Burda 7169 classic coat in camel wool from Britex

If you read my previous post you saw that I am stuck at home now recovering from a foot surgery. It's going well and I should be back to being out and about in another 1-2 weeks. So I need to continue my resolution of using this forced stuck-at-home time to blog projects that are long completed. I have been meaning to get to this one as I know you really like when I show projects I make for my friend Heather. Custom fitting, gorgeous fabrics, classic designs - sewing heaven. 

To start with, a small sneak peek of the finished coat.  

Here is the inspiration photo of a coat she saw online. 

So I searched among coat patterns to find this style. Actually it turned out that I had used parts of the following pattern for a coat I made for her back in 2013! But that copy of the pattern was really chopped up and I wanted to start fresh so I ordered a new copy on on Ebay. 

I think it's important to note the drawings for this coat, and why I chose it, apart from having the same lapel shape and look of the example coat. Two words - Shoulder princess seams! They are just absolutely the best for adjusting the fit, particularly for a full bust. You can see they have pockets in the front princess seam which I always think are useless, and the example coat has horizontal double welt pockets but it was pretty easy to add those. 

Here's the fabric which we bought at Britex in San Francisco. In person - she is not an internet fabric buyer and always needs to see the color and texture in person. So we make our periodic trips over the bridge to SF for shopping. I'm not 100% sure but I think it is this fabric from the Britex website, or something similar. They have so much more in the store than online.

I cut 2 four inch squares from the fabric and steamed and pressed one of them like crazy, in an attempt to check how much it would shrink. I cut the pieces, and compare to my paper test square. The answer was almost not at all, so I then moved on to my interfacing tests.  Although there probably wasn't much question, I used the Fashion Sewing Supply Pro-Weft Lightweight for most of the coat, hems, undercollar, coat front and then the Sheer Elegance Light for the upper collar and lapel facing. 

I did do a fitting muslin and it just needed a couple of adjustments, including snugging up the lapel which was too long in the center.  You can see the dashed lines cutting across the lapel at center front indicating how much to shorten. I pin both sidces and then take an average of the amount, and then apply to the pattern piece. The other adjustment was taking in the princess seam over the bust, which I did on the paper pattern pieces but tried not to overdo it as I wanted to adjust it specifically in the real fabric. I think sometimes a muslin might seem to fit but the coat fabric is thicker and takes up more space so that is something to keep in mind. 

Onward to cutting out, and I like to use these shears which were given to me long ago as a Christmas present by the same great-aunt who first taught me to sew.  And yes I am team "cut out that pattern tissue" if I have a copy I cut it! You can always find another copy for sale if you need again. 

So that's a start to this coat - which I think will take 2 or 3 more posts to complete. 

What else have I been working on? In between other projects I cut out another pair of Ash jeans, in burgundy corduroy. And I have an urge to sew up a one or two nice blouse patterns I've seen recently. I just finished doing a Trouser class online with Hello Stitch and once my foot is back in action I will schedule more in-person and online classes. AND I can't wait to get back out in my garden, so many things to trim and seeds to start. 

Take care and Happy Sewing,

Beth

In garden news before I had the foot surgery I got out and trimmed all the roses and hydrangeas which was a good idea as they are all sprouting their spring growth now. I came across this little fellow on my favorite rose bush so it was good to see even in these freezing temps. Well, freezing for us - below 32ºF at night, getting down to 29ish sometimes here.