grandma Jean & a flannel jacket

My maternal grandmother passed in 2004, and I was fortunate enough to be with her at that time. She met my daughter, then just four months old. As my children grew, I began to wish very much my grandmother was still with me. I remember she asked me, after I had my daughter – the first great-grandchild – “Are you nursing?” What a wonderful woman.

I now carry two things of my grandmother’s: a platinum ring, and her 1950 Singer 15-91. 

Well and, arguably, an irascible nature.

This coat is perfect. This happens sometimes. There are darts and pockets and bias-sections in this puppy and yet you have to work to find them all. 🙂

So yeah, it’s full of pockets. Five, all hidden. My grandma would approve. She was a li’l shady. There’d be a pack of cigarettes in one of these pockets, too. I smoked for seventeen years before quitting, so now I keep my phone there instead.

The waist patch pockets are lined and affixed by fell stitch. Even with a super-closeup, they are hard to see!

The coat features a 2″ padded hem, with an interlining and full satin lining:

The padded hem gives a wonderful weight to the coat.

The lining is semi-quilted – quilted in chevrons in the upper back, for stability and ease of wear:

Clean-finish sleeve hems:

Black buttons ala bakelite! No nonsense. I also liked the idea of a tidy collar, so I put some teeny tiny 3/8″ buttonholes in the collar:

The sleeves have a lovely bias-cut inset. It would be easy enough to reverse-engineer the full sleeve for the lining – in this case, the lining is similarly pieced.

More about those hidden pockets! Side seam pockets as well – also lined in satin:

And for the fifth pocket – a welt pocket in the right-side lining. Ala menswear!

My grandmother’s hair was waist long; she never wore it down, ever. In her later years she spent lots of money keeping it platinum. I can’t do platinum today, but I am doing my best, and thinking of her fondly.