Positively the (next to) LAST faux fur coat post!

Friends, they say all good things must come to an end, but honestly, I could keep working on this coat forever.  And not because it's such a treat, but rather because there is an endless amount of finishing work to be done on a garment like this.

The collar and the facings had to be catch-stitched into place -- Kenneth King does this between the layers themselves and so did I.  OK, I also did some stitching through both layers from the outside here and there.  Tiny stitches sink right into the fur, never to be seen again.  And so do big stitches.  I love fur!

It's a long story, but take my word for it that if the undercollar and overcollar weren't whip-stitched into place, the cat fur, which doesn't have that faux suede backing like the rabbit fur, would not correctly roll over the top of the collar, as it does (correctly) in this photo.



I had to make that happen, and the collar had to look good both turned up and turned down.   Thanks for the back of your head, Michael!



I did less whip-stitching in the lapels but I still did some.  Did I mention how much I don't like hand stitching?  Well, I don't, but I'll do it if I have to, and the good news is I'm getting better at it.  The bad news is I'm going blind threading needles.





I decided that for the time being I would not line the coat, leaving the faux suede inside visible, which looks fine except for the inside of the pockets, one of which displays the right side of the pocketing, and the other the wrong side.  How did this happen?  I couldn't even tell you.  Life goes on.

Following Kenneth Kings instructions, I attached bias to the facings, and stitched down the bias by hand.  If a lining should go in, it will get slip-stitched to the bias.  If.





I tried hemming the coat and it ruined the drape.  That fake suede backing can't be folded up, not on a coat that drapes like this one does.  The bottom is thus raw and shaggy and drapes beautifully.  I really had to go with my gut on this one.  (The fur does not shed once cut, btw.)

The cuffs were a cinch: machine sewn along the inside cuff edge and then folded up over the sleeve and hand-stitched into place.





I tried a belt.  Michael and I agreed that, done in the fur, it lends a bathrobe-y feel to a coat that's already a little bathrobe-y.  Done in the faux suede, it cuts the coat in two in an unflattering way.  So right now the coat has no closures.  I may or may not explore other options (snaps?) but for right now it hangs open.

As for big rhinestone buttons, here's the deal: Michael loves this coat and wants to wear it to the opera (dressed as Margaret Dumont, perhaps?).  It actually looks great on him -- well, very good.  Plus -- and you'll see this in the photo shoot -- this coat is BUSY.  And very thick.  It needs no further embellishment.



Actually, it hangs very much like a man's beaver coat (see pic below).  Maybe that's what this is -- pink beaver! (no jokes, please)



Today, I have to work on finishing touches to coat and pantsuit, and I may try to make a turban with this poly chiffon, this pattern, and this old rhinestone ring I found.



Readers, you've been so very patient during this coat construction; I know it hasn't been easy for many of you, especially you ADHD types.  But I must follow my muse.  And shave.  Big day tomorrow.

Happy Friday, everybody!

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Joy to the World, the Pants are Done!

Friends, I certainly hope viewing this pic isn't putting anyone's job in jeopardy.  But I just finished my cherry leopard stretch denim pants and I am ready to rap, or whatever one does, shirtless, in leopard pants.  Actually, I'm listening to my lovely Concert, Theater & Parlor Songs of John Philip Sousa CD.  Weird, right?

I love these pants: they're funky, yet cut like ordinary straight-leg jeans.  Here's the more conservative look, relatively speaking.  Hope this doesn't give you a pattern-induced headache.



Here's the rear, for those who wonder about such things.  I'm not sure leopard is doing me any favors back there, frankly.



These pants turned out much better than I'd expected, though I did have a few challenges.  I put a hook and eye in the waistband, which went in without a problem.



But I also added a 1" waistband extension on which I'd hoped to put a buttohole, only my vintage Singer buttonholer doesn't want to do it -- I guess the fabric, which has heavy waistband interfacing inside, is just too thick.



I'll either stitch on the flimsier type of hook and eye or make a buttonhole by hand, which I've never done before but would be open to trying.  Either way, the whole area is under a belt and therefore not visible, plus the original tailor-type hook and eye securely closes the pants.

Since the fabric stretches width-wise, I serged twill tape onto the top of the pockets before turning them under.



Normally the top of the pocket would be turned under twice, but the fabric is too thick and stretchy for that.  Finished this way, I could turn them under only once.  I then topstiched along the top, and the twill tape cut down on the horizontal stretching.



The back pockets went on without a problem.  I used my Singer 201 for all the topstitching (using heavy topstitching thread from Sil Thread) and my Featherweight for most other seams.





I used commercial waistbanding inside the waistband as interfacing, since I really wanted the waistband to be sturdy and I had some lying around.  It worked well, though it may be the reason I can't make a buttonhole through the waistband extension.



BTW, all my flat-felled seams are faux.  Spongy, stretchy fabric and true flat-felled seams do not mix.  I just serged my seam allowances and topstitched from the outside twice.  You'd never know that difference.

Even though they're basically jeans, I hemmed by hand because I didn't want the width-wise stretch to create ripples or waves in the hem -- do you know what I mean?  Before I hemmed, I stitched twill tape to the hem edge.



And that's it!  I am happy to be done and excited about working these pants into my wardrobe, though my burgundy and black saddle shoes won't be here till next week, sadly.

In closing, indulgent readers, are you ready to take the leopard plunge?  Predator preppy is so going to happen in 2012, I just know it.

Have a great day, everybody!

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Suit Pants Day 6 - Done! + Laura Mae Obsession

Friends, first the good news: the pants are done.  I hemmed them yesterday, pressed them a bit, got 80% of the dog hair off, and actually wore them out of the house. 





But you know when people say that something is more than the sum of its parts?  Well, for me, these pants are less.  I'm proud of the details -- the faux watch pocket flap (that still needs a button), the back welt pocket, the waistband -- but the pants themselves are a bit meh.





For one thing, they're a little too full in the leg for my taste.  I could probably still narrow these some if I wanted to, but is it worth it at this point?  (I'd have to let down the hems, for one thing.)  Maybe I'm just not used to the look of men's dress pants -- I mean, they do look like the pattern envelope, but please note the body proportions of those men -- they are built like Ken dolls (body length = 10 heads);  I'm built more like a Chrissy doll (body length = 5 heads).

I think a slimmer leg would be more flattering for a shorter-than-average guy like me.  The question is, how much more flattering?  I mean, they're worsted wool dress pants, to be worn with a suit jacket.  They're supposed to flow a bit, right?  Plus, these don't have a sharp front crease yet; maybe that will make a difference.   They could also use another pressing and de-linting. 



Anyway, I'm ready to move on.  Or not.

I think for my next pair of dress pants, I'm going to skip commercial patterns and draft the whole thing myself, using Jane Rhinehart's OOP, How to Make Men's Clothes or the Cabrera/Meyers Classic Tailoring Techniques: A Construction Guide for Men's Wear, or Knowles' The Practical Guide to Patternmaking for Fashion Designers: Menswear, all of which I already own, and what's the point of owning them if I'm not going to use them?

I've noticed that of the five or so men out there making our own pants and talking about it, nobody's using commercial patterns except me.  Maybe they know something I don't.

Not to sound snobby or anything, but the McCall's instructions really don't cut it, not for dress pants.  I mean, they instruct you to make the waistband in one piece and add elastic for additional snugness.  No joining two waistband halves at the back center seam, no waistband facings, no crotch reinforcement -- nothing.  Right now, however, I need to decide whether to leave these finished pants alone or fiddle with them some more.  I think I need a pants-free day or two to decide, don't you?  Maybe I'll feel differently.

I know it sounds hackneyed, but making these pants has been a valuable learning experience and, hey, in the worst case I lost, what, a week of my life?  I could have wasted that watching Battle of the Network Stars.  (Wait: I think I lost that week already, sometime back in the mid-Seventies.)  Anyway, you get my point.  This will only make me a better sewer, if a slightly more frustrated one today.

But enough about me.  How are you, and are you reading vintage sewer extraordinaire Laura Mae's blog, Lilacs & Lace, my new obsession?  Laura Mae's blog is new enough that I was able to read every single post, which I did last night.

I don't know Laura Mae personally, of course, though she did recently leave a comment on my Snoods -- Yea or Nay post (she was a Yea).  I'm going to violate the terms of her blog and post a photo without her permission, only to prove that LM is a dead ringer for the late Jennifer Jones (with whom she shares a strikingly similar wardrobe), a young Shirley Jones, AND an adult Shirley Temple.  If Laura Mae's last name is Jones and she goes to temple, I wouldn't be a bit surprised. 

Jennifer Jones

Shirley Jones

Laura Mae

Shirley Temple

Laura Mae also knits, dyes, and finishes all her seams with Hug Snug rayon seam binding.  And she owns a chihuahua!  What's not to love?

Like my cousin Cathy, Laura Mae isn't afraid to wear true tea length and she carries it off with aplomb.  WARNING: Laura Mae's posts are often peppered with phrases like For an evening at the symphony earlier this year, I made up this Vogue Couturier pattern...  This is not a woman sitting home nights watching re-runs of Jersey Shore.  

And now I must get on with my day and perhaps obsess over my pants some more.  I wonder what Laura Mae's up to...

Have a great day everybody!

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Michael's new (vintage) Butterick shirt!

Readers, has this ever happened to you?

I wasn't feeling much like sewing yesterday so I decided I'd do some ironing instead.   I started with the vintage cotton floral fabric, freshly laundered, that I intended to use (eventually) to make Michael a shirt, most likely from Butterick 3995, one of the patterns I featured yesterday.



Since the iron was already hot, I decided to press my pattern pieces flat too.



Then, seeing as there weren't that many pieces, I decided to cut them out (the pattern, from 1957, was unused).  Then I figured I might as well cut my fabric out too.   I also replaced my rotary cutter blade -- second time ever.



Long story short, approximately ten hours later, I'd basically finished the shirt.  (I hemmed it this morning.)  Sometimes it really does help to "just put one foot in front of the other," like on Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Compared to many shirt patterns, this one was easy, especially if you skip the front welt pocket (Are they kidding?).  I generally don't put pockets on men's shirts, but if I did, I'd use a patch pocket and save myself a few precious hours.

This pattern is for a short-sleeved shirt, so there were no sleeve plackets.  Furthermore, there's no front button placket (the shirt has fold-back facings), and no collar stand.  In many ways it is similar to Colette's Negroni pattern.  There's simply not that much that can go wrong.



Like Negroni, it even has a little button loop at the collar.



For a novelty cotton shirt like this, I skipped true flat-felled seams and serged or overcast my side and shoulder seams and stitched them down from the outside, to create the same look.  The result is just as strong and way faster.  I'll only fuss for a fancy dress shirt at this point.







This shirt has some cute vintage details you don't see anymore.  I'm particularly fond of the shape of the back collar, which buttons down.



By the way, those buttons are vintage too, picked out by Michael from my button stash.



At the hemline, the front facings were stitched down before turning, and then the entire bottom hem simply pressed up.  I then turned the top edge under 1/4" and edgestitched.





And that, friends, is the story of how I made Michael a shirt in just one day.  Well, one day plus a half hour this morning.



I admit that unanticipated sewing success really does put me in a better mood; it shouldn't.  It also earns me some points with Michael, so the next time we have a sink full of dirty dishes....

You get the idea!

Happy Wednesday, everybody, and happy sewing.

More shirt project photos here.

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