Thursday, March 5, 2015

Patience is not MY virtue; Simplicity 2508 Finished!

In my last post  I talked about the initial process; tutorial for bound buttonholes and bagging the lining, etc.

Technical recap:
Size 16 (44.5" finished bust; I am around 39.5")
Adjustments; sewed 1/2" seams on front princess and side seams
100% wool coating in magenta from Hancock Fabrics
100% polyester pongee lining fabric in baby pink from FabricMart
Bound buttonholes tutorials by Iconic Patterns and Julia Bobbin.
Bagging the lining tutorial by Grainline Studios

(Need: small FBA, shift bust point down 1", lenghten sleeve 1/2", raise pockets 3/4-1", back facing)

Yep; this is kind of a LOOK AT MY NEW COAT!!!!!! photo dump.

But each pic has something to say!!! :)


Lining is baby pink poly pongee from Fabric Mart



I am in love with this collar. Like, it's SO cute!!!  Next time I will draft a back facing. Having it lined to the neckline is just weird.

I did triple stitch for all of my top stitching so some of those curves were hard to navigate (like on the front yoke!) but it helps it stand out nicely.



The bound buttonholes. Swoon. They make me happy. I found it VERY hard to transfer the exact location/shape/size of the buttonhole to the facing to make the windows. Need to do more research on how to do that cleanly.

Also, try as I might, I couldn't get all of the silk organza to turn to the inside (a peek of that is in the pic below).

The welts are basically just flaps?? The pocket is constructed like a normal in-seam pocket and the welt is caught between the front and pocket lining. After stitching the pocket closed, turn it all out, press it well and topstitch to the side front piece.



Again, the curves were hard to top-stitch and next time I might just square them off. BUT it was really hard to turn these things right side out! Oy!!



This photo is MUCH more true to the actual fabric color. It's a really deep, rich pink.



To ensure the light pink lining didn't peek out of the yokes, I used a dark berry lining. This is the lining I'd originally set aside for this coat but the color was just off enough that it clashed rather than coordinate or contrast. But for the underside of the yokes; it works.


Uhmm, I have no pics without my hands in my pockets. Too excited. LOL!




When Scandal goes off I'm going to press it again so it's nice and crisp.



Pretty cute buttoned up too! I mean, is that collar not SUPER CUTE?!?! And OMG the length! It's perfect!

In this pic you can see the princess seam fullness is too high. I'll definitely move the bust point down for future versions.


That's my "I'm stoked!" face! If I could be wearing it right now while I eat popcorn and type, I totally would. (I think the last button needs to be like a smidge (is that a word?) lower!)



Side view. I have *very* slight shift in hem from front to back. I ended up sewing the princess seams and side seams at 1/2" for a total of 1" additional room. So this is why I think I'll do a little FBA when I adjust the bust point.

Notes from my earlier post;
the sleeve tabs are NOT too high. They are fine.
There is  NOT too much sleeve ease.
The pockets ARE too low.
The sleeves are *just* right for me. I will be adding 1/2" to the pattern.

Other notes:

I do not own a clapper but even the random piece of pine that I use for setting snaps helped a ton for flattening seams. I had to apply some pressure but it really did help.

I saw lots of suggestions to interface the entire front and I didn't. My front right piece (with the buttonholes) grew over an inch!!! OH MY GOSH. I don't remember if there was a suggestion to stay-stitch but next time I'll either be sure I stay-stitch through the body or interface the entire front piece.

I'm on the fence if I should top-stitch the coat fronts. I feel like it doesn't need it but I get happy when I look at the collar and welts with their top-stitching!!! :)

Tomorrow it'll be about 12 degrees F when I head out for work--I'm wearing it!