Guys, sometimes sewing is hard. You get to a point where you’ve been doing something for a little while and you forget that, you get a little lazy, you get a little arrogant, you think you know what you are doing and then you make something and you just think, man, this is not quite what I had in mind here. And that happened to me recently with a big project. My instinct is of course to hide such things from the world, to pretend they never happened and that everything I make turns to gold but not in a bad way, like Midas, like not all the food I eat or my family or anything. Also if the clothing I made turned to gold that would be awfully heavy not to mention limiting, color palate wise, so let’s just forget about that, okay? Cool. The point is, I’m showing this project because it didn’t turn out perfectly, but I still like it, and most importantly, I like that I made it. It was a lot of work and something new and a challenge and I learned things and remembered things and the end result is wearable, if not sheer bliss, so there you go.
What is it, you ask? It’s a coat, I really wanted to make one so I did. I loved Deer and Doe’s Pavot Jacket so I was very excited to make it for my first ever piece of outerwear. That being said, I cut this thing three months ago and sort of didn’t deal with it. Was I frightened of such a big project? Intimidated by trying something new? Hahaha, no, I seriously just didn’t want to deal with underlining. FOR. REALS. I used a coating I got from FabricMart.com for 1.99 a yard, a wool nylon blend, which I liked a lot, but it was much lighter-weight then I had thought it would be, so I underlined it with cotton flannel to give it some weight and eliminate some of the drape. But having cut out the many-pieced pattern three times (I also added a lining) I found myself totally bored and overwhelmed by underlining each of the many pieces. So I just….didn’t. I let the project sit on my table, a rarity for me, for over 2 and a half months until my co-worker Griffin made a coat over a weekend, and it was the best thing ever, and he looks so amazing in it, and he was like, didn’t you cut a coat three months ago? How did that go? And I remembered that it hadn’t, and felt extreme sewn shame. Seshame, if you will. So I had to make it! Damn you, Griffin!
And so I sat down and just made myself underline the damn thing. And then I started putting the pieces together and remembered that AFTER the underlining things get really fun! Preparation for sewing can make you forget that actual construction is really enjoyable. All told, in sewing time, this thing probably took me about 15 hours, but also in some ways it took me three months. Time really is relative. Thanks, Einstein! (He…probably wasn’t talking about the time it takes me to make a coat, was he? Probably not. Probably.)
And then the coat was finally done. And I don’t know what it is, the underlining and the lining, the fact that the company makes things for pear shaped ladies, my own errors, but it’s a little snug in the bust, sigh. I even cut it two sizes bigger then my actual size and yet, ah well, some tightness. And as a result of that I’m a little, sigh, meh, ah well about this project. BUT. I made it. I made a coat. It happened. And that’s pretty cool. Well, I’ll let you be the judge:
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To be fair, it’s a bit wrinkled in this photo. And in ALL the photos.
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Part of the irony of waiting so long to work on this was that by the time I had finished it it was too cold to wear it, even with the underlining it’s still a light coat. But then we had two weird warm days in New York so I brought it to brunch in Long Island City and forced Becca to photograph it for me. And our friend Kira held my bag and pretended to throw it into the East River. Team effort!
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Oy, these photos are so wrinkled it makes the hem look off, I want to cry. Sigh.
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Look, it’s not so bad in this one! Yay! It really is a cute coat, I do like it!
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The details are great.
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I adore the collar, I feel like Madeline.
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And it’s got pockets, because all things should.
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And I put in this lining, which I love.
The construction was very easy and I put in the lining without problems even though there are no instructions in the pattern, I just made a lining version and stitched it into the coat and then stitched the facings over it. The fabric didn’t LOVE being ironed but it didn’t do anything crazy, and the underlining makes this a really nice coat weight for fall or spring, or weird warm December days.
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That look on my face is a celebration of pockets. Look, I honestly think that though this isn’t perfect, I do like it, I will wear it and I’m glad I made it. I’ve made a coat now! And it wasn’t so bad or scary, and I think the next time I make one it will be better, which is all you can hope for, really. The point is, it happened.
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We took these photos on the water in Long Island City, isn’t it stunning? Kira and her fiance Joe and most importantly their two cats look at this every day. Lucky bastards….
So there that is, a coat I made that, well, my favorite thing about it is the fact that it happened.
I hope you all had lovely Christmases! I’m about to take a family trip to Ireland literally tomorrow, so I might be off the grid for a while, but I will do one more sew-along post before I go and be ready to make little things for little people in January! I wont be back stateside until the 6th but feel free to start on the 1st if you like and stay tuned for exciting things, just as soon as I figure out what they are!
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