Admittedly, I've lusted after this coat since I first saw the pattern. Sophisticated, but comfortable.
It's been aging in my stash for about a year, and an Aussie friend of mine has been strongly hinting that I need to start my coat before winter hits.
So I pulled it out and started to figure.
The planning stage on such a garment as this can take days of work. You can skip this phase, but the results probably won't please you.
Here's what I've done so far ...
- tissue fit the pattern - this is a close fitting pattern and the preliminary tissue fit was a must that pointed out a couple of problems
- bust point too high, drop by one inch
- add length for long torso
- add width from waist to upper mid back, this is an usual alteration for me
- figure out what additions to make to the pattern
- pockets - how can anyone live without pockets in a coat?
- drop the shoulder pads (ick) and add a sleeve head
- interface the entire shell
- add a sew-in interfacing in the upper back for stability
Additionally, while it wastes more interfacing, I've been interfacing the length of fabric before I cut out the pieces. This keeps me from throwing off the grain and shape of the pattern piece in the course of fusing.
I've got the back, side back, front back, upper collar, and lower collar cut out. I'm starting work on the front and front facing, and then I get to do most of the process over with the lining (only the back has a separate lining piece).
I'm pulling everything from stash, so my funky coat will definitely be funky inside as well. I have this gorgeous cream, tan, and teal nouveau stripe silk that I had purchased for a blouse, but could not find a pattern that would work. This will be my lining.
I'm using the Palmer/Pletsch book "Jackets for Real People" to tailor my coat -
Pattern instructions are so basic, they leave out a huge number of steps. As I want this coat to last, I've got to put much more into this than the instructions would lead you to believe. Palmer/Pletsch to the rescue.
