TOC:
Hello, everyone! I'm glad to catch up! I have been working on a coat, but it's taken me awhile.
Two years ago, more or less, I made a coat that I have loved wearing. I call it a coat, but it's really more of a long cardigan and perfect for San Francisco weather. I used a downloadable Burda pattern that is super simple. In fact, it consists of 4 pattern pieces: front, back, and a 2-piece sleeve. Five pieces, if you count the pocket bag. This pattern has no facings or lining.
Recently, Marcy Tilton posted a gorgeous fabric on her site. She also posted the fabric on her Facebook page, and I gave my credit card whiplash running over to buy it.
The fabric arrived, and it was still hot weather, but I decided I had to make it up right away. You know how THAT is, right?
The fabric is a wool sweater knit. The background, which I thought was black when I ordered it, is actually a dark navy and has a felted texture to it. The "purple donuts", which are actually magenta, are made from fur, so the fabric has a very definite nap.
When cut, the fur created fluff as fur does when one cuts it, but I didn't treat it in any special way. I would have used fur-sewing techniques if it was an overall-furry fabric. The fabric was very easy to sew.
When I made this coat last time, I added curved welt pockets, but I didn't want to put a welt through the fur, so I used side seam pockets. I don't really like side seam pockets, as a rule. They can add bulk and flop around. So, instead of cutting two pocket bag pieces for each pocket, I cut only one. I sewed one pocket bag to the back at each side seam. I sewed the rest of the side seam on the machine, and then I sewed the pocket bag to the front along the pocket edge. This creates a flat pocket that doesn't flop around. Because I didn't want to topstitch through the furry fabric, and the background fabric has a nice loft to it, I stitched around the edge of the pocket by hand, using a satin-stitch. This took some time and a lot of thread, but I love the flat, hidden pockets that resulted.
The fabric doesn't actually need a seam finish, as the sweater knit doesn't ravel, but I wanted to do something to the raw edges. I didn't want to use a Hong Kong finish, which would have been lumpy with the furry bits, so I opened each seam and whipstitched it, by hand, to the coat backing, resulting in seams that lay flat. You can probably see this in the last pic. Luckily, I like handwork.
Something Marcy didn't mention when selling this fabric, is the wonderful selvedge. The entire selvedge edge, on both sides, is finished with a strip of fur. I immediately decided to cut the coat fronts with the fur along the front edge.
My final design decision was how to handle the neckline edge. When I made this coat last time, I used a binding along the neck and front edges. But this time, I decided to finish the neckline with a strip of fur selvedge. This had the advantage of stabilizing the neck, as the selvedge has no stretch. (The stretch in this fabric goes from selvedge to selvedge, and not down the length of the fabric.)
When I made this coat before, I closed it with a toggle-style closure and snaps. I wanted to do that again, so I wore the coat to Britex in search of a navy toggle closure. They had one, and only one, navy toggle closure. It's made from felt—the "button" portion was created from rolling up from a little felt rectangle, so this closure would be easy to replicate at home.
Other than the toggle, the double breasted coat closes with a snap at the top of each corner. If the black snaps had bothered me, I would have covered them, but they didn't bother me.
When I wore the coat to work and then to Britex, and also to an Asiatica trunk sale (drool), lots of people wanted to pet me. ;)
Artistry in Fashion was three weeks ago and it was great! Margy drove up from southern California (a 4-hour drive), and it was so nice to hang with her! Other friends were there, and I met new folks.
I enjoyed chatting with Linda Lee and her helper, Ann, for whom one of her patterns was named. I watched her fashion show, which featured a bounty of garments made from Sewing Workshop patterns.
I always love the Designer Showcase—a mini fashion show organized by a local stylist featuring garments and accessories from the vendors. In fact, three friends you might recognize modeled in the Designer Showcase. Here they are, right after, still wearing their modeling duds: Dorothy K, Ann Smith, and Barbara V!
After they changed back to their own clothing, I took another pic. (It was a *very* warm day, as it can be in late September.)
We corralled Margy, wearing another gorgeously composed outfit, into the photo.
Jillian was there! (And she's just returned to blogging!)
Other that the people, my favorite part of AIF is the shopping! This year did not disappoint! I don't have photos of everything I purchased, but my favorite is this necklace.
This necklace was worn in the Designer Showcase and I got a chance to study it up close afterwards. It didn't take me long to decide to buy it. It was Eccentric Designs first year at AIF and, I hope, not their last. The tiny photos on this necklace were taken of grates in San Francisco. On a visit to San Francisco, the artist's daughter took photos of metal grates, while she collected what she calls "garbage" off the street. The artist then composed a San Francisco-inspired necklace using the photos and the found items. So delightful—I love love love it!
I also bought this quirky fleece hat, from the same vendor where Margy bought her "deodorant balls" necklace.
I bought these earrings and a necklace (not pictured) from MariRose. She was my favorite new vendor last year and uses lots of rubber in her jewelry.
I bought two other necklaces that I haven't photographed, so this was a bounty AIF, accessory-wise!
Some months ago, I came across Anne Whalley, Image Consultant, on Instagram. Based in Australia, she sews most of her own clothing. She often wears a knitted cowl that I really like and I saw, from one of her IG posts, that her cowl was made by an artist, Alfia, of Alfia's Designs.
I contacted Alfia and asked if I could order one of her knitted cowls. It wasn't a good time for her, as she was busy moving across the world (from Australia to Russia), so I told her I could wait. Her life finally settled down and she sent me my lovely cowl!
Thanks, Alfia! I love it!
My life has been fairly busy lately. Work has been taking a lot of my energy and attention. I also purchased an InstantPot, which is an electronic pressure cooker, which also sautées, slow cooks, and makes yoghurt. I've been really enjoying playing with that; I am making lots of fall soups and stews.
And, even more exciting, I am leaving soon for a week-long Design Outside the Lines retreat with Diane Ericson and Carol Lee Shanks. The theme for this retreat is coat-making, so I pulled a few fabrics:
Have a great weekend!
