Mustard-Plaid Car Coat

Mustard-Plaid Car Coat

Mustard-Plaid Car Coat
My top five favorite things about this Mustard-Plaid Car Coat:

1. I made it from yardages donated to me: both the shell fabric (a plaid constructed with a knit backing), and the interlining (a polyester fleece). The only bits I purchased were the thread, interfacing, snaps, and jersey lining. Upcycling BOOM!

2. The quilted lining (pictures below), which make it so soft and cozy!

3. The build of the coat itself: it has a lovely one-piece collar design I’ve not worked with in any other pattern. Just gorgeous!

4. My plaid matching (top notch!) – matching at front, sleeve, and cuff – and also back-collar, yoke, and back. I was wearing a (certain name-brand) plaid shirt today, which sets a retail price for simple plaid shirts at $100 to $200. They’re plaid-matching has nothing on mine!

5. My double-welt pockets. I’ve been working on my own method for these pockets and I am getting it down. Beautiful and sturdy!

Mustard-Plaid Car Coat

Cloned Basketweave Coat

Cloned Basketweave Coat

Photos of gifts and sewn items trickling in, now that Christmas is here and photos can go public. A while back a friend in the UK sent me her coat to clone. She needed it upgraded, size-wise. We talked about fabrics and she chose a beautiful basketweave from Mood Fabrics. I chose a champagne-colored lining, a pattern for a coat base, and off we went!

Cloned Basketweave Coat

 The new fabric (left) was quite a bit heavier than the original garment. The bulkier fabric made a very different result when it came to the gathers and freeform pleats. (Well. Very different to me, but most people probably wouldn’t notice!)

Sizing up a rather complex garment was no picnic, either! But things seemed to turn out beautifully in the end. Collar:

Cloned Basketweave Coat

Front pockets: the original garment had these very small in-seam pockets – just big enough for a ladyhand. The pockets were also located in a pleated area and are rather hidden. I absolutely loved the look of the ecru satin with the shell fabric.

Cloned Basketweave Coat

Hem and lining:Cloned Basketweave Coat

I sent over the parcel a few days ago; upon receipt yesterday, my friend had to pay £38 in VAT. I’ve sent many things overseas and that’s the first time that’s happened – or at least, that someone told me about it.

Finishing the coat meant – another coat! (for a friend: photos pending), and my Christmas gifts for Ralph and the two kids. As per usual my Christmas was full of a great deal of creative exploits!

Wool Drover Coat For M.

“I’m not going to lie to you… it’s gonna get weird. Two coats.”

 

I recently had the honor and privilege of making a friend’s vision come to life: M., who had saved up two large wool blankets for over twenty years, in hopes of one day having them made into a drover’s coat. M. and I exchanged some FB messages, I emailed him a quote, and he delivered me many pounds of heavy wool blanket. With some trepidation I cut into this vintage fabric to begin construction!

Thursday I grabbed a few pictures of the finished product (modeled by husband who is an inch shorter than client in arm and total height):

Wool Drover Coat For M.

M. had several visions for the coat: he wanted the end fringe of the blankets to be used as much as possible at hem, sleeve hem, pocket, pocket flap, and cape. Now is the time for me to point out that the two blankets were different – you can really see this at the stripe near the knee. I am super-proud to say that with careful planning I made an entirely balanced coat – in other words the left side utilizes one blanket for the body, and the other blanket for patch, pocket detail, etc. – and vice versa. I also managed to wrap the wool fringe to curve around the cape such that it looks like it was woven there – and to place another stripe at the shoulder on the cape!

M. wanted antler tips for closures. I got to fiddle/figure out how to use those without the typical toggle closure, which M. didn’t care for. My solution was a bound buttonhole – time intensive, but really a solid, rustic choice. The wool was so very thick I chose to use the selvedge/woven edges for the lips of the (pseudo-) bound buttonhole, thus reducing bulk significantly. Finally – I found tips that were cut in half lengthwise so could be worn very flush to the coat front:

Wool Drover Coat For M.

Hem fringe and cuff tab:
Wool Drover Coat For M.

The collar and collar tab, sleeve tabs, and cape are all lined in a cotton the same color as the shell wool.

One of my favorite details: the cape and collar. The cape is fabulous: it looks like it is sewn to the coat, and it fits perfectly snugly with underarm straps for security. But the wearer can easily unfasten the cape if they don’t want to wear it:

Wool Drover Coat For M.


The fringe – applied to curved cape edge:
Wool Drover Coat For M.

Ralph, about to go tend the flock. Wearing a hat I knit him too – by the way.
Wool Drover Coat For M.

I can’t express how wonderful it is to work with someone on their design – if their design is cohesive, and M.’s really was. I sew up other people’s designs rarely – because I like to make my own. However in M.’s case he had such a definite sense of what he wanted and I instantly grasped how handsome a garment it would make. Although the coat was a technical challenge – the wool in the blankets had warped, and had several very well-done repairs in thread – I learned a great deal while working on it.

The best part? I hand-delivered him the coat last night and he lit right up. “I am completely satisfied!” – a direct quote! And the garment suited him very well. It gives me great pleasure to make someone something they want – or have wanted, for years!

***

Second coat: one for my husband. This, part of my thirteenth anniversary gift for him, was constructed without him ever being aware I was making it (total score!). Waxed canvas, and lined with a matching grey liner with a semi-coarse, lovely finish. The effect is that of a rain slicker – except more breathable, and with a beautiful patina and long-lasting wear:

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

Grey-green shot cotton binding at neckline. Waxed canvas – such a beautiful finish – and, now that I’m used to it, a pleasure to sew (this coat was the first I’d made in this fabric; Nels’ was the second, and things went better there):

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

 

Top-stitching: about as near perfect as you can get (using single-needle tailoring):

 

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

 

A fun stretch stitch at hem. Interestingly, in this photo the liner and shell don’t look like the same color; that is a trick of how they photograph. They matched identically!
Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

Cuff tab – a triple-stitch for a heavier stitching line. Antique brass snaps I set myself. Kind of fun, actually!

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

 The coat was constructed using Green Pepper’s Frenchglen (adding length to arm and hem as per Ralph’s usual adjustment); the pattern featured a side pocket embedded in the zippered patch pocket:

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

And  a very special zipper pull tab – in a “bean” shape. I found one tab at Quilt Harbor in Aberdeen and knew I had to have it. But I couldn’t find another – not even online! A few weeks ago I ran across the second tab in Lady Lynn’s for $1.75! I was beyond excited. Because I am a huge nerd.

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

Ralph, who stands this way – his arms don’t rest at his sides. I discovered this about him a few garments ago and I may or may not call his posture, “Ape Arms”.

Waxed Canvas Jacket #1

Something tells me I am just ramping up the coat and jacket sewing for the fall! Having all that heavy wool in my house during the hottest days of the year was… fun. “Fun”, she says, using “air dick quotes”. Next up: a brief snatch of air sewing an easy flannel car coat for my child – before diving into Halloween sewing, which ramped up so fast I was required to close orders before I could even update my Etsy shop or my website! Good lord.

 

Bundle Up Boy Blog Tour

flyer coat; lumberjack shirt; adorable son!

 Bundle Up Boy Blog Tour

Nels, male model. Adorable times One Hundred! You know. I made all the clothes pictured: the Finn hat, the Flyer Jacket, the skinny wool trousers (Banyan by Figgy’s), and the hooded pearl-snap shirt. AW YEAH. Hell I (arguably) even made the child. Yeah. Yeah I’m pretty awesome.

OK, so down to brass tacks: I have two new garments to show you, and two patterns to discuss. Across the internetz many (mostly)lady-bloggers are sewing up a batch of boy patterns. They are all PDF indie designs, have a wonderful size range of 3 months to sizze 16, and they are all featured on sale this week. I was honored to be asked to participate. August 26th I will be submitting my second entry. If you like what you see here, you might pee your pants on the 26th! No, really. It’s that good!

So for today: I am showcasing the P51 Flyer Jacket by Terra’s Treasures and the Lumberjack Shirt by Patterns for Pirates, and I’ll be discussing them here and in my Flickr tagset.

Bundle Up Boy Blog Tour

Bundle Up Boy Blog Tour

hot medium-brown wool action!!!

Brown Wool Blazer

Yeah that’s right, you have entered BLAZER COUNTRY. Who knows how many damn blazers I’ve sewn. All I know is, after I made this one (since Nels had grown out of Nolan, although it was still going strong!) I decided to trace one of my most-used blazer patterns in every size (that’s seventeen pieces by eight sizes, so one hundred thirty six pieces) and then color-code and cut and punch and reinforce and hang them all. And then I decided once I finished this rather ambitious project, I would reward myself by sewing a blazer. So now I’m almost done with a new blazer different than this one.

SOMEONE SEND HELP

Brown Wool Blazer

OK so here’s a cool detail – elbow patches in a wool/silk blend. I hand-embroidered the concentric ovals, then cut the patches, fused them to the sleeve, black-zig-zagged them firmly to the coat, and then hand-embroidered the very outer oval. Adorable and I think they will look even cooler as they wear!

Brown Wool Blazer

Blustery day! … and, a few more details:

Brown Wool Blazer

Bound buttonholes. Here you can barely see the chalk marking the center-front of the blazer – the buttonhole extends 1/8″ in from that mark. You can also at top-left see the pink basting stitch I used to affix the underlining fabric to the wool.

Brown Wool Blazer

More elbow patches – and along the bottom of the picture you can see the purple triple-stitched topstitching line I used for most of this coat’s edges.

Brown Wool Blazer

The bone buttons, nine in all (I bought two extra of each size) cost more than the rest of the garment (in part due to how good I am at finding good fabrics on sale). I bought the buttons from M & J Trimming and they shipped quickly! You are also seeing the back side of the bound buttons here. I used a black silk organza for my facing’s buttonhole “windows”.

Brown Wool Blazer

My preferred pocket method – a fully-lined pocket, interfaced at the top, and then applied by fell-stitch. Here you are seeing the pocket before I turn it right-side out, then stitch the opening at lining and facing closed.

Brown Wool Blazer

Here’s that hand-stitch I just referred to – inside the pocket. When it comes to a simple coat my kids are going to wear the hell out of, and I am not looking for a print or texture, I use slipper satin from Fabric.com for coat linings. It is a nice weight for a medium or heavy coat, it wears well, and feels very nice.

Brown Wool Blazer

Echo-stitching on the collar. Basically free-handed. Echo stitching  here emulates the elbow patch detail – but it also gives a stiffer hand to whatever you are echo-stitching (in this case, the collar), and gives a great, rugged look and wear.

So there’s Nels’ newest jacket.

Now listen. I’m not going to go into why a blazer really is a killer garment. I’m not going to elaborate on how long and how well my versions hold up. Or even how awesome it is you can pull one off in so many fabrics –  lightweight linen, classic raw silk, homey corduroy, handsome waxed canvas, bad-ass melton wool – GAH!! Basically you, blog readers, are in for a blazer-fest this summer and you just need to settle in and DEAL. Will I be sewing other things? Why yes, of course.

Probably.

Oh – and here is the end result of my pattern-tracing efforts for blazers – all marked, color-coded, cut, punched, reinforced, and organized. At left is the pattern, yardage, and sizing information in a clear cover sleeve.

Pattern Tracing, Marking, Color-Coding, Cutting, & Hanging

But now I *SOLEMNLY SWEAR* not to sew with wool until the fall. I promise. No, really.

So who’s got some fabulous linens they can point me to?

Parseltongue!

Slytherin Coat

As some of you may have guessed, I sewed and knit and cooked and crafted an awful lot for Christmas. Most of these items I sent off and wrapped up and gifted without taking photographs because I have been one busy – and often overwhelmed – Little Mama since October. However today on our errands I grabbed a few pictures of a couple of the little ones’ gifts.

As per usual, if you click on the photos my Flickr page will give a little construction background, for those interested.

Slytherin Coat

Phee is actually a Hufflepuff but I had a deep green hi-lo 100% cotton corduroy I was dying to work with. I underlined the coat in wool so it is very warm. It is fully-lined and fixed up with a shiny, “scale”-like snakey vintage button!

Slytherin Coat

Slytherin Coat

AND the Slytherin breast pocket patch. Because it is too cool. No, I did not make it but had it made by SewMagicStitches on Etsy.

Slytherin Coat

I also did not knit Phee’s scarf and mittens (not this time anyway!) but ordered them from nuclearkitten, another Etsy shop. I enjoy supporting other crafters and I try to always link back to them to give them credit.

And then there’s Nels. Nels who I am always wanting to grab up. So I had to make him shark mittens. Because I want to bite him.

"Grabbers"

By the way, I can’t help but notice Nels’ hat is handknit (I bought it from an alpaca farm in Oregon, a while back), and I sewed him his jacket and his pants. AND on the other side of the crafting gives-a-shit spectrum, Nels’ father “fixed” the cuff-latch button with a safety pin, instead of needle & thread. #boo

"Grabbers"

"Grabbers"

"Grabbers"

"Grabbers"

The mittens were based off Ravelry’s “Deep Blue Sea” pattern (you have to be a member to see the pattern, I think) and were constructed of 100% wool – except for the yarn used for “teeth” – that was cotton. I really enjoyed these mittens and I think I should make a super-tiny pair for someone. AMIRITE or what

“…are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.”

Two Fabrics, Felted Yarn

I have a hard time imagining ANY of you have some free time this holiday season – although this earnest part of me hopes a few of you do. If any stitcher reading here is inclined, I wanted to announce I am currently taking Kenneth D. King’s class, “The Carefree Fly-Front Coat” on Craftsy.com (I bought the class when it was on sale for $14.99). Since I’m sewing the coat, I am also available to help anyone else who wants to take the class.

Even if I wasn’t available for assistance, the class itself is great for the following reasons:

#1, the tuition includes Vogue 8841, a classic, easy-to-sew coat pattern. The pattern itself is anywhere from $6 to $20, so this is a great value.

#2, you draft most of your own pattern pieces (using just a handful of the original pattern’s pieces), which is a great way to get used to HOW exactly to do this.

#3, This is truly “tailoring at its simplest, and finest”, to quote the instructor. You will learn plenty of non-threatening but very valuable sewing skills which can be applied to many, many different garments!

#4, Mr. King is a wonderful teacher. He is not only clear and concise, he is a pleasure to watch – and to chat with, as he is very available via the classroom comments!

Vogue 8841

A few caveats. I would definitely consider the Craftsy class for intermediate stitchers – or beginners who have an accomplished seamstress helping them. None of the skills needed are “over my head” but, for instance, a beginner who does not know how to properly align grain, cut fabric, alter patterns, and sew perfectly accurate seam allowances will likely not end up with a great coat.

If anyone here is taking the class and wants any advice on fabric selection, et cetera, please post in the comments. I’m happy to help!

mama’s #krafty

Some of my Christmas sewing. Some. Click on pictures to be directed to my Flickrstream where I detail a bit about how I made these items, what patterns I used, when I self-drafted, where I got my fabrics, etc.

First, and some of you got a preview here and there – the kids’ Christmas coats:

F*ing Frock Coat & YETI-riffic!

"Taking A Picture Of Me? Too Mainstream."

Nels is saying, “Taking a picture of me? Too mainstream.” For realz.

My Son Is Beautiful

Let’s talk about Nels’ coat for a minute. Please pause and take a moment, close your eyes, and emit a string of foul-mouthed oaths. That’s how I feel about this garment, which I choose to privately christen the “F*ing Frock Coat”. I will seriously not bore you with how much went wrong and how often. Some of this is due to the source pattern which I shall not publicly name. Some of it was just weird, and bad, luck.

My son enjoys the coat, though. He doesn’t have to know it almost made me resort to arson.

Natch, Phee loves her YETI-riffic coat. She wears it everywhere, including to sleep! It is warm and luxurious.

Some casual digs sewn on Saturday:

Plaid Skinny Jeans & Patch'd T42

Plaid Skinny Jeans & Patch'd T42

Plaid Skinny Jeans & Patch'd T42

While the t-shirt was a lot of fun, I am happiest with the Plaid Skinny Jeans (which aren’t “jeans” at all) – specifically the linen front yoke, the perfect welt pocket, and the back elastic. Most of the details I like the most are those I self-drafted, so don’t count on the source pattern helping you if you’d like to emulate my results.

“To Gir With Love” – made for a friend, who’s step-daughter loves a certain cartoon character. Phoenix and I made this yesterday. She did absolutely all of the design work, except for the basic hat shape, which I took care of.

"To Gir With Love"

Up close: 100% wool sweater upcycled for the black detail.

"To Gir With Love"

Skele-Quilt:

Skele-Quilt

Skele-Quilt

The backing: a brightly-colored spacescape – I love the intensity:

Skele-Quilt

Hand-bound:Skele-Quilt

I’ve been working on this quilt for five years. Fortunately, I kept it enough on the DL my daughter hadn’t yet seen it. Even more fortunate, both my daughter and I still love the fabrics, meaning she liked the gift and I liked working on it. I was sewing on a binding right up until Christmas Day. It just isn’t Christmas Sewing without the last-minute shite.

Finally, a hand-embroidered wrist pincushion for my brother’s fiance:

Wrist Pincushion For Jamila

Wrist Pincushion For Jamila

I designed the whole business here, including yes the Jack Skellington Shrinky-Dink pin and the safety measure of a plastic insert so one won’t accidentally stab oneself. Linen & cotton.

If you have any questions on how I made anything, please ask either here or at the Flickr photos. I love sharing the craftivism!

Dharma Skye

Recipient To-Be

Meet the child who will be getting the custom-made, gratis, “Wollen Jas Blauw” (except it won’t be wollen nor blauw, I’ll bet…)

Dharma Skye

Dharma’s mother wrote me:

“… Dharma Skye. She is 2. It is unlike me to ask to be considered for this gift but our sweet Dharma is missing her right hand and always wants her sleeves rolled up to be able to have her right arm free to use it. I was thinking a jacket that fit her right arm would be awesome. Not sure you would want to make a jacket with two different arm lengths* but that is what would work for Dharma …”

I had eleven applicants for the jacket, most of whom sent me email. I truly hope I didn’t miss anyone, in responding via email.

If you are reading here I want to thank all who responded, and who wrote a bit about their child. Many sent pictures and I almost died at how sweet all these children were. There was this one baby in the bath? I WANTED TO SMASH MY EYES OUT, FROM THE CUTENESS. I wish I could just get paid and sew coats, the perfect coats, or whatever, for every child who needed or wanted one.

Thank you so much, dear readers and supporters.

* Wow. I so want to sew a jacket with two different arm lengths. I am incredibly excited.

a coat for the alley cat

I sew a lot; I photograph my sewing far less. This has mostly to do with our lack of a digital camera. It’s something that bugs me; to work so hard to sew or knit and have no record of the many things I’ve created.

Alleyway, Shel Silverstein
I finished Sophie’s winter coat; Nels is now wearing the one she outgrew.

Collar:
Collar Detail
I “Edward-Scissorhands” it up a bit, changing the collar from its original rounded shape.

Strike A Pose
Sophie poses.

The best thing about this coat is she loves it; wearing it every day and calling it her “pretty coat”.

The original patterns from the mag: