Walking in a Winter (Coat) Wonderland

Can you believe it?! It's FINALLY finished! After a couple of months grappling with the extensive sewing instructions, my winter coat (as announced in this Cunning Coat Planning post) was finished just in time for the temperature drop and snow fall the UK experienced a couple of weeks ago.

My goodness, was it a challenge. Not so much a challenge of sewing ability (seriously, what can't be figured out after an internet search or phone call to your mum?!), but a challenge of sheer perseverance to keep going. I've only ever made one other coat before so I'm hardly an expert, but jeez did this pattern call for an incredible number of steps before completion. Indeed, it did include lots of nice tailoring elements, like pad-stitching to hell and back, that I'm sure make all the difference in terms of ultimate garment quality, but it really was the promise of colder weather to come that provided the motivation to get to the end. That and the cost. All told, the fabric, lining and interfacing probably came to about £60-70-ish. I could of bought a coat for that, which was of course NOT THE POINT. Ever. The point is: I made a fully functioning and (thankfully) warm winter coat with my own two hands. I Win. Probably.

So. Aside from grueling, what's up with this creation? Well, I made one basic change to the pattern which I am very pleased I did. I added anout 1.5cms to each of the side seams at the waist on both the bodice and skirt parts of this coat. I have accepted that I do not have quite the nipped-in waist vintage patterns assume. Plus, being a winter coat, muchos layers of jumpers worn underneath are a very real likelihood. Another thing I should have done, which didn't come to mind until too late, is lower the bust points. Why I didn't remember this from the Leopard coat fitting issues, I cannot say. From now on, I vow to at least make a cursory check of the bust dart placements on a vintage pattern before fabric cutting goes ahead. (I've just realised how ridiculously vintage sewing-specific that last sentence was, and how, if they bother to read this post, the vast majority of my friends will be so bored by this point! Anyways....)

As for my whole Todobedobedo list tactic, to be honest I didn't keep up with it after the 'Buy lining fabric' and 'Cut out lining' to-dos were completed. I even gave up with making it at home, mainly because I was bored with it, but also because dark blue is really tricky to work with after dark in our tiny, poorly-lit cave of a flat. I took it to work and worked on it in daily lunch-break increments. Doing just half an hour each day was much easier to stomach than longer sessions, and I'll definately be implementing this set-up with future endurance sewing projects. Of course, I am lucky that I work somewhere with a large cutting table (usually covered with mid-project crap, mind) and a sewing machine and iron easily to hand. But hey, if you've got it, flaunt it, no?!

Oh, have you seen the slinky red satin lining? And the cute little label that came with the Vogue pattern? A very cool feature, in my view. (Haha! I just noticed, if you look closely in the pic above, you can see my vintage Star Wars pillow case.) And the belt buckle! So good! I bought this at Britex in San Francisco when I was on holiday with my mum a squillion years ago. I've been hoarding it for just the right project, and bringing a pop of contrast colour to this otherwise potentially drab garment finally felt like the right application for it's amazingness.

Good luck everyone who is currently embarking on a winter coat or jacket project. Keep with it, the snugness will be worth it! As for me, I won't be attempting another coat project until I have forgotten how much effort this one required! So probably some time next year then!