While we may not have the autumn color display you see in other parts of the US here in N. California we certainly have plenty of leaves that fall. My street is lined with old sycamores so there are mountains of leaves as well as the beautiful but hazardous oaks - the one behind my house has acorns that are over 2" long and pointed, so I wouldn't want one to land on my head when I'm doing garden chores. I was joking with my sister that we could make crafty wreaths with the hundreds of acorns and a glue gun - however I will pass on that and stick to sewing.
Making a new coat is not something my wardrobe has any need for - I have hardly worn the beautiful red coat I made last winter. If this was a normal year that would definitely be my holiday coat and be worn to many events, however this year there aren't any events to speak of. It will probably hibernate another year until holiday season 2021. Fingers crossed that things will be better then! In the meantime I selected this wool fabric from Minerva.com without any particular thing in mind, but I do keep buying the Patrones magazine on the app each month, so it seemed a good opportunity to try out one of their coats. They have SO many nice coat patterns.
This project had mixed results. While I do like the color, I don't think the texture of the fabric was right for a coat, and also I have some issues with the pattern. Here's a good look at the coat on the dress form. It's a loose fitting, raglan sleeve coat with a very straight cut, and 2 part raglan sleeves.
I only had 2 yards which was just enough to make the coat but with scraps leftover I decided to make the under collar out of some faux suede which I recently found at the thrift store. The color match was luckily perfect so it added that little pop of color on the coat. I have about 2 yards of the faux suede so I am thinking of making a dress. As I've said previously, this year is all about sewing stuff just for the fun of it and if I get something interesting for my wardrobe when we return to regular life that's great.
In these pictures I'm wearing a just completed pair of Ash jeans, also for variety I tried the boot cut version of that pattern. I always like a boot cut jean and these came out well, maybe a tad wide so I might narrow the flare just a bit. The fabric is a wide-wale stretch corduroy I bought at Joann's. It's really perfect for this pattern and after I finished these I went back and bought the same fabric in black. I think they had red as well so if I have a super coupon and find myself in there again I will buy it again. Although the thought of going in stores in December always fills me with dread - this year being extra in that area. I just was given a bunch of fabrics by two different people who were destashing so I have absolutely no excuse for buying any fabric at all! The exercise this week is trying to find good spots to stash it all.
Back to this pattern, you can see both in the dress form picture as well as on my, the raglan sleeve doesn't fall quite right, it has some wrinkles in the inner arm, and feels like there might not be enough room at the top of the shoulder. This is odd for me to encounter as I almost never have issues with the width or room at the shoulder, if anything things are usually to big or too wide in that area. I think my experiments with Patrones sizing will have to continue. On this one I made a size 40 for the neck, shoulders etc and then graded out a bit towards the hemline to have room in the hip. I usually make a size 38 in Burda and after I made this I had some conversations with people who suggested that you should choose two sizes up from whatever number size you make in Burda. So I should try size 42 in Patrones if I use 38 in Burda. I will give another Patrones a try and make a test muslin of a 42 to see how that goes.
Here's the image from the Patrones App. Looking at the seaming on the raglan sleeve, I see that the horizontal seam is lower down on her bicep, so perhaps it is correct that I was just one size too small in my choice. This hasn't really deterred me from trying out other Patrones patterns, though. And I have muslined a couple of pants patterns which fit me almost perfectly so I seem to have found my pants pattern soulmate :) stay tuned.
As mentioned in a post earlier this summer, the magazine and instructions are entirely in Spanish however I haven't found that to be an obstacle. (note that I rarely look at any instructions so it doesn't matter the language). The patterns are marked very clearly so I didn't have any problem with the pocket placement, and I just did a wide single welt pocket as I would do on any item. Just for fun I faced the back of the pocket welt with the ultra suede. That stuff is quite easy to sew with and presses very well.
Here's a better look at the fabric, which is an wool blend. (Minerva link) I thought it was a tad too thin for a coat, perhaps better suited to a blazer style jacket. I'm not accustomed to this type of tweedy fabric, which is not really one color or the other and realize I prefer a solid bold color instead of a blend of several colors.
Circumstances being what they are shopping for just the right button is not really in the cards now, but I rummaged in one of my old cookie tins of oddball sewing supplies and found this covered button kit. Score! Just the spot to use more of the ultra suede. That button came out perfectly on the first try, and I only needed two so I have 2 more available for future projects.
I made bound buttonholes as I figured I wanted fairly large buttons and my machines only make about a 1.2" long buttonhole. This fabric was a bit unravelly so it was not fun but plenty of interfacing does the trick. One other detail, the sleeves were barely long enough so I didn't want to make too short by turning up a normal sleeve hem, so I put a facing of the faux suede there and gave it another color accent.
That wild lining makes another appearance, I was given it by Hello Stitch as a remainder after a fabric swap and thought it was hideous, however I've now used it twice and still have some for another project. (used it in the turquoise blue wool blazer last January).
So that's the latest on my recent Patrones coat project. I think I will proceed more cautiously next time and work on the fit before I cut out.
Next week (Dec 1) we start our December Sewing Club class at Hello Stitch, and we are making the Toaster Sweater from Sew House Seven. A cozy pick for this time of year! Register on the Hello Stitch website. The class for January will be a Chore coat or jacket - I'm really excited to make one of these. You can choose any pattern you wish in that style.
Making now, doing some custom sewing for other people, and slowly working on a vintage Vogue designer pattern, a YSL blazer, blouse, and trousers from a '70's pattern. Here's a look on my IG page. I'm trying to save the details in an Instagram highlight as I go, since I'm doing it old-school, with pad stitching and horsehair canvas. Which I have not done in ages and forgot how time consuming that is!!
Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and stay well!
Happy Sewing, Beth
Here's my ode to autumn, with that one lovely red tree in the background.
