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!