Friday, December 22, 2017

Swinging into the Holiday Season with a New Coat


As soon as Simplicity released 8509 earlier this year, I could not wait to get my hands on the pattern.


I just love a good swing coat!


Of course, a design like this requires a fair amount of fabric.


But in the spirit of shopping from my stashed fabric, I thought better of purchasing more heavy coating . . . and none of the lengths of yardage in my sewing room seemed quite right. I was quite tempted by a few of the holiday sales, but I held fast to my resolution.


However, I did have a deep blue mystery textile from a recent fabric swap.  And a blue coat is something that works with so many of my dresses!  The fabric is a bit lightweight for outerwear with more drape than is necessary, but I thought I would give it a go.


I also had just enough mid-weight lining tucked away as well which helped add a bit of heft to the finished coat.


I actually started by constructing the lining of this coat before the coat itself.  I can't say why, but it did make the process seem to go rather fast, since I was just about finished with the entire project once that outer portion was done.


Maybe I will have to do that in the future as well!


Besides the irritation of working with a fabric that likes to shred with the slightest movement, this went together very well.


And since the fabric was not too precious to me, I decided to treat this as a sort of wearable muslin.


I figured that in the future I could find the ultimate fabric and make another version.  Or at the very least, make one of the shorter views.


I did not really want to deal with welt pockets with this particular fabric.


But pockets are absolutely necessary in a coat, so I added them to the side seams.  I also omitted any closure for the center front seams to see how I would like that feature on the finished product.


There was even a pair of raglan shoulder pads of whose provenance I have not a clue.  I was slightly concerned that the bright pink color might show through the loose weave of the coat fabric, so I hand stitched a layer of cotton over the top.  This was probably not necessary, but better safe than sorry since I really do detest taking things apart once they are finished!


Which means that this project has reduced my stash without any increase of any kind!


Wait . . . I have to take that back.  I did purchase some navy thread since I ran out of my huge spool from Wawak.  I guess I really do like a dark blue!


But, all in all, a very successful project, and I am patting myself on the back for the new space I have created in my fabric drawers!  To be honest, they just aren't as crammed as they used to be (space is probably overstating)!

9 comments:

  1. beautiful hang on that coat, lovely work

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  2. Your coat is absolutely gorgeous!

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  3. Thank you for sharing--I bought that pattern and plan to work on a coat after Christmas. It looks lovely, hope you post a pic of you wearing it.

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  4. From cable cars to coffee shops, all eyes will gaze upon the gazelle in the swing coat. Breezing into Britex Fabrics, where the ooooohs and ahhhhhhs continue.

    "I saw the most stylish woman downtown today.", will echo throughout BART cars and cramped kitchens.

    From Tiburon to the Tenderloin, tongues will be wagging - and you wouldn't have it any other way.

    Awaiting your pictorial posings (it's such a beautiful coat, it's not even a painful admission).

    Impressed with your process, thrift, and execution.

    He who is lying on the side of the sewing highway, sideswiped by your skills

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  5. Lovely! A lightweight coat could be very useful at other times of year too. You can't go wrong with navy!

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  6. The lining first is probably the greatest idea ever. And yes, navy goes with everything and all the seasons. All said and done, an EXCELLENT 'muslin'!

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  7. I would faint away if I saw a woman coming down the street in a coat like this! Gorgeous!

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  8. What a wonderful new coat and love that you added a lining!

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  9. Lovely coat. Did you make a muslin?

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