as a guide. 2.  Fold it in half, aligning the top of the handles with the bottom of the bag. 3.  Fold in half again and then reach into pocket with your hand and turn the whole thing (pocket included) inside out. Happy shopping!
3 comments
Read more

Shopping Bags

Most stores in our town charge you a nickel for a plastic bag when you check out. I love this practice and the way that it encourages people to bring their own cloth bags or reuse their plastic ones. My habit of bringing along bags to the grocery store is well established, but I used to find myself stuck at places like the drug store or farmer's market or other impromptu stops. Then I picked up a bag at an upscale kitchen goods store that rolls up quite compactly. Now I keep that in my purse, so I always have a bag with me. I like my bag so much that I wanted to replicate it for the art sale. The final result is a hybrid of the bag I purchased and these that I made last year. The bag is a little bigger than the average plastic grocery bag. The velcro tab is used to keep the bag rolled up, but also can close the top of the bag when it is full. Most of the bag is a single layer of cotton, but the handles are faced. There is a double row of top-stitching around both edges of
12 comments
Read more