A Peak Inside the Gentleman's Over Coat

A few weeks ago, I was asked to altered a man's over coat (London Fog). The gentleman had lost weight and wanted the back and sides taken in a bit. Well in order to do that I had to take the lining a part to get to the inside of the coat to make the changes.

For the most part the manufacturer used the bag method of attaching the lining. The final seam of the lining was in one of the sleeves where they stitched it together after the coat was turned to the right side. After I opened the seam and turned the coat inside out, I was able to see the inner workings of the coat. This is all very interesting to me as I want to make more coats and make them better or as good as RTW.

Here are a few shots of what I found on the inside:


At the shoulder, armhole and center front padding is attached to help smoothing and shaping of the chest area.


The sleeve head is made of the coating fabric instead of interfacing or batting.


The shoulder pads weren't anything special. For the most part they were made of interfacing.


Each of the armholes has two rows of stitching: one to secure the sleeve to the armhole and the other to attach seam binding to the armhole.


Every stress point (pockets, around the armholes, along the center front, collar and chest area, along the hems and back vent) was interfaced for added durability. Finally, the lining was attached at various points of the coat: at mid sleeve, underarm, shoulder, and along the back side seams.

At first I was not that thrilled to do this job, but after I started taking the lining apart I recognized the value of doing this alterations. I hope this information is helpful to someone who is interested in making coats.

Happy Sewing!
C

And The Stitching Goes On

This weekend I got a lot of sewing done. None of it was for me, but it felt great to finish three projects. All of them for clients.

The first was a dress for a ten year ago first aider (church). One of my friends asked if I would make the dress for their young member. I agreed to do it at no cost except for the material and notions. I actually finished this dress the last Sunday of January. But took a look at the measured length of the skirt and noticed that it was too long. So I shorten it by four inches and re hemmed the dress. This was a easy, easy project. After the seams were finished, it only took a few hours to make. It's nothing fancy. White linen blend from Hancock's, four buttons, all work done on the machine except for the hem. Full review and pictures later this week.

Second project was two Afro-centric outfits for another friend who fellowships at my place of worship. The original order was two head wraps and two skirts. As we talked about what kind of skirt and how long, she decided to add a jacket to one of the orders. All of the seams were finished the week before. So Friday and Saturday I put the outfits together. All sewing done by machine. More easy projects. Full review and pictures later.

A forth project is altering to a London Fog coat for a gentleman. This is an interesting project. The coat is a little too big in the back and sleeves. So I started the process by opening the lining in one of the sleeves to get to the interior of the coat. The adjusts were temporarily stitched. I wanted the client to try the coat on first to make sure the adjustments were correct. Believe it or not, I was excited about this particular alteration. The inside gave me a bird's eye view of the construction of a man's overcoat. There is a lot of padding and even seam binding at the armholes. This is a neat little learning experience for me. I am for the most part, a visual learner. This helps me with future coat construction techniques. I'll show a picture or two of the inside.

The Disappearing UFO's

For the past two weekends I have been on a mission. That mission is to reduce the number of UFO's that have accumulated over the years. One of the things that I'm trying hard to do is, not to start too many new projects around the same time. If the period between getting back to a project is too long, that project gets pushed to the side while another takes its place.

After I finished DD vest and pants, I decided to finish two more UFO's. The first was a skirt from Simplicity 7015. It doesn't work for me contrary to other opinions. I'm too narrow in the hips to wear it well. The second is the long version of the jacket McCall 4665. This one is a keeper. It can be belted or free flowing. The fabric is a crepe knit from Hancock. This has been in the bin for at least two and a half years. Now it's finished and I can wear it with jeans or brown/black slacks/skirts.

Here are my reviews:
S4017

Pattern Description: Misses One Piece Wrap Skirt In Two Lengths

Pattern Sizing: sizing XS to XL. I made a medium.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I only glance at them. This is a pretty easy skirt to make. This view was only one pattern piece.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I purchased this pattern with the view that I made in mind. But once I was done, I didn't like it. It makes me look even narrower in the hips than I actually am. Today I told one of my girlfriends that I would gift her the skirt. She more curvaceous than I.

Fabric Used: Wool.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I added a few more inches to the bottom.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Not this view. It doesn't work for me. But I would recommend it to others.


Arrested by The Fashion Police

Conclusion: This is a quick and easy pattern that would be great for beginners.

M4665 (OOP)

Pattern Description: Unlined jacket, wrap top, pants and skirt with elastic waist.

Pattern Sizing: XS - XL. I made a medium adding 1/2 inch to the side seams.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes it did.

Were the instructions easy to follow? No problems there.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like that it was easy and the face framing collar. No dislikes.

Fabric Used: Wool crepe (stable knit) from Hancock *update*.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I adding about 1/2 inch to the side seams, a few inches to the bottom of the front and back, and 2 inches to the length of the sleeves.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?Probably not. One is enough for now.

Conclusion: This is an easy pattern that I would recommend to beginners if you have it in your collection.

The Thin Economy! Keep Sewing!

Monday morning's drive into work raised my level of humility and thankfulness five notches. It was announced that 70,000 people lost their jobs. The companies named were Starbucks, Microsoft, Caterpillar, General Electric, Texas Instruments and the list goes on. All of these companies are solid American companies that have been around for decades. How will people survive?

For the past two years, I've noticed numerous foreclosures in my neighborhood. A neighborhood which has less than 15 percent apartment buildings. These home are not dilapidated; most are in excellent condition. One day a family was living there; the next it was boarded up with no for sale sign on the lawn.

Last week, my manager call an impromptu meeting to talk about budget cuts. Only 80 percent of our current fiscal year '09 was funded. Travel and no money available for June 2009 salaries. There are only six people in my unit. Of course, I'm on the horn with family and friends taking polls and discussing fall back plans. I told my mom, I would work three jobs if need be. She laughed and said, "Would you do janitorial work?" I replied, "In a heartbeat." The truth of the matter is, a lot of people are hurting financially and can not find jobs in their trained professions or trades. The market is saturated with IT skilled individuals and if unemployment increases, it will be extremely difficult to find a position. What I also learned is that many of my friends/family are cutting back. People are being very careful about the way they spend money.

Discussion with DBF - People will have to become more creative in supporting themselves. It's not pretty working just to pay bills. This will be an opportunity for people to become stronger. Start your own business.

In several discussion, people have suggested that I could always sew for people. May be..., but that won't bring in enough revenue. It's time consuming and if folks are cutting back; the cut backs are usually those things that people can live without: vacations, fancy dinners, party, custom sewing. So what do we do to sustain ourselves in the face of a failing economy: Become more conscientious about spending on hobbies we love? Or take in sewing to earn extra money?

..., at the end of the day, I thought to myself, "Don't worry. God is my resource. I will survive; my family will survive. We knew it was a recession before it was announced."

Style Watching - Arm Jewelry: Bracelets!

In the February 2009 issue of O Magazine, they feature a variety of cuff bracelets. This is my favorite "arm jewelry". Sure, I wear other styles every now and then. But as a rule I wear cuffs, wearing two as I type this post. The cuff fits close to the wist and doesn't distract as I work at my desk or doing presentations. Most of the time, I'm perched upon my chair at the computer doing what I'm paid to do.

Most of mine are inexpensive, made of silver, copper and/or brass. This year I'm in the market to buy something a little more expensive. I searched the on-line stores (Saks and Macy's) to get an idea of what available. Here are a couple that I really like. Some high end the others in a price range that I can afford.

Sterling Silver Etched Cuff $58.65 Macy's

Links of London Cuff Sugarcane $425.00 Bloomingdales

Eliot Danori Crystal Floral $100.00 Macy's

Kara Ross - Small Gold Metallic Shirt Cuff $298 Saks

John Hardy - Wide Bamboo Sticks Cuff $1,395 Saks

Kreativ Blogger Award

Two "Kreative" Stylists nominated me for the Kreativ Blooger Award. Thanks Linda and Pamela
I'm happy you enjoy following my sewing "practice".

Rules and Responsibilities--

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominated.


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Peter Sow Dress - Pt III - S2926

Fitting the pattern for this dress was pretty easy. Using Simplicity 2926 I made the FBA alterations and extend the length of the bodice to match that of the inspiration dress. I won't need a sway back alteration as this dress has elastic in the waist. I cut the entire pattern at size 16 hoping to address the fullness of the inspiration dress. I will do a muslin of the bodice to make sure there is no gaping at the neckline. This small concern can be easily remedied with deeper tucks and darts. Here's what I've been so far:

First, I made a FBA on the front bodice pattern piece.



The redraft of the front bodice to include desired length and FBA.



This view shows the lengthing of the front bodice as well as the FBA.



Alteration of the Back bodice. The midriff is eliminated to follow the same style as the Peter Sow dress. I added 4 1/2" to both bodice pieces. This will bring the bottom of the bodice to match the waist line of the inspiration dress and give allowance for the elasticized waist.