A Negroni for Mister!

Hello!

I hope the sun is shining where you live as much as it is shining here! Spring is showing! Yes it is!

It is now time to show you the first shirt I have EVER made. I could write a whole post about all the things I have to improve (top-stitching, wrists, pockets, cutting the yoke in the biais, etc.) but I will focus on what my Mister thinks.

Let's go back in December. I was such a fan of a lot of the Colette patterns but I had only purchased the Crepe and the Macaron. I kept on telling Mister that they were so nice and, even if they were more expensive, it was totally worth it. But no, there was no budget for them. And then, the Negroni pattern came out, and Peter announced that he would be hosting a shirt sew-along. Weirdly, a budget was rapidly found... And a shiny Negroni pattern arrived soon enough! Ah, men...

My first concern was the fit. Mister is quite narrow at the shoulders, but a little bit thicker around the waist (let's carefully use words that do not start with bel- and finish -ly, especially if they are written after a three letter adjective...). I decided to trace an M for the top, and a L from the waist down, and the result is surprisingly good! It even works around his scoliosis problem! No weird wrinkles.

We went for a simple squared fabric with neutral colors. I am just a little bit sad that I have not cut the yoke in the biais, but I'll make sure to do so for the next time. Speaking of the yoke, it was my first yoke EVER, and the instructions were great. And that is the same about for the cuffs. And we were all equally lucky to have the amazingly complete posts from the sew-along!

Mister was instantly thrilled with the result and gave me a few suggestions (constantly). Two weeks ago, he mentioned that he could do with more shirts that fit him that well, like 10 more shirts, but with different pockets, and various cuffs, and it would be easy for me to sew these for him... My dear readers, do you know that there are a few events coming... a jeans sew-along coming (" Oh, interesting, I would not mind jeans" he said), a RTW coat sew-along ("Oh, but we purchased a male trench coat pattern on Vogue")... Isn't that cute? Now, I am rambling, but I actually love to sew things for him. It's like the most personalized presents he could ever get!

Now, a few detail shots:

What do you think?
Do you sometimes sew for a special someone too?

The wonderful re-lined Mister Vintage Coat and Me-Made-March!

Let's not dive into excuses! More than one month post-less! Ok, we moved in a new apartment, I have started an intensive language course, blah blah blah... However, it does not mean that I haven't been sewing. I have completed the lining project, two sew-alongs, a jacket, and a dress! Everything will be posted very soon! Let's just start with the coat.

The outside is looking pretty neat after the dry cleaning and the pimpings!

The killer look...

I really like that coat because it does not bring any focus to his scoliosis.

There was not much left to sew and write. I have basically put the lining in and hand sewn the hem. There are however two things that were harder to accomplish: handstitching the armscye to the body, and hand stitching the back slit.

Now, I am used to sew the arms to the body before attaching the body to the facing. However, for this one, I had to stitch the lining to the arm seam *inside* of the arm, and that was a lot of work. But I am sure that i will be better in the long run. My little brain also had to figure out how to attach the bottom of the sleeves pieces together. I really struggled with it. Which lining piece goes on this side? Oh but it has to be inside out first? OOOOppps, actually, no, but the hem has to be turned... Let's just say that I am very lucky that the fabric did not get damaged in the ripping of stitches process!

It looks pretty neat to me!

My other struggling point was the back slit. I know that it's a simple hem, but I felt anxious about it. Pfff, me and my insecurities! The result seems pretty good though!

In the end, Mister was very happy with the result and showed it to EVERYONE! Also, every time he was on the phone, he explained the whole thing! It makes me happy to sew for him! But it does not mean that I will do it *that* often!

Mister, or the impersonation of enthusiasm...

Even the pockets look great!

That's it for the coat lining project! Now, it is time for new stuff! Like spring (uhum, uhum, as if the sun was shining for realz), sew-alongs, and pants, aaaaaaaaand:

Me-Made-March.

'I, Laurence from http://quirkyprettycute.blogspot.com/ sign up as a participant of Me-Made-March '11. I endeavour to wear at least one handmade item of clothing each day for the duration of March 2011'.

See you very soon!

New lining for a vintage coat: pockets and pimping!

Hello guys!

Things are getting crazy here as we are moving to a new town in a week and a half. Mister is very busy finishing his phD thesis before his new job starts and I have to organize everything! What to keep, to give, to sell, to buy. How to make the new place cozy and storage efficient etc. I have written lists, and spreadsheets, and researched things and it is finally giving results! This is also why the lining process is going a little bit slower. But I am going somewhere!

I have "pimped" the shell of the coat. This involved securing the outside pockets (they were starting to tear) and sewing the buttons. It was pretty straightforward. I fused some interfacing to secure the place where the buttons would go and got started. Each vintage button on the outside was paired with another one in the inside that will be hidden with the lining.

Where the three buttons will be

Extra stabilizer

Once this was done, I tried to understand how the inside welt pockets were made. In the end, it is just a welt pocket with two rectangles that form the bag. Mister wanted to keep the label that was sewn under one of the pockets. So be it!

It is now time to get started on the actual pockets. To handle my fear of welt on lining, I decided to go for the easy option: fuse interfacing to stabilize the area around the soon to be rectangle. Also, for fun, I used a red cotton for the bags. It's a secret between the coat, Mister, and I! Don't you like those secrets? However, I have sewn a lining patch on each of them, where you peak if the welt is pulled.

The process felt easier than the previous times I did welt pockets. Of course, that does NOT mean that I started to love it either! I am not going to detail all the steps, because so many people already did it better then I would. But I have documented it with pictures, if you feel like peaking and giving me advice on how to do it better.

In the end, I am pretty happy with the result!

Next time, it will be time for the result! Said result is going to need a lot of hand stitching for the hemming!

Back to packing and sorting!

New lining for a vintage coat: getting the pattern

I come back for more!

It was SO fun and interesting to discover how this coat was made! To start, it took a "few" hours to carefully rip the stitches of the lining. I started with the hem, which was especially tricky around the back slit (I cannot wait to hand sew that bit...). After that, I did the seam between the arms and the body. And so on...

Can't you see the joy?

There was a thicker thread to secure the lining body to the wool around the arm holes

Focus!

After everything was ripped out, I separated the different pieces: 2 for each arm, 1 for each front, the back that has two different halves. I just had to iron them and trace the seam lines with chalk.

Arm (top)

Arm (bottom)

Back: middle pleat, slit and a weird asymmetry...

Front: two darts and a welt pocket. There is also a pleat for ease near the arms.

I loved seeing that result! It was almost like magic! I just had to trace the pattern on paper! My Mister said that I could even re-use the pattern in the future to do the lining again... Hum, let's hope not!

You gotta love the  ninja sweater that makes me look like 50 pounds bigger! But it is sooo comfy and warm!

After doing this, I took a look at the "naked coat". And it was so interesting! The interfacing was different then what I would have expected...

The outside, with pins where the buttons are meant to go.

Front pocket and front interfacing: you can see the front dart and a fused interfacing. It felt thick and fluffy. Some parts of it were hand sewn, but less then what I would have expected.

The back slit: reinforced with fusible interfacing.

The back view of the shoulder: fusible interfacing, and two layers of padding, they were hand-sewn.

Front view

Once again, that was very interesting, but it does not mean that I would do it very often... Those first stages were fun, but after this, it gets a bit more tricky! AAaaaaaaaaargh, welt inside pockets, with lining fabric! Terror!

See you soon ;)

New lining for a vintage coat!

I have decided to start the new year with something old! Let's start with a little story...

Last year, my Mister found a vintage woolen coat in a second hand shop. It was pure luck! It has a great shape and the outside wool was in a great state. After a bit of research, we found out that it was a Dutch Police coat from the 60's or 70's. We had a few clues on the buttons and on a label that I kept religiously. Anyway, Mister has been wearing it for a year, almost every colder day. The problem with him is that he tends to put things in his pockets, and that is how it started. I agreed to fix his pockets and I took a look yo the whole thing. The conclusion was bad!

- The side of both pockets were torn.
- The buttons have fallen and have been sewn back through the lining, with uneven inside small buttons.
- The lining was worn out along the seams and hems. Used to the cord.
- The lining also became washed out in spots that encounter more friction.

All washed out around the neck.

THE CLUE

Different inside buttons

So worn out

The arm hole was ripped and/or torn

Hems over-used

Tearing pocket

IT WAS TIME FOR A PLAN OF ATTACK!

1) Dry clean the coat!
2) Remove the buttons
3) Carefully remove the lining
4) Trace the seam and hem lines on the old lining and iron
5) Trace the pattern
6) Fix pockets
7) Reinforce the fabric where the buttons will go back and sew them
8) Copy the pattern on the new lining fabric
9) Sew two inside welt pockets
10) Assemble  the pieces of the main body and assemble the sleeves (while keeping them off the body)
11) Sew lining along the facing and secure at the armholes
12) Sew sleeves lining from the wrist up and, finally, at the armholes
13) Hem

Mister has chosen a new lining fabric. What do you think?

Navy blue with thin white stripes

The buttons

While I happily did the first steps, it gets harder... Especially as my bobbin thread is playing mean tricks to me! When I use my machine (Serger Tradition, the basic one) to straight stitch AND zigzag, I have the same problem: the thread jumps or falls out of the bobbin.

- It happens irregularly. I can sew for days without it happening, but then, other days it keeps on jumping every 5 minutes.
- It does not seam related to the thread type (I have always used Gutermann).
- Playing with the tension does not seem to help either.
- It happens less if the bobbin is fully loaded.

Do you have any experience that is related?
Am I doing something wrong?