Uptown coat, bargain style -- and help with linings and coats

Remember my first Uptown Coat by Favorite Things? It was sort of ... loud? Weird? I don't know, but I still like it. I made the short version the first time around, and I never did get around to photographing it on a person like I promised. Have you felt betrayed?

Well, one day I was hunting for fabulous finds at Savers thrift store and did I ever find one. It was well over three yards of gray, pin-striped wool. Wool. As in, hard to find locally. Wool, as in $25 a yard. I paid a whopping $7.99 total for my 3+ yards.



I decided to make another Uptown Coat, and I even had enough for the long version. I lined it with a red/burgundy lining and made my own fabric-covered buttons, which is very easy to do, by the way.







This time around, I did a few things differently. The first time, I was thrown off by the fact that the pattern didn't really give good instructions on how to finish the bottom front corners of the jacket.

What I did is this: I turned over about a quarter-inch on the jacket hem and sewed. Then I turned that up about another inch and used a blind hem stitch to secure it. I did not sew all the way to either end, but left a few inches -- you'll see why.

Next, I hemmed the lining, about 1.5 inches. As it turns out, this was too much and my lining doesn't fully cover the hem of the jacket.

OK, so next I needed to attach the lining to the coat, so I put right sides together (with collar sandwiched in between, already basted onto the coat) and sewed along one front and across the collar and down the other front. Here's the key: for the bottom corner of the coat, before you sew the lining, turn the hem the other way, so the wrong side is showing and right sides are together. Pin it this way when you sew your lining on. When you're done, clip the corners and flip them around. Now you'll have a nice front, bottom corner.

I'm sure that didn't make much sense without photos. I'll probably do a tutorial on this at some point.

Another problem is that the fabric was really wrinkled, and you can only do so much ironing on wool. I'm hoping the wrinkles relax as the jacket hangs.

After I cut the fabric, I did find a couple of tiny, tiny holes, I suppose from moths. I figured there was no point in throwing away the whole project over a couple of not-even-visible holes, so I took tiny scraps of the wool and used quilt basting spray to patch it on the back side. Then I used a dab of Fray Check. Hopefully, I won't have any problems, or at least not for a while.

And, finally, the jacket would look much better if it were more fitted, or just plain smaller around the top. I did make it according to my measurements, but I think because it's long it just looks quite big and loose on me. It's definitely wearable, though.

Uptown Coat

I was really excited about this project. I really like the patterns by Favorite Things. This one is no exception. I spent a lot of time selecting just the right fabric (the fabric line is called Porcelina), but I must admit that I'm not so sure I love it.

Sorry for the bad photos. The jacket still needs delinting, pressing and to have the marking pen removed. I'm also in my PJs and in no position to model right now. I'll photograph it outside with a proper outfit in the next few weeks.



It's still pretty darn cute, in my opinion, and it gives me a reason to look forward to a chill in the air.

(blurrrrryyyy. I suck.)


I liked the colors in these fabrics. Cheerful yet fall.



The lining is an eggplant color. I also used a cotton batting as an interliner, for a bit more warmth.



I'm going to discuss my opinion on this pattern, since I was unable to find anybody else's reviews on it before starting.

1. I felt it ran a little bit big. I may remake this in a wool fabric I thrifted, but I'll cut it a size smaller.

2. Most of the pattern was really easy to do and everything fit together really nicely. This is why I like Amy Butler and Favorite Things patterns; they always seem to avoid the overly fussy and the pieces really come together nicely.

3. I only had problems at the end, when I had to attach the lining. It explained 90 percent of this process, but left out what to do at the bottom of the coat where the lining was shorter than the outer jacket. It took me quite a while to come up with a way to finish it nicely. I also didn't really get the hem instructions -- you're supposed to hem both the jacket and lining before attaching them together. I ended up slip stitching them together for a nicer finish at the very end.

4. It never discussed the buttons or buttonholes. The only reason this mattered was that there are six buttons on the front panel, but as it turns out, only three buttonholes. But I had to examine the drawing to figure that out. At first I wasn't sure if there should be six buttonholes. In the end, I thought it seemed pretty obvious from examining the drawing and the pattern pieces, but it could have been mentioned in the instructions just to be extra clear.

Lots of things started, nothing finished

Outta here

I'm getting ready for vacation. Today's my last day of work until Aug. 9! We're just going on a quick jaunt for our 4th wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow. Then I have lots of time off just hanging around the house, which I LOVE.

Favorite Things

One of the patterns I've been drooling over is the Uptown Coat pattern by Favorite Things. I finally bought it, then anguished over the fabric. I saw this Porcelina fabric in an e-mail newsletter from Fat Quarter Shop, and despite looking around, I kept coming back to it. The fabric on the left is the main jacket fabric, and the other two form the chest area. It's like the turquoise coat on the pattern below.






Vintage sheets quilt

Also, I've finally gotten moving on my Clothesline Quilt, AKA the Nine Pillowcase Quilt. It's the vintage sheets quilt that I was so excited for, and when the pattern finally was posted, I realized that the cutting was sort of hard. I did use a lot of pillowcases, but I also used a few sheets, and boy were they a pain to cut with a rotary blade.



Oh, Fransson's version can be found here. She's the one who had the tutorial.

My main issue is that I want this to be a quilt for a queen size bed, so that means I need to add extra blocks. But that's going to ruin the 9-9-9 symmetry of the quilt. There are 9 tiny squares in the small blocks, then 9 small blocks in a big block, then 9 big blocks make up the quilt. If I add blocks, it messes that up, but I guess I'll live with it, because I want it to fit a bed and I've already cut the strips. I guess I could have made them bigger in the first place, but they would have been been a lot bigger.

Embroidery

I've been having fun embroidering. One of my projects will likely be one of the gifts for my five recipients from this post. So I won't show it until they get it, so it will be a surprise.

But I have so many ideas going. One thing I want to do is take this image and embroider it on a piece of tan fabric and make a handbag for myself.




Now I just need to buckle down and finish some things. Forget about the socks I've been working on for months. I'm making no progress at all. And hell if I'm going to take my knitting on the plane this time.