I have been following Sherry's blog
mailto:Pattern~Sissors~Cloth@blogspot.com with great interest . Sherry is teaching us how to make a quality ready to wear style coat using only machine sewing in the way a manufacturer would . If you haven't been to this blog I urge you to go , its one of the best on the net.
I started making Simon's Coat a few weeks before Sherry started her coat sew along so I didn't follow her direction exactly . Simon was very keen to get his coat ASAP as the weather is cooling rapidly here in Melbourne.
I used Burda 8275 an out of print (just) overcoat pattern in 2 lengths. I made the coat out of a Cashmere Wool from Davisha Textiles in Richmond Melbourne , The lining is a bemberg acetate stripe also from Davisha.
This is a really good pattern with clear instructions and really good drafting . I also used the Singer Book of Tailoring to assist me with things that the pattern didn't cover.
I fused the entire front , upper sleeve,hems and around the vent and at the sleeve hemline. I used a lighter interfacing on the facing and collar pieces. The photo above shows the pocket stay I made out of silk organza and used to support the welt and flap pocket by suspending it from the armscye .
The pockets are made of lining on the inside so they are nice and silky to the touch but are encased in tough linen to enable them to take the stress of big teenage hands, mobile phones and whatever else will end up in these pockets.
I made a few practise pockets before launching into the coat ones . I made them using different methods I had learnt using bias fabric for the welts but in the end came back to using the method described in the pattern as it worked best with the rally thick wool coating I was working with .These welts are quite wide and cut on the straight grain. I lined the pocket flap with lining but I think would fuse it with more than one layer of interfacing next time as it isnt as heavy as I would like and sort of disappears inside the pocket a bit.
Lastly to add a bit of fun I piped the lining coat seam with bright blue satin and added a bright blue welted inside pocket . Simon is very happy with his coat and has ordered a pin stripe suit!!!!!! I think that may be project for the very distant future
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The first attempt got hijacked by DH who needed a warm gown desperately , The 2nd was way too short in the arms and looked absolutely hilarious on him when I presented it to him at Christmas time !! The third attempt is made of a fine wool suiting , is lined in black polyester duchess satin and trimmed with a black and white polyester brocade . The fabrics are a mixture of stash and the brocade was found especially for the purpose as I wanted to achieve a masculine but luxurious look. I used a polyester lining as it needs to be strong . Nobody in that house hold will be able to repair it should things wear . I figured that polyester was going to wear better than silk . It was horrible to sew though . I felt I was battling it rather than sewing it. I made the dressing gown fully lined with the bagging out method , turning the gown to the right side through a gap in the sleeve lining. The hem a
nd sleeve hems are suspended by the lining. I haven't done this before so it was an interesting exercise.
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