Sewing Vortex

I try to make a coat each winter, but this year I had a difficult time getting in the mood for a large, complicated project. The thought of muslins and fit adjustments was making me feel like I should maybe skip the project.  But then 2 things happened: First, my home-base Facebook sewing group, Sew Alongs & Sewing Contests , announced that they were running a Coat Along from November 1st - December 15th. Second, I saw the email announcement of Deer and Doe 's new coat pattern, Opium , and it was instant love!  The Pattern The Opium is a lined, raglan sleeve, swing-style coat with beautiful origami welt pockets. There are two closure options: center front snaps for a true swing silhouette or a tie belt for a wrap silhouette. Opium Coat is available as both a printed paper pattern, or a PDF download in French and English languages. The paper pattern only includes through size 46 (41 inch bust) where the PDF download includes through size 52 (45.5 inch bust). ...

Let's start talking details! My first Coat project this fall is going to be the Ralph Pink Fari Coat . The Fashion fabric is a charcoal wool melton that I picked up locally on sale for about $21/yard. I'm going to use a poly charmeuse from my stash for the lining. I know, I know...poly...but just look at it: The photo really doesn't do it justice. It's a bold abstract boarder print with mustard, tan, grey and black on a white background. It will be perfect for a lining that will show frequently. Because the finished product will be dry cleaned, I washed and dried the poly charmeuse like any other fabric, and steam treated the wool myself. I know there are other ways to pretreat your wool such as paying your dry cleaner to steam press it (without creases, of course) or to toss the yardage into the dryer with damp towels and run it until the towels are dry. I once had my dry cleaner steam press wool for me and it worked out great, except for the ridiculous cost ...

I've been a naughty Coat Cravings host. Jumping out of the gate all raring to go....then totally stalling out for 2 months. Don't worry, I did pick my Fari Coat back up again...I even finished it! Here, let me share the highlights of my Coat making with you: Welt Pockets I do believe when I last left you, I was just about to start my welt pockets. I added a nice healthy square of interfacing to the back side to support the stitches and opening. Then, I very carefully hand basted the prepped pocket pieces to my opening.  I was more than a little paranoid about things being very precise, this seemed the best way to ensure nothing shifted while stitching. It made machine stitching a breeze, as I could see the stitch lines very clearly, and just needed to follow the basting stitches. No matter how confident I am in my stitching, slicing into the pocket opening is always gut-wrenching... Will I have ruined my coat? ...