Duffel coat....done and dusted!

I am really pleased with how this coat turned out. The fit on Miss C is great, she is happy to wear it, and best of all it's super toasty warm!
I am also really happy that I managed to make the entire project from what I had on hand, even the thread was leftover from other projects!

I will let the photos do the talking. Detailed info about the pattern and sewing at the end!

                                     

Hood on!



Hood off!

                                                

   

Fastening detail

Sleeve detail

Hood fastening

I am pretty sure the stylists assistants don't get to play in the dirt on a Vogue shoot!

You said I could have a go with the camera Mum! Oh all right then!

Pattern

Burdastyle 10/2011. I combined the boys and girls version of the pattern, tracing the girls size 110, lengthening it, and using the patch pocket and flap from the boys style.

Fabric 

Vintage wool fabric for the coat

Viscose jersey for the hood lining

Poly/cotton gingham for the lining

Mystery ribbing for the sleeve 'windcatcher'

Summary

This is a beautifully drafted coat. All the pieces went together without a hitch. I did have to pay attention during the prep stage though, but once the pattern was traced, fabric was cut and the fusing applied, the sewing was pretty fast. Miss C did complain about the fabric being 'scratchy', but fortunately the lining and rib detail at the sleeve means the outer fabric never really touches her skin while she is wearing it.

Patternreview is here.

Now if I was really smart I would have made two for the twins to grow into!

Why is my shoe missing its shoelace?

Because the lace has found a new home on Miss C's duffel coat!



I had quite a difficult time finding a suitable fastening for this coat. I really wanted to use the traditional wooden toggles and cord, but the only supplies I had in the stash were black or white, which just didn't work with the grey/green wool. I did have the perfect buttons though, but I didn't want to do buttonholes on the thick wool, and I did try to do self fabric strips, but the wool was just way too bulky.

And then I had the bright idea to use shoelaces. And my running shoes (which despite being purchased 6 months ago at the post Christmas sales, still look brand new) fitted the bill.

So I am one shoelace down, but nearly one jacket finished. Now just to sew the lining to the hems, pop on the buttons and its done!

Aaaaah…….wool!

We have had a bit of an odd lead up to winter here, warm sunny days, cold windy days, gloomy rainy days, a frost and some foggy mornings, and so I have spent the better part of the last few weeks sorting clothes into various piles in order to see who needs what for the colder months and put together some kind of sewing strategy.

The twins have got loads of hand me downs, and growing oh so fast, so I probably won’t sew much for them this winter, and I am pretty much sorted, but poor Miss C’s one and only winter jacket from last year is a size 4! She must have fitted into it last year, as it’s the only one she has, and as we pretty much walk everywhere we need to go, it was pretty urgent to get something together for her before it really gets cold.

As she is now a very headstrong 6 year old, I figured that if I wanted her to actually wear the jacket then I should let her pick the fabric and pattern. I narrowed down the choices and we ended up with this.

The pattern is a Burda duffel coat from the 10/2011 issue and the fabric is a bit of a hodge podge collection of different pieces. The body is a remnant from my MIL’s stash (and has been in my stash for about 8 years), the lining is a poly cotton gingham remnant, and the hood lining is a lovely soft viscose jersey.
I think it is going well so far, but oh so slowly!

I haven’t attempted anything like this for a long time so I have really had to concentrate.

It took two nights to trace the pattern, one night to cut the wool, another night to cut the linings, another night to fuse, and today I managed to get the yokes, hood and seams of the coat done. Phew!

I had forgotten what a joy wool is to sew. This piece is vintage, probably 1970’s, and extremely good quality, so it presses and handles beautifully. I could never afford to buy wool like this today, so I am lucky that I was able to squeeze the pieces onto the slightly less than 1 metre that I had.

The fit though is very slim, so I will be lucky if she gets two seasons out of it, still if she likes it and actually wears it this winter than I will count that as a win!

Now just to get it finished before it snows.

Drape Drape 3 WIP

This is a quick post to show you what I am working on at the mo.
I have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so it may be some time before I get to a) finish it and b) photograph it.

It is my first go at one of the styles from Drape Drape 3, which I was very fortunate to receive courtesy of Fashion Incubator and Laurence King.

I couldn't find any reviews or other reference to it in blogland, and while the instructions are in English, and the drawings are very clear, I have needed to 'fill in the blanks' a bit!

And I am out of my comfort zone sewing jersey, so it will be interesting to see what it looks like on.

This is the photo from the book.

And this is the tech sketch and instructions.

This is mine on the dummy.

Let me just tighten this bit a bit............

Do you think your bum will look big in this Mum?

At this point I think it will be a bit tighter than I expected (I have made the largest size) and probably a bit longer than expected but we shall see!

What's on your sewing table at the moment?

Burda 6/2011 Style 104

I did try really really hard to come up with a better title than that, but after 2 ½ weeks of school holidays, my brain is full of Justine Clarke song lyrics and pretty much nothing else!

This shirt has been on my wish list for ages and it has been finished for about 3 weeks, but I just didn’t get a spare minute for a photo op until today (that is, the photography assistant couldn't be bribed, er persuaded until today!).

And while I tend to moan and whinge about all the extra work involved in tracing and adding seam allowances, Burda’s consistency with fit and excellent drafting makes me want to toss out all of my envelope patterns!

So, more about the shirt.

Burda describe this as an ‘overshirt’ but it’s not. The fit is quite slim, with only a small amount of ease which did surprise me, as the pic on the model seems quite roomy, but she is wearing it unbuttoned and is probably a size too big for her.

I wanted this to be a good transeasonal garment, of which I don’t have a lot of, so wearing it over singlets and long sleeve spencers, as well as on its own, was important to me, and I can only just do that.

But I have to say that the fit on me is superb. I didn’t have to do any alterations save for the length, and just look how that neckline sits on my shoulders!

I think that I will get a lot of wear out of this shirt and will definitely make more.

Pattern

Burdastyle June 2011

Style number 104
Size: 38

Fabric and notions

Cotton chambray with vintage buttons

Construction notes

I eliminated the centre back seam and cut the back on the fold instead.

Shortened the length by 4.5cm and curved the hem (like a traditional menswear shirt) instead of sewing the side seam splits.

I fused the cuffs and bagged them out before sewing them to the sleeve, creating a split at the underarm seam. I think that Burda used this technique on the dress version of this style. Note, that the cuffs are quite slim fitting, without the split I probably wouldn’t be able to layer a long sleeve top underneath.

I used white thread to topstitch, which I really like, except for the buttonholes, where the close satin stitch just ends up being too white. It doesn’t bother me enough to do anything about it though!

Maybe I should have called this blog the Lazy Seamstress!

Hello Bloglovin

Like just about everyone else on Planet Blog I am setting up camp over at Bloglovin before Google turns off Reader’s lights in July.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Come on over and join me, and if I happen to fall off your followers list, it will probably because I missed clicking something somewhere, but hopefully all should transfer smoothly.
Oh, and I do have a few sewing projects on the boil at the mo, just too frazzled by end of term madness to take photos at this point!

Phew! It's done!

The Gridlock entry that is. I ended up using Vogue 1217 (OOP now I think) for the dress.
This is my inspiration board.

I was going for a 'Mia Farrow on vacation on the French Riveria circa 1965" look.
Which, considering that a) I look nothing like Mia Farrow, and b) the chances of me getting anywhere close to the French Riveria in the next 15 years is practically nil, was perhaps a tad fanciful.

Still, I am happy with my dress. Here it is.



Yoo hoo Mia, wait for me!

 I used the 'wrong' side of the fabric for the dress, a chambray from the stash for the sleeves (which I cut on the bias as the fabric was quite stiff), both sides of the fabric for the frilly bit, and the fluffy selvedge to trim the neck and hem.


Neck detail

 I didn't have to muck around much with the pattern, save for taking in the hip about 3cm and adding 3.5 inches to the hem.

I will get around to doing a proper pattern review in the next few days. First I have to figure out where I left the kids and clean the house!

Oh, and entries can be seen here.