I'm just here to draw your blood

I've finished the muslin for coat #2.  It has all the charms of a phlebotomist's lab coat.  I hope you're not squeamish at the thought of blood!  I was actually able to incorporate the adjustments that I made to the duffle coat "on the fly" so to speak.  I added 1/2" to the shoulder width, and an additional 4" around.  The fit may be a bit snug with a sweater and flannel shirt, but the raglan sleeves have me totally intimidated, and I have that "quit while you're ahead" feeling.  The sleeves ended up about 1" too long, an easy fix.  Even though this seems like a lot of work, I've really come to see the value in making a fitting muslin.  In the case of this coat, it's helped me figure out the whole placket front.  (How do the buttons get hidden???) I also know that the collar is going to be major challenge.  Speaking of the collar, I'm going to be shopping for a contrasting fabric for the upper collar.  Corduroy or maybe wool in a contrasting color.  Plaid? This coat is screaming for a little "zing".  

The hottest day of the Summer, so why not model the finished coat!

OK readers.  TA DA! Here's the finished duffle coat.  Of course it had to be one of the hottest days of the year.  I think it was 86 degrees heading up to about 93 so it was a very short photo shoot.  I DID NOT wear a flannel shirt and sweater under it, but I've tried it and it fits like a glove.  Brian was my fashion photographer, encouraging me to get into the spirit of Mary Tyler Moore.  Are you getting that?? Oy! 

While on vacation in Asbury Park I picked up the Sept issue of GQ.  Toggle coats EVERYWHERE!  From Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo to Hilfiger.  Plus there was a spread from Saks featuring, you guessed it, purple outerwear.  This middle aged man in Maine has his finger on the pulse point of men's style!  

I've completed the patterns for the new purple overcoat, and once I have a new camera I'll update you on my progress.  Oh, I should add that I've decided that I will continue this blog until I've made all the coats in the book.  Still to come will be both a long and short trench coat and a double breasted pea coat.  

F&%* I've lost my camera!

I know I promised to post pictures of the finished coat, but after a fantastic 3 day hike in the Maine wilderness I've lost my camera.  I'm secretly hoping that my California daughter will magically discover it in her backpack now that she's back home.  Keep your fingers crossed.  

After the hike I had the good fortune to meet up with Peter of Male Pattern Boldness fame.  Most of you have found my pathetic blog through his amazingly entertaining sewing adventures.  In case you don't know of him, please follow the link and you will be hopelessly addicted, as I am.  We (partner Brian and my two young adult children) met him in NYC outside of the FIT museum (closed on Mondays) and he graciously  took us to some of his so called "fabric dives".   This man knows more about sewing and fabrics than I ever will.  I was on the hunt for lining fabric and buttons for my next coat project.  I know, not very exciting stuff.  There was a shocking chartreuse satin at store #1, but sadly not enough of it.  Too many stores later I eventually decided on an iridescent poly acetate, sort of a copper/blue at  a whopping $2 / yd.  I love the color combination with the eggplant but I'm already thinking it's going to be a bitch to sew.  I found buttons at C&C Button.  They looked better in the store than they do to me now, so I wouldn't be surprised if I decide not to use them.  But who am I kidding!  I'm months away from sewing on any buttons.  

I've started working on the patterns for coat #2.  Since this coat will also be worn over a sweater I'm going to attempt to add the same alterations that were used on the duffle coat while I trace the patterns.  This is sure to be a mind bender.  Wish me luck.  

Just for comparison

No pic for this post.  The coat is finally finished and I'm waiting for huzbear Brian to come back from vacation to take some pictures of me modeling it.  So while I wait, I thought it would be interesting to pull out my receipts and see how much the project has cost.  Adding a generous $20 for thread and considering that I have enough hair canvas and flannel lining for another coat, the total is $165.  Just for the heck of it I suggest you check out the Ralph Lauren flannel toggle coat currently available at Bergdorf Goodman's website.  It will ship to you in October for a mere $1895.  The picture is quite murky but it appears to have ( Gasp!) wooden toggles.  Can we say cheap?  And does the model have a huge wad of chewing tobacco in his cheek?  You decide.  

I'm feeling slightly adrift now that this project is over, so I'm planning to start a fall coat.  I know I previously said I'd start a trench coat, but I'd much rather have something that I can wear in the upcoming season.  My next project will be a deep eggplant brushed cotton twill balmacaan.  Totally yummy.  

Some final construction details

I'm just "saying NO" to all the topstitching on my coat.  If I'd made the unlined version it would be necessary to hold things in place, but I think it looks more professional without it.  Plus nothing looks worse than a garment with bad topstitching, and I don't want to run that risk.  To hem the sleeves I inserted a 2" wide bias strip of my hair canvas.  The hem is folded up over the strip and the two are sewn together.  The actual hemming is between the hair canvas and the coat fabric.  The same technique is used on the bottom hem except the bias strip is muslin which I hit with some spray starch.  In one of the pictures you can see how the hem and strip are sewn together.  I wonder if the $2000 Burberry version has this kind of attention to detail?  You'll also see that I hand basted the strip into place.  I've become a HUGE believer in hand basting while working on this project.  This should make my daughter, the monster making / hand sewing queen, proud of the old man.   Hard to believe, but all that remains is sewing the bottom hem of the lining into place.

Hell NO, I haven't been slacking!

I need to get caught up with all the progress that I've made.  I actually have a coat that I can put on, not that I exactly want to wear a wool coat in the middle of summer.  The major pieces went together easily and I used my Bishop Method book which emphasizes sewing in the proper direction.  Shoulder seams are sewn outward, vertical seams are sewn bottom to top.  I don't ask why, I just do what Edna says.  After setting in the sleeves I beefed up the shoulders by hand sewing a 6" and 4" bias strip of wool over the sleeve cap.  This really helped smooth out the sleeve cap.  The coat, as designed, is unlined so I had to develop patterns for a lining.  I used the sleeve patterns as is.  The back was cut on the fold allowing for a 1" center back pleat.  The front lining required some calculating, but again the Bishop Method book was a big help.  Because I want the lining to be free moving I needed to attach the leather toggles and tabs before attaching the lining to the coat.  Each leather tab took well over 1/2 hour to sew on.  4+ hours of hand sewing later I'm just about ready to put the whole thing together.  I just want to tweek some of the seam binding in the hood, and rip out and re-do a front seam where the lining and front facing connect.  I sense being in the home stretch of this project.  I've found a trench coat sew-along blog, and even though I'd be way behind everyone, I may jump in with my bargain olive green stretch denim.  

obsessing a little

Thanks to everyone on the Pattern Review message boards who advised me on the patch pockets.  It was unanimous that I interface the entire pocket even though the instructions (just pictures) don't show it. I think they would have been very disappointing if I had merely lined them.  I'm getting a lot of mileage out of my hair canvas.  In addition to the pockets I also interfaced the reinforcement patches that the toggles will be stitched to.  I spent quite a bit of time positioning the patches because they really need to line up.  I lined everything up with masking tape and then topstitched the patches in place using the tape as a guide.  Voila!  I've also attached the pockets and their flaps.  Marji from the Great Coat Sew-along blog has a great tutorial on patch pockets.  She topstitches the pocket first and then sews it by hand onto the coat.  It's time consuming, yes, but it looks SO much better and eliminates that look of the pockets just being tacked onto the coat.  The coat fronts are now complete and I've laid them out with a toggle to get a sense of what it will look like.  Things should start moving ahead quickly from this point.