Make Nine #1 Complete!

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a restful Easter holiday.  My family and I enjoyed watching church service online, and still kept some semblance of normal in spite of staying at home.  My husband BBQ'd, and we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, even though my two oldest have almost outgrown this (13 and 10).  It was still a lot of fun with some of my favorite people!

For today I am here with some off-season sewing!  I have finally completed S2311 (out-of-print), the first of my Make Nine outerwear challenge!

This coat has been in "time-out" since February because I couldn't figure out how to fix the pocket gaping I encountered once I cut into my fashion fabric.  I made a muslin, but did not put pockets in that version because I didn't think it would be an issue.  I finally decided to pick this coat up and see what I could do.  My solution was to let out the back and side seams by 1/4".  This helped some, but the ultimate fix came with hand stitching the pockets toward the front of the jacket.  This made them lay flat, and made me happy.

Handstitched at the front facing seam allowance

Coat Details

Size: 14 with 1/4" grading from waist to hip, 1" length added

Fabric: Jacketing from Fashion Fabrics Club/Denver Fabrics

Lining: Animal Print Dobby Crepe from Fashion Fabrics Club/Denver Fabrics

Interfacing: Easy Knit from Joanns in Black

Shoulder Pads: 1/4" thick from Wawak

The instructions for this pattern were something I was warned about when I read reviews on PR.  Lots of reviewers said that they were difficult to follow, and they were right!  I would say that they were much like following a maze.  You read a few steps, do them, then jump to other numbers.  Do those numbers, then jump to another section.  Depending on the elements you wanted in the coat (Project Runway pattern), you had to adjust accordingly by skipping certain portions.  All in all, it is very confusing.  If this were eliminated, the process would certainly be easier.  However, this is not a hard coat to make.  Once you find the set of instructions you need, it is very doable.

For design elements, I decided to include the belt loops for the back and sides of the coat.  I planned to wear it with a belt, and knew I would want them.  I have another black trench with a similar look, and they were easily removable if they didn't look right.  I am so glad I added them!  It adds to the finished look of the coat, and it still looks nice if I wear the coat untied too.

 

Here is a look at the shoulder pads.  I catch-stitched them onto the shoulders, not sure if I would like them on my frame, since my shoulders are already so broad.  They worked great! I love the gentle shaping they add, and it really accentuates the seams of the coat.  

This is the completed lining with the front facing attached.  The sleeves are brown because I mistakenly ordered 1 yard of the animal print lining, so I had to make it work with the lining I had in my stash.  Thankfully, this adjustment didn't affect the final result of the coat.  I did, however, forget that I let out the seam in the back, and did not account for that in the lining.  It was already serged, so when I sent to sew the lining and coat shell together, I had to attach another small strip to the edge in order to fit my lining comfortably.  It is not a glaring thing you notice, but I am glad the print is busy, lol!!

Here is my coat just before I stitched up all the layers.  Surprisingly, my machine handled the layers well, and didn't give me fits about it.  The final steps after this are to sew around the perimeter, stopping at the marked dots on the facing.  Then, sew 1/2" below the dots on the bottom of the coat, leaving an opening to turn the coat right side out.  After some handstitching, and optional topstitching (which I definitely did), this coat was complete!

I just love it!!!  This coat pattern was in my stash a LONG time, and I have wanted to make it for a while.  The moment I put it on, my husband looked at me and asked "So, when are you gonna wear it?"

Well, that's the thing with off-season sewing... the satisfaction is not immediate because it is not an item you can wear right away.  However, you can bet that once Fall comes, this coat will be the first thing I look forward to putting on!  Thankfully, we had a mild day in the 60s, so it wasn't too bad to take photos to show you.  

Here it is with my Colette Moneta dress, and boots added for a Fall look:

It has been a slow start on my Make Nine, but I am glad to say I have ONE down, EIGHT to go!!!

Stay sew filled!