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Prepping for Patrones

9 May 2009, 13:08

Now that I’ve finished all my other spring projects (the Colette dress is coming, sorry for the delay!), I can now devote all my available energy toward making my spring coat, Patrones #261-17, as voted on by all of lovely you!

Also sewing along with me are Zoe (whom I borrowed and traced the pattern from originally!) and Houkje, who’s also tracing and joining in a bit later on, creating our own London-Patrones micro-Sewalong!

First off, Zoe says:
I took a quick photo this morning of the fabric I’m using for the coat.

The wool on the left is a remnant from the cloth house and not enough for the whole coat. The velvet on the right is for the hood, button tabs and possibly the collar if I don’t have enough of the wool for that. I bought some great brass toggles on Walthamstow market (couldn’t find them a 6am without waking the family up), but forgot about the tabs
on the sleeves so I need to get back soon to get some more. I’m looking for a two tone lining in beige and turquoise to match the stripes in the wool, but no joy so far. Need to find time to get over to Shepherd’s bush I think.

Whereas for my coat, I’ll be using that great, soft teal basketweave wool, bulk fusing it with lightweight interfacing, before cutting, then overlocking all the cut edges to prevent fraying and unravelling.

I’ve got 4 yards of the wool, but only ordered 3 metres of the Vilene H180 lightweight interfacing. Only I forget it was super narrow, so by the time I laid it side by side on the wool, I only had about 1.5m of the wool covered. So I’m waiting to see if I can lay out all the pattern pieces that wouldn’t normally be interfaced onto the bulk fused section, and the pieces like the collar, facings and button tabs onto a section that I’ll cover with heavier interfacing to avoid having to buy more. Confused? Don’t worry, this plan might fail anyway…

Moving on, I’ve so far bulk fused what I’ve got, and even that took a marathon pressing section, making my arms ache from putting all the pressure on it. I’m very happy I thought ahead and hoovered (what remains of) the hotel corridor so my wool didn’t get covered in sawdust, cat hair, and fluff when it dragged on the floor.

But then Bosco, never overlooking a good fort when one presents itself, had other plans:

At least it was pretty easy to tell when it had fused properly, as the weave really came up through the interfacing from all the pressure:

And here it is, stacked and ready to use:

The next steps for me are to:


  1. Cut and sew a muslin

  2. Make any fitting alterations to the pattern

  3. Lay pattern pieces on the fused wool and order more interfacing if necessary

  4. Overlock the edges of all the pieces (wasn’t necessary in the end!)

  5. Buy lining fabric and toggles (with Johanna Lu at Goldhawk Road in a few weeks!)

  6. Create bound buttonholes on the sleeve and front tabs

  7. Cut and assemble jacket body

  8. Cut and assemble lining

Winners of Pillowcase Challenge: I ran the entries through the random number generator twice, resulting in #7 and #13 being picked. As I was colouring the comment entries separately in my email program, it was easy to just count down to the winners, which were Bridget and Karen Morrison! Congrats!

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Comments:

  1. OOOOH, it’s gonna be gorgeous! That teal colour is lovely, will be great with your hair :o)


    — EmilyKate    May 9, 10:40 PM    #

  2. Is the H180 not readily available in London stores? I’m asking because if it turns out that you do need more I can pick some up for you before I leave for London next week.
    Also I’m so happy to see that this pattern got picked, it’s such an awesome design, simple yet with a lot of personality in the detailing. I think it’s going to be a wardrobe staple.


    — Johanna Lu    May 10, 05:47 AM    #

  3. I bought a very similar fabric at the end of winter with the intention of making a coat next winter. It’s so beautiful but I wonder if I will dare to wear a light coloured coat in the metro. I bet i’ll need to clean it often. So I’m wondering if I can wash it. The weave is pretty loose so it might be risky. You didn’t prewash yours, did you?


    — peaudane    May 10, 08:09 AM    #

  4. Bosco, you little sneak! He found the perfect spot right under your nose. BTW I’m sending you healing vibes, love and support from across the Channel but nothing else, as I’m a teacher and my job makes me an ideal vector for passing things along. Well wishes!


    — Katharine in Brussels    May 10, 02:30 PM    #

  5. And now I know why I thought the patterns was beautiful and elegant! Its seaming resembles that of the medieval dress I’m working on!


    — Hana - Marmota    May 16, 06:28 PM    #

  6. Could you tell me more details about the Chinese Knotted Jewellery book. I want to buy an exemplar


    — Sofia    Oct 5, 12:19 AM    #

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