In Progress: Ninot Coat

Just before the season ends, I am determined to squeeze in sewing a coat. And I think I'm just about going to make it! So today I thought I'd share with you my progress so far on the Ninot Coat, Pauline Alice's Ninot Jacket pattern, which I've lengthened to be a swing coat.

I actually had fitting help on this from my tailoring teacher back when I was making my Coco Chanel Suit.  So my muslin and pattern adjustments were ready to go, but I was putting off the cutting. I knew it would take me an age! Here's the very first snip on my very first handmade coat.

It took me about four hours in total to get the whole thing cut. I've got 4 layers - fashion fabric, muslin to give extra body, a flannel interlining for warmth, and the lining. I cut the muslin with the fashion fabric, which I am treating as one layer, and the interlining with the lining. 

I looked up how to handle the interlining in Adele Margolis' The Complete Book of Tailoring, and although she seemed a bit snippy about it, she said that in an unstructured coat, you can get away with sewing the interlining and lining as just one layer. So I'm doing that, since a swing coat isn't structured at all! 

My fashion fabric is Lana Bolito Knit Wool (Hart's no longer has cream, but that's purple). It's got the texture of a boiled wool, and it's really lovely. I was a little worried about it being a knit, despite it being recommended for structured coats, but I confirmed with my tailoring teacher it wouldn't be a problem. She basically said that you can take a woven pattern and use a knit, you just can't go the other way. It's sewing up really nice, thankfully. But I'm jumping ahead! Here is my massive pile of fabric, post cutting. 

Next up was bound buttonholes. I added an extra one because of the addition 6" length I added to the jacket pattern, so I have four total. Here they are all basted up nice and tight. I'm also doing fabric-covered buttons to match.

Then welt pockets, which I had a small calamity with. First off, I stitched the inside wrong, and had a panic moment when I thought I had sewed the whole thing backwards. Thankfully that was an easy fix. Then I realized I made a silly mistake and cut my pockets out of my fashion fabric instead of the lining. After so much ripping and fussing for my first mistake, I didn't want to risk a hole in the pocket area, so I let bulky pockets lie and switched to lining fabric for my second one.

I've been watching a lot of "Parks and Recreation" while I've been sewing this coat, and if my coat was too perfect, I would have had to throw it out ala Ron Swanson so it didn't look manufactured. So thank goodness I made that welt pocket bungle. Tehehe. 

And lastly, a match point! This is the back yoke matched up with the sleeve. I must say, matching points on fabric this thick is quite a tricky beast. I've had to do a lot of hand basting first to get things to go the way they should. But it's worth it in the end! 

I'm so close now! I've just got all the finishes left, so lots of handstitching for me this week. I'm so giddy with excitement. It's looking just how I imagined it!

Corduroy Jumper

This lovely purple jumper has been just the thing for these extra chilly days in Austin lately. It really only gets cold here for about 3 months, and not even all of that, but lately we've had a string of days that made me glad I've done some winter sewing. For this dress, I used the bodice for the Wintertime Jumper from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing and combined it with a circle skirt. The fabric is a 21 wale corduroy from Hart's in amethyst.

I've made the bodice once before, to somewhat disastrous results. The straps were completely wonky. If you aren't familiar with the concept of Gertie's book, she gives you patterns to start with, and then suggests alterations to achieve different looks. This is one of those variations where you modify a neckline. When I first made this dress, I had never done that big of a pattern change before, and I didn't yet realize that the patterns in this book were going to require substantial fit adjustments for me as well. It was too many variables!  I still wear it with a cardigan over it all the time, but I wanted a chance to redeem myself and do it right. So this time, I started over using my Cambie bodice as my jumping off point. What a difference 2 years makes!

Plaid Wintertime Jumper from 2013

I lined it with teal bemberg (and clearly didn't re-iron after wearing it...), and then finished it off with a matching belt. An aside on the matching belt - this was the first time in ages I've used the Maxant kit, and it was a lark! I normally use my Great Grandmother's belt buckles, trying to muddle through making my own template and attaching it. The template in the Maxant kit comes with an adhesive that helps you get it onto the buckle, making it very easy to get a nice finish. So, sorry Great Grandmother Mary. I will still use your button supplies, but I've found another buckle to love. 

With this fancy purple jumper done, I am now deep in the throes of coat making! I find there is a lot to say about that, so I'll share some in progress snaps with you here soon. Happy winter! 

Knitting Progress: Lavenda Jumper

Happy New Year one and all! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Mine was delightful, filled with lots of giggles from my little nephew, visits from old friends and meeting new friends, a tremendous amount of delicious food, and knitting! I caught the knitting bug just this year, and it's such a perfect activity for this time of year. So today I thought I would share with you a work in progress, the Lavenda Jumper from Susan Crawford's A Stitch in Time Volume 2. 

This is what it will look like when finished (hopefully):

Source

This is only my second sweater to knit, hence the hopefully. I'm really enjoying the pattern work on this one (is that how you say it, knitters?). I'm looking forward to those sleeves with all those bobbles, but for now I'm working on the front and have finished the back. 

It looks like I'll be knitting the neckband onto the front and back to attach it, and then I'll seam the rest. Reading the pattern has been much more difficult on this one than my first sweater, which was a guided Craftsy course. It's so rewarding, though! I love that with knitting, it's seemingly so lazy, and then after lots and lots of time, you've got yourself a lovely sweater! 

What are y'all up to? Working on anything fun?