And Then There Was A Coat: Karma Fix Coat

So . . . if you've been following along on Instagram you know I made my first coat about two weeks ago. Yes, yes I did! To make a coat is many things, but I will certainly say that is falls into the category of sublime and very self satisfying. Why? Well, much like making a standard piece of clothing, there is a that level of satisfaction But, with a coat you also get the knowledge that this is something that A) is the first thing seen, B) worn frequently, and C) is such a basic item that its place in the closet certainly stands as most used. For the record, I did the muslin on a Saturday night, and then cut the coat out and did the pad stitching on the collar. Sewed the coat on a Sunday. It went together freakishly easy, even with the hand stitching on the collar, lining, and pad. I almost feel cheated that I wasn't ripping things out and cussing . . . well, I can certainly say that I've had that in other ways this month. So perhaps this coat was my karma fix? Yes, I think that is what I will call it. My karma fix: Karma Fix Coat. I don't have it in my to go into the spiral of insanity of as of late, but as usual writing and sewing are a cathartic, stress relieving fix of grandiose proportions.

Without further ado, a run down of the makings of a coat.

Italian wool, from Mood, on the August spree when my folks were in town. Cotton shirting for the inside bling. Yes, yes I did. When I was getting it at Mood the staff were intrigued at this idea. Cha cha. And that's some Marc Jacobs wool . . .

But, I am getting ahead of myself . . . first I made a muslin.

Isn't it about nine kinds of sexy? Yup. What it it is is thirty years of scraps from my Mom's sewing room. They weren't big enough for anything so I used them well. Say what you will, by I wasn't going to buy muslin when I had scraps that, well, are too ugly for much else . . . and, making my muslin was fun. Fo sure!

Look, the sleeves fit! Not gape.

Sexy, I tell yea. Sexy.

And yea, my monkey flannel PJs go stunningly well. I cut this out on the short version, she decided I wanted the coat a bit longer. So, I cut the coat on the full length (version A), and then I shortened it by three inches . . . because, well, I'm short.

In all seriousness, I pre added width to the arms, and then once I had this thing on I saw that the chest was too large. Holy shit Batman, I know. I took it in by a 1/4 of an inch. A first.

But, now I guess you want to see what it actually looks like, eh?

Well, if you've been following along you saw a cryptic one, as I needed to let my Momma see it first:

But then I did put the buttons on, and they came from my best friend's Mom's stash. I put them on at my office, as I was dying to wear my coat (on a sub freezing day), so I wore it with no buttons for about an hour. Ha! Freezing temps will make you sew quick, yo!

I mean, can we say kismet?

Look at the care on the wound buttons? Yup.

This showed up on Instagram . . . as a study in wool and handmade. The skirt, coat, and hat are by me. The sweater is store bought, and the scarf was handmade and procured on the last jaunt to Turkey. The yarn for the hat came from a trip in Turkey too.

The essence of life, or in this case my coat, is in the details.

Those seams match, yes they do. And . . . first try. Mouth agape, gasping, are you?

My nifty label, from scrap fabric from a halter I made last spring . . . I seriously hadn't done embroidery in probably ten years.

Ever wondered what the inside of a tailored coat looks like? Sexy, huh? I added the shoulder pads and interfacing . . . used a soft, light weight one. I wanted just a bit of structure.

On my sleeves I added an inch, so that meant when I put them in I had a flap at the arm pit. I measured a five inch triangle, sewed along the line, and voila it was fixed. FYI, the measurement will change if your arms are fatter or not than mine. It is also a lazy-esque way to expand a sleeve . . . instead of redrawing the arm opening, which would have been a HUGE hassle as you saw it fits me perfect, the pit tuck works fine. I also find it adds to my movement a bit and it doesn't show . . .Cha cha.

Feather stitching the pleat on the lining. There was sooooo much hand stitching. So much.

Under stitching and reinforcing of my pockets. The pattern didn't call for it, but common sense and sewing know how do! Reinforce and under stitch your pockets people! Unless you like them ripped with change falling out.

Pre sleeves, pre 1/4 inch bust take in. FYI, in Burda form the pattern had crappy directions for the collar. But, well, I've put in a few collars in my day . . .

I'll take your pad stitching with a side of elma chai. After stitching her, I wrapped her around my supr fly tailor's ham there, spritzed with water, and let it set overnight. Easy peasy.

Sleeves. Notice the added half an inch past the pattern? That's how I increased them. Hey, it works for me. I also know my arm shape . . . very rarely does this not work. Remember to do it on both sleeve pieces.

And without further ado, I give you my Burda 8292. And Mr. Fairytale hates, I mean hates, taking pictures . . . so you have these. These were the best I could get from him in my parent's front yard.

Isn't that lining fab?

And yes, yes, I like it. The sleeves are just poufy enough to be cute without being insanely large . . . think about how every middle class and wanna be middle class girl wore one of those coats with the big sleeves and looked like a dress. Except in single digit years ours were always pink. Well, this is obviously a dress coat that resembles a dress (ha ha, like my pun?) . . . we should all have one girly, pouf parade coat on que. I've got mine with a peter pan collar, pouf sleeves, and mid-weather weight. Nice Italian Wool to boot.

And, as to one up my own coat post . . . Guess what I got! Oh yes I did, Santa came early with a brand new serger for me! Mom and I spent the day after Thanksgiving working it.

My folks got it at a show, it was a display model, so a deal! It came with the rainbow thread, and I decided to make my renfrews funky on the inside . . . ya know, have some fun with the cornucopia of basics I make. You should too! Make it a party in there, and . . . people pay good money to have the insides of their shirts look like that!