2 yards of fabric–a coat!

Many, many years ago I participated in a contest on PatternReview and won a prize. I think it was second or third place, but I can’t remember which contest it was. The prize was fabric from Textile Studio (a company that no longer exists) and I chose a lovely wool fabric. It was 2 yards (which is 1.80 meter). Every year when I examined fabrics in my collection at the beginning of the autumn/winter season, this piece of fabric came out and I always thought “I must make some special jacket from it” and back it went in my closet for that special pattern that I would someday make from it.

This year I realised that my taste in jackets has changed and I no longer wanted a jacket from it, but that it would make a lovely coat. That provided a challenge: only 2 yards of fabric and the desire to make a coat from it. Sounds like mission impossible, doesn’t it? It took some browsing of patterns, pattern magazines and of course the internet and I found it. I checked all my Burda magazines from the August-January range and couldn’t find a suitable pattern. Having decided it should be a coat without a collar (too much fabric needed) and I googled something like “Burda coat without collar), a pattern from the March 2012 issue came up. I hadn’t checked my March issues, as I did not think that a March issue would have a pattern for a coat I was looking for.

Luckily I had that issue in my collection and decided that this would be my project to be made in my sewing days with friends. I planned a few changes: bound buttonholes instead of snaps, pockets with flaps instead of inseam pockets. For the pockets I took the position and shape from a Burda magazine from 2007! It is helpful to have a collection of over 100 Burda magazines .

A few in progress pictures to get an idea of how it looks and how the inside is done.

Sample of the buttonhole, which is not done in the official way, but using the “window” method. Bottom right you can see the “window”, which is done with silk organza.

The welts for the buttonholes, made of faux leather. On the inside is a piping cord, which you can see peeking out on a few.

Buttonholes and welt for pocket done.

All pattern pieces were block fused with a middle weight coat interfacing. I did that first (still at home) and after the block fusing marked the seamlines on the pieces.

I thought the  the fabric was not thick enough for winter temperatures, even after the fusible interfacing was applied. All pieces were interlined with a flannel. For this I cut all the pattern pieces without seam allowance and used a catch stitch to attach it (did take some time!). After that the rest was relatively easy.

Front shield as in most of my jackets applied here too.

Sleeve head and shoulder pad inserted.

Almost finished. I still have to insert the lining. As said, I’m still travelling and this last step will be done when I’m back home again.

To conclude this picture heavy post a photo of the white cliffs, close to the location where I was with my sewing friends. I’ve been at several places along the south coast of the UK this time and wow, what breath-taking views! So different from county to county.

A knitted sweater

At the beginning of August I showed you a knitted sweater in progress. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and I’m ever so pleased with it. The base was a pattern by Asa Tricosa, but my version doesn’t resemble the original much. It’s mainly used for the general shape, number of stitches, increases/decreases etc. Center front I added a cable from the book Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible: 260 Exquisite Patterns by Hitomi Shida. At the sides I repeated the small cable at the edge.

I love the technique that Asa Tricosa has developed, which she calls the “Ziggurat” method. It’s knitting top-down and with very clever techniques you knit the top of the sleeve in one pass with the body too. A way in which you can try it on in an early stage too and adapt for fit more easily. My fear in knitting sweaters was always that I would spend hours and hours (far more time than most sewing projects take) and after assembly would find out that it was not fitting. If you’ve been reading my blog for a little while you know I can be obsessive about fit . I’ve found a technique that suits me very well and have two more garments on the needles from her book. 

The book has many projects with lovely details that have a huge appeal to me, like this double knitted hem. Isn’t it a lovely detail? It’s a bit like nice underwear: you know it’s there, even if no one sees it.

The annual sewing retreat in the UK with a group of friends is next week, I’m preparing a coat and a jacket to sew. Sewing projects will be shown here again soon .