Cocoon Coat

I made a coat.*mic drop*. (*Picks mic back up to continue talking about this project*).

So far this winter, like last winter, I've been making do with a 70's retro, fluffy faux-fur jacket that I bought over a decade ago. It keeps my torso toasty, but my bum and thighs bear the brunt of the cold. And seeing as I'm managing to carve out quite a bit of sewing time for myself these days, I thought that now would be a good opportunity to take on a major sewing project. Enter: the coat. 

(image source: Burdastyle)

Pattern:

I spent some time sniffing around on Pinterest for coat inspiration. I realised pretty quickly that what I was interested in was something 1960's-ish in style, with a clean, crisp shape that I would hopefully get several years of wear from, with the all-important bum and thigh coverage. At some point, through a combo of Pinterest and Google, I found a Danish (I think) blogger who had made an amazing lime green/citrus yellow coat that annoyingly I can't seem to find now (I'm sorry, amazing Danish sewing blogger), and this Burdastyle pattern was that she had used. This is another fantastic-looking version that I just found whilst trying in vain once again to find the Danish one. (Forgive the dark spots on the images of my coat on the stand, it had been snowing (!) earlier that day and the coat was a bit wet when I took the photos.)

I loved the interesting seam lines that attach the grown-on sleeves, the simple rounded neckline, concealed fastenings that meant I could avoid making buttonholes, and the overall volume. Sold. 

Now, despite the simplicity of the coat design, I knew this project was going to be a job of work. My first two coat projects (my leopard coat, and blue wool coat) nearly broke me, and I was determined not to hate this experience. So I took my time; I gave myself no particular deadline (it ended up taking about three weeks) and I worked on it along side some other, simpler projects that could be made almost entirely with my overlocker. 

The PDF coat pattern consisted of a whopping 54 pages. It was a little confusing because Burdastyle have lumped a few style variations of the same basic coat into one PDF, so there are some pattern pieces and cutting lines you need to ignore, and a couple of pattern pieces you need to draft from scratch yourself. Then there's the seam allowances to add, what with it being a Burdastyle pattern and all. Man, the instructions were sparse. No step-by-step illustrations or photos with very limited explanations for each step. I would not have liked this to have been my first ever coat project. You can buy an online video via Burdastyle to talk you through the construction, but I resented the idea that I'd bought a pattern that was so lacking in detail that it was necessary to shell out an additional $19.99 for the privilege of being able to use it. I did find watching the 10 minute free taster useful though. Oh, and I may well have missed something, but I found the pattern and instructions lacking entirely when it came to creating the front lining pattern piece.  

There seems to be very few reviews of this pattern online, so I was having to guess where there may be issues. It did appear that this coat comes out BIG. In fact, the finished coat that was being made during the online video can be seen here. The woman that made it makes light of it (probably because she's employed by Burdastyle) but it's clearly come out so massive that she decided to make some changes, like adding waist elastic to bring the volume under control, and to stitch the front edges down like lapels. I find that Burdastyle patterns often come up really large anyway, so I cut out the smallest size included in the pattern, which was a full two sizes smaller than my measurements would have suggested I use. 

As I began to construct the coat, it became clear that the fit was somewhat insane. I tried on the outer shell and showed it to Pat, and ended up laughing so much I nearly wet myself. The sleeves were so large and curved that I looked like a cartoon gorilla. I spent ages pinning out a bit, stitching it, then trying on and repeat, until I got a shape and volume I was happy with. I think I pinched out a good 4cm from the bicep in the end, so that's taking 8cm of circumference from each sleeve. I also brought the side seams around the waist in a touch too. 

Aside from the sizing and reshaping, the the other ways I veered from the pattern was to interface everything (more on that in a bit) and to hand stitch down all (ALL) the seam allowances inside to help them lie flat. 

Fabric:

I've had this gorgeous ex-big-name-designer wool that came from a previous place of employment in my stash for over five years. I ended up using about 2.5m for this project, and I still have about that same amount left. This fabric was destined to be a coat, however I questioned that it was thick enough for this pattern. I had read Marilla Walker's blog post about her beautiful Honetone coat and been really impressed by how the interfacing she'd used kept her outer fabric so smooth. Luckily, she had included a link to where she bought her interfacing, and I followed suit. I fused all my wool pieces, and I'm so glad that I did. After several weeks of daily wear, my coat still holds its shape wonderfully.  

I could have continued to channel Marilla during this coat project and used quilted lining for extra warmth, however I already had this amazing spotty lining from Merchant and Mills in my stash. I bought it a couple of years ago when I visited their bricks and mortar shop in Rye. I rarely buy fabric unless I have a clear idea of which project I'm going to use it for, but I thought this was such a classy and unusual lining that I bought 2m on spec.

Thoughts:

I was aiming to make a simple, practical coat with a retro vibe, however I seem to have made a classy, modern one instead. I'm not sure it's very 'me', but I think I'm going to grow in to it, stylistically speaking. Even my mum nearly walked past me the other day when I was wearing it because she didn't recognise me. Plus, there's something else I've noticed about it. You know how people who know you sew often ask you, 'Did you make that top?' or 'Did you make those trousers?' when they see you? No one has asked if I made this coat. I'm not sure if it's because it looks shop-bought, or because it doesn't look like something I'd make.  

I also must admit that it's not the warmest coat ever made. A quilted lining would have definitely have made it warmer, but it has sufficient volume to layer up underneath and it looks great with the hot pink scarf my mum bought me. Plus, with my chosen lining, I'll be able to wear this coat from October to May (though I hope I don't have to). And yes. I do know that I need to fix the lining that's peeking out from my left sleeve. But did I mention that I made a coat?

Cost:

Pattern: $5.99 (approx. £4.33)

Fabric: free

Interfacing: £18.98 for 2.5m from English Couture (however I used less than 2m)

Lining: approx. £9 for 2m from Merchant and Mills (no longer available)

Press studs: £4.71 from this eBay seller

Total: £37.02

Christmas Creations Round-Up

Ok, this is the final round-up of the self-made Christmas creations I gave to my loved ones this year. I've already documented most of the clothing I made for friends, but there's still a bunch of accessories and other things I'd like to lay down in blog-post form. There's quite a few so I'd best just get on with it!

The bag pictured above is one of my favourite gifts I gave this year. Mainly because it is for my mum and I don't think I make her enough stuff, though she'd probably appreciate Zoe-made things more than anyone else. It's a fairly simple tote bag made from grey wool with a leather base and lined with furnishing fabric with a waterproof layer. I made it for Mum to take up to London when she goes there to work a couple of days a week. She often has heaps of files, a diary and her lunch that won't fit into her other bag. I deliberately made it quite plain, she has some bright coloured coats and this should go with pretty much anything she's likely to wear. The leather for the bottom section came from an old leather coat, which meant I had to get over my fear of the industrial leather machine at work. The leather should mean she is able to happily dump it on the floor of dirty trains and underground carriages without a second thought.

I made the mittens above for my friend Umi. It can be tricky when you don't see someone regularly to know what kind of gift they would like or are currently into, so I opted to make some mittens from recycled cashmere jumpers that I hope she will find useful.

The crazy square of fabric pictured above is actually a snood made using the technique I explained in my cowl neck scarf tutorial. I made it for my extremely stylish friend Silvia who is known for her sharp eye for accessories. Making something for such a woman was a bit daunting, but she seemed to love it and said that a new scarf is like getting a new dress, because you can dress up plain clothes into entirely new outfits. I should make a note to myself about that one, I must be such a failure to Silvia when it comes to accessorising!

As you may know, I'm a recovering pants-making addict. The methods I've developed have assisted me in making my own undies draw so stuffed it's difficult to close. So until my own pants start to disintegrate and I can justify making more for myself, I must get my pants-making fix by making them for friends (close friends like Michelle who don't think it's wierd that I make them pants!).


Next up are two shoulder bags made from African Wax fabric, one for my boyfriend's mum and the other for one of his sisters. Hopefully the laydeez will get some use from them come summer time. I developed this bag pattern years ago and have made so many that I could probably whip one up in my sleep, but I love seeing what the pattern looks like in a new, different fabric so I still really enjoy making them.


Last but not least: a couple of pairs of oven mitts for a couple of couples (Anna and Marcus, and Ben and Sophie). I used this pattern from Burdastyle but had to buy it after losing the original copy I downloaded for free years ago.

Thanks for your patience in letting me whisk through the rest of my creations. I find it a little wierd toiling away for literally months to create a hefty pile of presents, and then within a couple of weeks, they've all disappeared! Of course, I loved giving them to my friends and relatives, but still it's nice to have the results of my time and effort documented in one place. When I look back at all the clothing, accessories and home things I made for everyone this year, it makes me feel a bit exhausting. As is the thought of doing it all again next year. But giving homemade stuff that's filled with good juju will always be my first choice where appropriate. Plus, the total cost of all the things I made to give this Christmas was £000!!!! Everything came from my stash (excluding a couple of bits of fabric that I 'appropriated' from work). There's no way I could afford to give gifts to all the people I did if I had to go shopping and buy every single gift. I'm just glad next Christmas is quite far away!

The Rockabilly Bowling Shirt

At some point, I can't remember when, I announced that I would make Pat one shirt for every year that we are together. Well, our relationship is now almost three and a half years old, and until recently there was only the Brokeback balcony shirt and checked book launch shirt to show for it. It was time to get a' stitchin' to make another which would also serve as my Christmas present to Pat.


I have a folder on my laptop in my 'garment inspiration' section devoted to collated images of men's shirts that we both like. There was a strong theme of rockabilly/1950s/rock 'n' roll/diner/bowling type shirts in there that wasn't reflected in Pat's real-life wardrobe. They all have essentially the same basic style: boxy, short sleeved with a folded back revere collar. The specifics of the designs generally came from different panels and blocks of colour. Examples are shown above.

To guarantee a good fit, my starting point was the checked book launch shirt pattern. That had begun life as the Burdastyle Jakob shirt pattern that I had altered to fit Pat's slim shape. The alterations were thankfully so successful that, when quizzed on the fit, Pat was unable to make any suggestions of how I could improve it. To be more in keeping with the rockabilly/bowling shirt aesthetic, I adapted the hem to make it straight with small slits at the side seams. I also made the side seams a little less curved to create a more boxy fit. I kept the sleeves with their faux-turn ups the same and used the original Jakob patch pocket pattern. The main and most hefty alterations came from combining the Jakob/book launch shirt pattern with the collar/neckline of this vintage pattern pictured above (that Pat's sister found in a charity shop and gave to me!) to get the right revere collar effect. This process involved a lot of pinning, tracing, drafting and swearing, though not too much of the latter.

That's Pat pictured above with our glamourous friend, Ciara. I should explain that we saw the new year in at a Madmen themed party, and created elaborate back-stories for our characters and had a mini photoshoot. I can't remember the complex machinations of the six protagonists, but I can remember my alter-ego being called 'Marcy' whose favourite tipple is a Dark and Stormy.

The teal stripe on the left is applied onto the black shirt front with topstitching, rather than creating a seamed panel. I thought that would work better as the two fabric have slightly different thicknesses, and I wanted to avoid any potential wierdness that might occur at the seam when attaching different types of fabric together.

I'm happy to say that this garment was another that cost only my time. I had both the black and teal fabric in my stash, though I cannot remember how either of them got there or for how long they'd made my stash their home. The buttons were also from my collection. However, as ever, using a strickly limited amount of fabric meant I had to be a bit adaptable. The initial plan was to use black fabric for the front facings and yoke, but with not enough black fabric those sections became teal and in that sense the fabric kind of did the designing. Actually, I think I prefer the shirt's overall look with the contrast front facings and yokes, and it would be fun to make a variety of combinations to see how different effects could be created with the application of the different colours.

Happy New Year from Patty and Marcy!!!!

The State of Independence

So this weekend I achieved two awesome things in one fell swoop: I kept up with my new year's resolution to meet someone in the flesh that I've met online AND I went somewhere new and inspirational. I can take no credit for the latter because the venue was suggested by the subject of the former.

There she is! Helene, AKA carottesauvage. If you've ever been near Burdastyle, you may well have encountered her before. She is a hella talented lady of multi-disciplined greatness, sewing and knitting creations with an incredible level of professionalism. Her creations regularly feature in the 'Top Ten' project choices of featured members including my own (to be found in the photo section of Burdastyle) for their sheer perfection. For more on what makes this interesting lady tick, check out her Q&A from when she herself was Burdastyle's featured member last week.

I can't remember quite how we first 'met' (e-met? net-met? Is there an established term for it yet?), but we've been commenting on each others' stuff for yonks and decided we should hook up in the flesh upon my return to the UK. I got to hear all about her recently finished Fine Art course and got the skinny on her New York adventure where she interned for the aforementioned Burdastyle, among many other topics.

We met at Helene's local: The Scooterworks bar and cafe near Waterloo Station. It's a former scooter repair workshop which used to function as such with a tiny cafe area inside. The scooters have since been moved elsewhere and more tables have replaced them. Despite this move, it is an incredibly interesting and eccentric, yet welcoming place.

Its decor is the randomest miss match of antique and junk shop furniture and tat alongside pieces of scooter memorabilia between which the three residents cats skulk about. The hot drinks are of an authentically continental nature (I had a couple of delicious piccolos) and all cost less than £2 (yes really, in central-frikkin'-London!). If you want something to eat but fancy something other than their pastries, you are welcome to go and buy something from elsewhere and bring it back to eat there as long as you're drinking something. Oh, and don't feel you need to pay as you order, OR feel you must immediately re-order once your cup has been drained.

This might not sound exactly revolutionary, but you must put all this in the context of central London, or in fact the UK. I haven't been anywhere like this in the UK for an incredibly long time, and I'm struggling to think of a parallel. The only places I can think of that are similarly genuinely relaxed and quirky are ones I have discovered abroad, like the panther milk bars in Barcelona. What I'm sayin' is you just don't get these kind of places here. With sky-high business rates and property rental at a premium on this squished in little island, generally independent businesses need to say 'buy buy', else they'll be saying 'bye bye'. I guess the owner (a kiwi, apparently) has a great passion and vision matched by his bank balance, for which I'm thankful.

It made me very happy to experience this place. When I moved to Barcelona, I was struck and enamoured by the variety and sheer quantity of little independent shops, bars, cafes and restaurants. I couldn't get my head round how there could be so many places with only a few tables, low prices and such unattentive bar staff, under no threat of apparent closure. I had hardened myself to the prospect of returning to the UK and saying goodbye to that wealth of independence, affordability and choice. But the Scooterworks gave me a little welcome reminder of what I'd been missing. Thanks Scooterworks and thanks Helene!

The Book Launch Shirt

Well looky here! An actual finished garment from ‘Le Maison Zo’. Such an occurrence is a rare event these days, what with The Coat Project currently taking as much time and attention as a room full of naughty three-year-olds. All this talk of menswear sewing around here recently must have motivated me into finished this project which has been languishing for way too long.

Happily, I was able to get this shirt finished for my boyfriend with but minutes to spare before we headed up to London on Thursday to attend a launch party. We were celebrating the ‘launch’ of Beauty in Decay, a book about Urban Exploration, the copy (AKA, the words) of which having been written by my aforementioned boyfriend. Although it was the compiler of the images who got his name on the spine, my boy was required to sign a mountain of copies along with some of the photographic contributors who were also present.

I’m embarrassed to say that this shirt for my boyfriend was planned back in May after I got a bit spendy one day in Ribes i Casals, a fabric shop in Barcelona. It is based on the Jakob pattern available from Burdastyle which also formed the base of the only other thing I’ve made for him to date: the short sleeved western shirt. Whereas with the western shirt I drafted a new yoke pattern and new pocket detailing, this time I used the original pieces. He’s quite a slender chap and even the smallest size came out a bit too wide for him last time round, so this time made some alterations so that the sizing would be better around the chest.

Obviously I made this version short sleeved but created mock turn-ups instead of simply turning the sleeve edges under. Forgive my rudeness, but can you believe Burdastyle included a full length sleeve version and a sleeveless version but omitted a short sleeved version?! How many guys do you know would choose the sleeveless version if you offered to make them a Jakob? Anyways.....

All in all, I’m really pleased with how this shirt came out. The fit is much better than the first and the beautiful cotton fabric was so nice to work with, it was easy to create a nice clean finish to this garment. Obviously this version didn’t have all the fancy topstitching of the first, so after all the prevarication, it actually only took a couple of sewing stints to get it finished. After the excessive wait, hopefully it will prove to be a good, wearable garment that he will enjoy wearing as much as he has the first.

If I Were a Boy.....

Today I want to talk about an issue that I spend a disproportionate amount of time considering: what I would wear if I were a boy. I say disproportionate because the likelihood of me ever becoming a boy, or even being ask what I would wear if I was a boy, is so tiny in comparison to how much thought I’ve given this over the years.

Of course, how I’ve answered this has usually been in relation to which men in popular culture I fancied the most at the time. Subsquently my answers in the past would have included reference to Kurt Cobain, Beck, Daniel Johns, Q Tip, Lenny Kravitz, MCA and Ad Rock (sorry Mike D), to name but a tiny fraction. Equally unsurprisingly, how I imagine I would dress as guy has always been a kind of male version of the tip I’m on at that time in real life, eg, when I was rocking an eclectic charity shopped look, that’s how I imagined I would source my clothing as a guy, and when I was more into a hiphop influence and street ware, similarly I pictured myself as a little English Beastie.

Naturally, my answer to the question today will also reflect both the points made above. These days I’d like to think I can form an opinion on a guy’s style without being so hormone driven, but it’s interesting to me to find that many of my male celeb inspirations haven’t changed too much.

If I were a 31 year old boy (had my birthday last week, more relaxed and less hangover-inducing than last year’s) in 2010, I don’t know if I would be into sewing my own wardrobe (see?! All you needed to do was wait and I’d bring my blog back round to sewing eventually). Presumably, I’d be exposed to similar experiences and social factors in I was a guy to the ones I’ve experienced as a girl, plus I’d be subject to the same creative yet practical genetics passed on from my folks, but as many sociologists such as Beyonce have pointed out, life’s just not the same for a boy, so who can say? I would however, put money on ‘Boy-me’ giving a crap about what he wears, and if he wasn’t making his own stuff, he’d probably have a cool sewing mate whipping up stuff on his behalf. Let’s see what I’d make/get made if I were a boy:

Beck would still be one of my main boy-style role models. In each of his style manifestations from his Loser days to today, I’ve been behind him saying ‘Yes!’ and ‘Damn!’ where appropriate. Even after I found out he was a Scientologist. That’s how strong his style is. I’d probably get this kitsch-y western shirt (pattern recently acquired by myself from ebay) made up as an ‘ode’ to Beck (see what I did there?!):

Another, more recently acquired, style inspiration whom I’m sure would appreciate the western shirt above are the boys from Calexico:
It’s difficult not to let hormones to effect this study, but Tang! The latin-flavoured Americana they bring overlaps with another source of inspiration: QOTSA’s Josh Homme. He in turn brings a much needed dirty rockabilly element to this style stew.

To reflect that, I’d get a rockabilly shirt going on possibly based on this incredible pattern my boyfriend’s sister found me in a charity shop:

Do you see it?

I’d imagine I could achieve much of Michael Cera’s and Dave Grohl’s looks from charity shopping, but maybe I’d get some of the Burdastyle Jochen trousers made too:

These days, as a girl, I don’t rock as many streetwear elements as I used to, but a little piece of my heart will always be devoted to the Beastie Boys. For some casual comfort, I’d probably try and procure a zip through as awesome as this one (created by the deeply talented Burdastyle member fordelis):

And of course, let’s not forget how the Beastie’s rock a suit:

Not dissimilar to Mark Ronson’s sleek retro inspired vibe:

Or Jason Schwartzman’s:
Or even, to bring this full circle, to our beloved Beck’s. If I were a boy, I’d probably pick up an incredible vintage suit that would suffice for smart occasions, but I’d probably give it a twist with a club collar shirt like Peter’s.

So there you have it, more or less what I would wear if I were a boy. As this is unlikely to become a reality, I guess I'll live out these ideas by making them for my boyfriend. So, what would you wear if you were a boy (presuming you aren't one)? Whose style do you admire? Have you sewn much for guys? What inspired your creations?