Gertie's coat sew along marathon week: DAY 6

Ok, this was a long week end! And after the last double post, I needed to work a bit to have more content. Now, I bring to you day 6: more lining and facings, buttons and belt-thingy. The coat will be finished tomorrow!

I first took care of the belt thingy at the back and of the buttons, before sewing the facing and lining in. I really like the look of the custom made buttons.

It even hides the middle pleat

Aren't they cute?

I never really did those things before, and I want everything to be neat. It is a little bit stressing! Especially as some of the pieces tend to go a tiny bit off (my fault, I asked my Mister to draw the pattern on the fabric). But they are not too off either! In the end, I am very happy with the combo lining/facing. It looks way neater then I would have expected. I have added the sleeves too, but there is no picture of it...

Altogether without the sleeves. I love the collar!

Attaching the collar was very tricky with all those pieces but I really like the result!

Said collar.

Of course, some catstitching!

More catstitching. The shoulders still have to be done.

There is not that much left! I just have to sew the lining/interfacing to the shell, hem the sleeves and the coat, and add a cute detail. Here is a hint...

Gertie's coat sew along marathon week: DAY 4

Those two days have been crazy! Including an IKEA trip this morning! This is why you'll have day 4 and day 5 today: collar, sleeves and hem are on the menu. And there is a lot coming!

I am happier after these steps. The coat is starting to have a life of its own! It all started getting better when I added the sleeves to the rest of the body of the coat.

Don't they look pretty?

The seams are pressed open and catstitched

Doesn't it look so much better?

Even the back looks better...

It looks like the collar is not shaped, but there is another piece to it that you don't see here.

 And then, I got started on the lining. When I first chose my fabrics, I was going to use a polka dots kind of fabric. It was blue with yellow dots. But after a while, I kept on thinking: why not using this yellow/mosterd fabric I have in my stash? And I have gradually changed my mind. It is not a lining fabric per se, as it is a cotton but it is soft and slides enough to work as a lining. It will also make my coat a bit warmer as my wool is quite thin.

The back.

The back ease, ironed and everything.

Wrong side.

Both front pieces

The back side pieces.

I have also hemmed the coat and the sleeves with my sticky magic thing!

And I have interfaced the facing pieces.

Quite a bit of work done, right! I am quite happy with all of this! It is really starting to shape up! And I am finally seeing an end to this huge project!

Tomorrow is Sunday and it will be a holiday. I will be back on Monday for day 6, which will be the about facing , interfacing, buttons and a small belt! Have a good week end...

Gertie's coat sew along marathon week: DAY 3

The mojo is flowing! It's day three of my marathon and I am still on track. Today is going to be about pockets, putting everything together and setting the sleeves in.

First, the pockets! Believe it or not, it was my first real time adding pockets to something. I only trained once for a muslin.

You have the first glimpse of my lining ;)

They are sewn on the side and on top. I have just done two rows of normal machine stitching around both pocket bags. More would have been too much bulk I think...

Now is my favorite time! Putting pieces together! I like it because you can actually start seeing what the coat is going to look like. I was a bit disappointed because there was too much ease at the back and ripping the stitches would kill the wool. After I could try it on, I was a bit underwhelmed... My main issue has to do with the pattern I have used. As you can see, there are more pieces then for the Lady Grey (top and bottom are separated). It didn't look as pretty... I had worked quite a lot of hours on the coat and I almost jumped off the wagon. I am happy I didn't because it looks better today (I am a few steps ahead of these pictures)!

Like I said, I was underwhelmed, but wait for tomorrow and the sleeves!

There was too much ease at the back but ripping the stitches is not an option as it would kill the wool. I am going to hide it with a back belt-ish piece. Trust me, it'll work!

The insides front. It looks so simple but it was a lot of catstitching!

Both front middles are nicely overlapping

The shoulders and the darts I added for a better fit during the muslin process.

Where it hurts to look!

That's it for today!

For tomorrow, DAY 4 (already!), I'll show you how it all looks like with the sleeves and the upper collar in, with the body and the sleeves hemmed, AND with shoulder pads!

Until tomorrow ;)

Gertie's coat sew along marathon week: DAY 2

I wanted to thank the ladies that commented on day 1 and admitted they fell off the sew-along-wagon... I hope you'll get back in the train because it is worth it! You can even take a very slow one, because the reward will feel pretty good! Since deciding to start this marathon, I got so much done on my coat! It was just the right pinch I needed!

But, back to business! Today is day TWO! It is the post about all the crazy handstitching: the lapels, the rest of the coat, the collar and the seams! I have NEVER done so much of it!

No tailor ham around, so I improvised. I actually find it very relaxing to handstitch in front of a movie or TV series.

Here, you have both lapels that have just been steamed. With a close up, you'd see that the little green things on the    grosgrain are crocodiles! I will have hidden crocodiles on my coat!

Other pieces for which I handstitched the interfacing. At that point, I started to become annoyed...

Catstitching of ALL the seams! When I say all, I really mean all... It's crazy work, but so much worth it!

I haven't documented those steps as much as the others because they lasted weeks and weeks. That is mainly why you only have the end results here. But I have more for tomorrow! Day 3 will be about the pockets, the sleeves, and putting everything together!

Blog to you tomorrow ;)

Gertie's coat sew along marathon week: DAY 1

December is almost there and the Crepe sew-along will soon start! I cannot wait! The only problem is that I have not yet completed the coat... In October, I had decided to take it easy and to make other things in the same time. Good or bad idea, I don't know. I just want to be done with the coat, to start fresh. This is why I am launching a...

Gertie's coat sew along marathon week

Ta ta ta taaaaaa 

*lightning effect*

Today is day 1: recap' and button holes.

So far, I had chosen the pattern, completed the muslin, pre-shrinked the fabric, copied and cut the pattern... Here are a few pictures to remember!

I went for an Ottobre pattern, a pure budgetary decision

Muslin 1 issues: shoulders too wide, body not wide enough.

Bottom of the coat too small

Second version of the muslin:way better. Just a bit worried about the sleeves length...

Chosen fashion fabric: Mustard wool. I have another lining now ;) To be seen later this week...

Now I will follow Gertie's instructions. The first thing I did was to make bound buttonholes. It was A LOT of work and my first attempt. I had four to make and some look better then other. I liked her patch method a lot and I am going to re-use it quite a lot! I have used left-over chiffon that I had from a bridesmaid dress I made this summer. It worked quite well.

Applying interfacing and drawing the rectangles

Pinning the chiffon

Sewing the rectangles

From the inside

Chop Chop!

At work!

Pulling the patch

After ironing

The button passes!

And hides my mess

Said mess, I'll do better next time ;)

Yep, the things are a bit crooked... :S But fairly steady!

As people say, practice makes perfect. I am sure that my next button holes will be better. But I am not going to complain too much. They're ok, and you won't see them that much behind my cute self covered buttons ;)

That is it for DAY 1 of my marathon! Tomorrow, I'll blog about a LOT of handstitching!

Did you participate to or finish the sew-along?

Did you make bound buttonholes? Did you blog about it?

It would be great to include a link in the comments, so everyone sees how everyone did!