Plaid Overcoat Progress + More Pattern Drafting!

My plaid Burda overcoat is coming along slowly but surely.

On Wednesday I cut my front pockets.  They were supposed to be single welt pockets but due to a slight case of mismeasuring (and consequent cutting) they turned into double welt pockets.  A lucky save.



I'm making keyhole buttonholes myself with my Singer buttonholer (the beige plastic one that uses templates) and have incorporated a hidden button placket, which one often finds on coats like these.  Burda 7780 is a pretty stripped-down coat pattern -- no back vent, only a half lining (I'm adding a full one), and perhaps worst of all, no inside pocket (I'm adding two, for wallet and sunglasses).





As of tonight (Friday) my coat looks like this (below).  I attached the sleeves, the facings are in, and the collar just needs to be topstitched.  I still have to attach my lining pieces and insert them, and then hem the coat and add the buttons.  I hope to finish this sometime next week as I don't expect to be able to sew this weekend.



In other news, I had my patternmaking class again on Wednesday night.  We used the pattern we drafted last week to make a muslin to fit our dress form.  Here's mine: a shapely Size 8.



We then put the pinned muslin on the form and, with the assistance of the professor, corrected any fit issues.  These corrections were transferred to the paper pattern, and the now-corrected pattern was used to trace a master pattern on heavy brown paper.  That's a lot for one night, no?







I am loving this FIT patternmaking class.  The pace is perfect for me: it's fast but not overwhelming, and the professor is very enthusiastic and supportive.

And that's it.

Have a great weekend, everybody, and tune in next week for further coat updates!

My client, blue-eyed Ephraim, picked up his shirt this week.  It looks lovely on him.

Remaking a Coat Pattern from Six Years Ago, et al.

Readers, I don't know how I managed it, but six years ago, with little more than two months' sewing experience under my belt, I made Burda 7780 (above).  It turned out pretty nice, especially from a distance.



I made it with cheap fabric, however, and it didn't really hold up well over the years; I finally said good-bye to it this summer.  But since I could really use a raincoat-type topper, I'm making Burda 7780 again.  This time I'm using a coated cotton plaid in a rather dark palette.



It wasn't till I started cutting my fabric, however, that I was reminded that this pattern's front and back pieces are slightly curved.  As a result, the back looks like this:



The plaid matches (I used a walking foot with my Singer 201) but there's an unmistakable "V" shape at the center.  That's OK, right?

I've cut all my pieces out (plaid takes a lot time to cut, I was reminded) and interfaced what needs interfacing.  I hope to start putting things together tomorrow (plus double welt pockets; sigh).





In other news, last week I completed a shirt muslin for a client, using a coarse vintage cotton floral I found at the flea market years ago.  It's a pretty print but not very soft.



For the first time, I created a pattern by copying an already-made garment.  I used the method David Coffin recommends in his book, Shirtmaking.  It involves putting pins through the edges of the garment pieces and connecting the pin pricks.







We'll see how it fits in a few weeks.

On an unrelated not, this weekend I draped Michael in blue and patterned shirting I may use to make a shirt for him.  He's a "Light Summer."



On Sunday, we did my friend Johanna's colors.  We say she's an "Autumn."



And that's it!

In closing, have you ever copied a ready-to-wear garment using David Coffin's method or another? What were the results like?

Have a great day, everybody!

Willy sure knows how to charm Grandma!