Corduroy Coat is Finished

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I finished my coat last night, and I am just pretty pleased with it. It seemed to finish up fast, which was nice and kind of unexpected. I wore it to church this morning, and these pictures were taken after I got home. You can see them all here in greater detail, plus a few close-ups of details.


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I did a lot of hand sewing on this coat, including basting every seam by hand, attaching most of the underlining and some of the interfacing. I also did a hand-inserted lining except at the sleeve hems. It was a nice project, and I didn't mind the extra time it took to baste because I did almost no ripping. There were a few places where I had basted the seam on a curved spot with the corduroy and it still slipped when I stitched. So, I learned to baste and pin in those spots, or baste again. I wasn't using a terribly small basting stitch, but the layers were so thick that it was difficult to do a small stitch even if I wanted to, so at times I basted twice.

Once again Marfy patterns show their great lines and drafting with the subtle shaping incorporated into the style. It's so nice how everything goes together just the way it should, and the way we wish all patterns would. It makes all the difference to the outcome when you match seamlines rather than cutting-lines too. More work at the beginning, but it makes everything else go so much more smoothly all the way through. Proper preparation is worth all the work involved every time.

So, how was it to wear? Very comfortable, and it seems to be quite warm, although we're having a warm-up today, so it didn't get a real test. I like the buttons, but I will admit that they feel very pointy when you're buttoning them. I don't mind my fingers, but I hope they won't be hard on the buttonhole lips. Here it is unbuttoned.


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Coat Progress 2

 

Here's the coat with the sleeves pinned on at the top. I'm beginning to really like it, and I did get the sleeves set in this evening too. They went in so nicely. I was afraid with all the layers that it might be a problem. I've got sleeve heads pinned in ready to sew tomorrow, and then I'm about ready to hem the body and sleeves and line it. It's hard to believe I'm this close, but it's suddenly been what I want to work on for hours at a time, or at least as long as I have at any one time.

One thing I really like I hadn't planned on. It happened when I turned the collar right side out. The corduroy undercollar is on the bias with a CB seam, and after I turned it, the corduroy was peeking out around the suede upper collar. I just love the way it looks! It's like a twisted binding, so I hand edge stitched it so that it will stay that way. I did the same on the lapels, reversing below the roll line so that the edge of the suede lapel shows on the corduroy front. I think it added quite a lot. I was really worried about how I was going to make the collar look really finished, as I didn't want to try to topstitch this because of all the layers and the thickness even after trimming and pounding flat and everything else I could think of. I thought about saddle stitching, but I settled on a pickstitch, and I think it looks nice.

Here's a close up of the collar edge.

 

Coat choices

I've been working on the Marfy coat, but am still in the planning and cutting stages. It's proving to be an interesting and rather challenging project. Marji wanted to know more about the fabric, and here's a photo of it draped around a bit.

As you can see from the photos below, it's a lot wider wale than a regular corduroy; about a half inch per wale. It's drapey enough that I am using a sew-in interfacing as underlining for the fronts and under collar. At this point, I'm planning to use a heavy flannel to underline the back and sleeves. The faux suede panels have fusible interfacing as underlining. The entire thing will be lined of course, and I'm thinking of interlining as well, although I haven't decided yet. I want it to be warm, and yet I don't want stiffness, which is why I'm not leaning toward using the sew-in on the back and sleeves. I've been cutting out and cutting out and I really hate cutting out, so I've been taking frequent breaks which is not conducive to quick work, but when I start getting tired and frustrated, it's better that I quit than make some stupid mistake.

I've decided on bound buttonholes and I searched through my button collection. I really thought I wanted very large buttons, but have changed my mind I think. Anyway, I've decided for now on the rectangular buttons I got from Fabric Mart. You can see it below by itself, and also buttoned through the buttonhole, and with the other possibles below that. I think the colors are best on the lower photo.