That is Not a Coat!
My mother has this bad habit of wearing a hoodie during times where she should actually be wearing a coat. I always get onto her, saying 'Mother! That is not a damn coat!!' We have recently had some very cold weather, and I worry about her going outside in just a hoodie. This morning it was 0 degrees... zero. This is not normal for Tennessee. So I decided to road test my new Butterick pattern and make my mom a decent coat, hopefully.
I got this classy coat pattern on a $2.99 Butterick sale. It is actually a Pattern by Gertie, named for an awesome blogger whom I read.
I got this pattern along with 2 others, as I have never used a Butterick pattern and was kind of unsure as to how their sizes would fit me.
I went to Hancock's needing a zipper for my Donna Reed Dress when I stumbled across this lovely dark green (insert fabric type) fabric on sale! I had walked the entire store looking for the right material and color for this coat. I had found a dark green in a wool blend, which is actually what they recommended. But then I found this fabric in the same shade of green, and it was a bit lighter of a fabric. Mom has a couple of coats, but they're bulky. I wanted to make her a coat that she could wear that #1 looked classy and #2 wasn't too heavy. And since she is my height, I thought I might make this coat a teensy bit shorter.
This coat is also lined, which I have never done before. All of this seemed a bit overwhelming, but I had to try. I cut out all the pattern pieces a couple of nights ago, and the following 2 nights I actually cut the fabric out. I decided to wait until the weekend to construct it, as I figured it would take a couple of hours and I didn't want to stop in the middle of something and have to come back the next night and try to remember what I have done.
I fell in love with this fabric, as it is a little stretchy and I love dark green. I had racked my brain for a color for my mom's possible coat. I naturally wanted to make a black one, as we are all into black. Not in an emo way... it's just flattering. Anywho, the more I thought about it, the more I did not want to make a black coat. Yeah, it will go with anything, but so could another dark color, like a burgundy or forest green. Plus, a slightly colored coat stands out just a bit, but not so much as to cause traffic to stop, like this jacket most assuredly would/does.
The overall construction of this coat was pretty simple once I stopped being overwhelmed and actually read the instructions thoroughly. I have a bad habit of not reading the instructions beforehand. So I sat down with a cup of tea and did some light reading. Even that, unfortunately, didn't help. I was in a rush, which is something I try not to be in whilst sewing, especially sewing something for someone else as opposed to something for myself. I was rushing to get this done by the 'big game' as a surprise, but it did not quite work that way. I got almost done in record time, but when I got done attaching the lining at the neck, the next step was to tack the sleeves and slip stitch the bottom hem of the lining. I didn't have enough time. I was heartbroken. My mom wasn't expecting me at all, and as a surprise I was going to show up with this coat. But alas, I came empty handed.
Last night after work, I decided to finish the coat, which also didn't get done in time. I tacked one of the sleeves and hemmed the bottom of the same sleeve only to realize that I somehow had tacked the right arm lining to the left sleeve. How? I don't really know. So I ripped out the seam and un-tacked the tacks. My husband thought it was hysterical. It wasn't. I finally finished the sleeves and tried it on. It fits very well, but it was too long, so I stuck it on my dress form and chopped off about 4 inches from the bottom. Instead of slip stitching the lining to the bottom hem, I did a normal hem, since I had hacked off some of the length. And I finally attached the buttons, et voila!
Well, sort of voila... in my haste to finish said coat, I completely forgot to take final pictures of it. Daughter of the year, right here! But trust me, it looks like the coat on the front of the pattern, but in dark green. My husband liked it a lot, but suggested 4 buttons instead of 2. He wants me to make one for myself, but in black. I swear, we can never get away from black! :)
I got this classy coat pattern on a $2.99 Butterick sale. It is actually a Pattern by Gertie, named for an awesome blogger whom I read.
I got this pattern along with 2 others, as I have never used a Butterick pattern and was kind of unsure as to how their sizes would fit me.
I went to Hancock's needing a zipper for my Donna Reed Dress when I stumbled across this lovely dark green (insert fabric type) fabric on sale! I had walked the entire store looking for the right material and color for this coat. I had found a dark green in a wool blend, which is actually what they recommended. But then I found this fabric in the same shade of green, and it was a bit lighter of a fabric. Mom has a couple of coats, but they're bulky. I wanted to make her a coat that she could wear that #1 looked classy and #2 wasn't too heavy. And since she is my height, I thought I might make this coat a teensy bit shorter.
This coat is also lined, which I have never done before. All of this seemed a bit overwhelming, but I had to try. I cut out all the pattern pieces a couple of nights ago, and the following 2 nights I actually cut the fabric out. I decided to wait until the weekend to construct it, as I figured it would take a couple of hours and I didn't want to stop in the middle of something and have to come back the next night and try to remember what I have done.
I fell in love with this fabric, as it is a little stretchy and I love dark green. I had racked my brain for a color for my mom's possible coat. I naturally wanted to make a black one, as we are all into black. Not in an emo way... it's just flattering. Anywho, the more I thought about it, the more I did not want to make a black coat. Yeah, it will go with anything, but so could another dark color, like a burgundy or forest green. Plus, a slightly colored coat stands out just a bit, but not so much as to cause traffic to stop, like this jacket most assuredly would/does.
The overall construction of this coat was pretty simple once I stopped being overwhelmed and actually read the instructions thoroughly. I have a bad habit of not reading the instructions beforehand. So I sat down with a cup of tea and did some light reading. Even that, unfortunately, didn't help. I was in a rush, which is something I try not to be in whilst sewing, especially sewing something for someone else as opposed to something for myself. I was rushing to get this done by the 'big game' as a surprise, but it did not quite work that way. I got almost done in record time, but when I got done attaching the lining at the neck, the next step was to tack the sleeves and slip stitch the bottom hem of the lining. I didn't have enough time. I was heartbroken. My mom wasn't expecting me at all, and as a surprise I was going to show up with this coat. But alas, I came empty handed.
Last night after work, I decided to finish the coat, which also didn't get done in time. I tacked one of the sleeves and hemmed the bottom of the same sleeve only to realize that I somehow had tacked the right arm lining to the left sleeve. How? I don't really know. So I ripped out the seam and un-tacked the tacks. My husband thought it was hysterical. It wasn't. I finally finished the sleeves and tried it on. It fits very well, but it was too long, so I stuck it on my dress form and chopped off about 4 inches from the bottom. Instead of slip stitching the lining to the bottom hem, I did a normal hem, since I had hacked off some of the length. And I finally attached the buttons, et voila!
Well, sort of voila... in my haste to finish said coat, I completely forgot to take final pictures of it. Daughter of the year, right here! But trust me, it looks like the coat on the front of the pattern, but in dark green. My husband liked it a lot, but suggested 4 buttons instead of 2. He wants me to make one for myself, but in black. I swear, we can never get away from black! :)
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