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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?
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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

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