Wintercoat: Let the sewing begin! Also Tailor's dummy

Wintercoat

I took a few days of to work on the Wintercoat. I made much more progress than I anticipated.
I didn't work a full day on it yesterday nor today and it's almost finished. Please forgive me for the quality of the pictures. I made them with my phone.

Yesterday I cut the fabric pieces and sewed it on the batting an lining. On the picture you see the 2 sleeve parts. Since my back was hurting from sitting on the floor cutting pieces before sitting hunched over behind the sewing machine and my dad came home I thought that was enough of the day. 

However after dinner my parents went to the neighbours and I decided to continue the coat. I ended up sewing all the bodice parts together but stopped when my parents came back. On the picture you can see the unfinished bodice. It looks like I lined up the print, but I didn't. Just a happy accident.

The first day I could see a lot of progress, but today was a finishing seams day.  On the picture below you can see the inside of the coat with 2 finished seams and 2 unfinished ones. I left the seams quite stiff so they work as a kind of flexible boning and will form on my body.

I also sewed and finished the sleeves, but I haven't got pictures of that.

Tomorrow I will go to the market to buy buttons for the coat. I also need to decide on the storm collar from the pattern or if I will make a hood for it. Since I have plenty of fabric for both I will make both. Perhaps I can make them interchangeable so I can alternate. At the very least I can pin them on the semi finished coat and see which one I prefer.

If all things go as planned I might be able to finish the Wintercoat tomorrow or at the latest this weekend.

Tailor's Dummy

I also bought a Tailor's Dummy for my sewing online. The store said they would deliver it the next day so hopefully I will have him tomorrow. It would be easier to finish the hem of the coat. It is also essential for the making of the crinoline. I also think it would help me a lot in my sewing. 

Crinoline and Fairy Queen: small update

Crinoline

Awhile ago I told you guys I was going to make a Crinoline in this post. Before I focussed on the Winter Coat.

I bought almost all the necessary fabric, hoop wire and ribbons for it. Still need to have a closing mechanisme for it, but those are easily obtained on the market (either local or Albert Cuyp) and the shop in my hometown.

I already cut the bags but still need to sew it before making the hoops and stuff. Kind of excited about it.

Fairy Costume

For the next Elf Fantasy Fair in April I'm going to make a Fairy Queen costume. I hope it will be awesome! 

For this I'm going to use above mentioned Crinoline. 

This top in white, silver and either pink or blue hues, perhaps with beading and shinies!: 

And this skirt in above mentioned colours. Off course with loads of organza and shiny fabrics in different colours, making a sort of gradient: 

I also intend to make a crown and wings. But I haven't figured those out yet so I will keep you updated about that. 

I'm still debating the main colour. I like the pink because it's fairy like and girly and OMG! COTTON CANDY IN YOU FACE!
But I like how blue looks on me. So tell  me your views! 

Wintercoat: Lining and stuff

So this weekend I didn't spend as much time as I thought I would on the coat. I cut the lining though.
I forgot that I really needed to re-cut the body pieces, since the sleeves are fine from before. So I cut the inner sleeves twice (or fourths (I have no idea. It's 4 pieces instead of 2 though. You know what I mean)). But this made me think...
Perhaps if there's enough fabric left I should cut all the pieces dubble (or 4x) so I can put the batting between 2 lining fabric layers. So it will be:

Fashion Fabric
Lining Fabric
Batting
Lining Fabric


Also I picked  up a sewing machine yesterday. It's a nice sturdy machine with lots of different stitches. I haven't tried it yet, but I will soon.

Also picked up thread and locking thread at the market. Still need to buy buttons, but haven't seen nice ones in the vicinity. Might have to go to Albert Cuyp to get those. Still not sure what kind of buttons I want too, so there's that.

Winter coat: Pockets, hoods and a funeral

Funeral

So last Saturday I brought my sewing machine to the repair shop. Tuesday I got a call that my machine can't be fixed. The part needed to be replaced isn't being made any more and so it's deceased. I'm kinda bummed because it was a nice machine.
Luckily I had plenty of others for replacement machines. I was already planning to buy a new one in the future so these plans are just moved forward a bit. In the meantime I've got offers to loan a machine or buy them for a steal. This Sunday my mother and I will pick one of these machines up in return for a home-made apple pie.  Nice deal!

Pockets and hoods

With the rain we been having lately it made me realise the winter coat hasn't got any pockets or a hood. Things I really need, since it's one of the reasons I don't wear another similar style coat because of it (and the fact that it keeps losing it's buttons). So I looked up what to do.

For the pockets I tried doing a similar method that I used on a previous pattern, but I would have the coat pattern quite a bit for it to work. I then looked for other methods. I have only made pockets once and that method wasn't going to work. Luckily the internet helped me. So I'm going to make a Welt pocket with a flap using this method. Off course with everything I'm going to test it first on the prototype coat.

I had some hood patterns with my cloak patterns which can be used for the coat according to stuff other people said with minimal corrections. I'm also going to make a little hair comb on the inside of the hood. This way I can clip this in my hair keeping the hood in place when it's windy instead of holding it with my hands and rain coming into my sleeves. 

Wintercoat: recutting patterns again, hood, pockets and a sewing hospital visit.

So, yesterday I sat down to cut out fabric pieces. With the hiplength Size E (Before had size C) patterns I had already cut the lining and now I was sitting down to cut the fashion fabric.
However I had doubts about the hip length. My current coat is thigh length and I love how in rainy weather it keeps my ass dry and warm. The hip length wouldn't cover my butt when sitting down or on my bike.
But I wasn't really sure yet.
So I decided to not do the lazy thing, but the smart thing. Namely recutting patterns in hip length and size E and then see how it looks in thigh length. It's easier to shorten the coat when it's almost done than lengthen it.
This means however I also have to recut the lining pieces, but I have plenty leftover fabric. I don't have that much extra fashion fabric for budget reasons. The lining was EUR 1,- per metre and the fashion fabric was EUR 16 per metre.

Than later that evening it started to rain and it made me realize (with the twisted and winding roads my  mind makes) that this coat won't have a hood or pockets. The very reason I'm not wearing another similiar style coat in bad weather. So I put on the prototype and started to see if pockets could be made. It's possible, but I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do it.
I made a coat with pockets once so I'm trying to see if I can use the same method. I'm gonna try with some leftover fabric I have.

Also having to figure out how I'm going to make a hood on the coat. I have some hooded cloak patters which has nice hoods that I can adapt. Problem is... I can't find those patterns. I have almost all my patterns in a bag, but these cloaks are one of my first bought patterns. I don't know where I put them. Otherwise I have to get one from the internet or perhaps try my hand at making one myself. Off course, also the hood will be made first in leftover fabric on the prototype. Hood might be so hard. I just hope I have enough fabric for it.

Saturday I brought my sewing machine to the shop to get fixed. With the Miss Hartigan Project my sewing machine stopped transporting my fabric. Keeping it in place. So I had to use a back up machine. This machine is fine, but it's not my Singer. So I hope they can fix it. An aquintance of my mother said it might be a simple thing to fix, but at the shop they said they would do their best. I know they always say this to protect themselfs, but still.

Still need locking thread for my lock machine though... So have to get to the shop saturday. Perhaps I can pick up my machine then. I hope so.

Wintercoat: Recutting patterns, fixing sewing machine and altering lengths

So after my prototype I concluded that my coat had to be bigger for a better fit. It fitted a little snug when wearing a sweater underneath. Since it's a winter coat I need to wear it over layers of warm clothing. So I added a size for better fit and I also added a size because of the batting.
I added 10cm to the sleeves.

I also decided to use the shorter version of the pattern. With the prototype I used the 'Thigh length' but I thought this was too long so I used the Hip length right now. Gonna alter the prototype first to check if the length suits me better.

Also need to send my sewing machine away to get fixed. I have a spare one but this one doesn't work as well as my own. Luckily my father offered to drive me and my sewing machine to the shop, since my sewing machine weighs a ton and the nearest service point which fixes my sewing machine is in Zaandam.

Wintercoat: Fabric and prototype update

So my lovely readers/watchers/followers/blog reading people,

I present to you the much anticipated fabric picture.

It's a bad cameraphone picture with flash, but you get an idea. The red is not as prominent as in this picture. But it's pretty and the black lining is taffeta which I bought at the market on discount.

With that being said I have made the prototype. I hadn't put the sleeves in, but just pinned it on the prototype, because I hate doing sleeves and I just had to get a general idea of fit and length for the sleeves.  Again a bad cameraphone picture.

I wore a shirt and a vest underneath since that's what I would normally wear. I also tried it with a thicker sweater and that was a little snug, so I'm going to make my coat one size bigger. Also because I have to take the batting and lining in account. Better make it a little too big and take it in here and there.I also have to lengthen the sleeves quite a bit. Almost 10 cm.

I'm pretty happy with it altogether. It's an easy pattern to sew together, perhaps I'll make more coats using this pattern :P

Well this week I'll be cutting my fabric pieces in a larger size. I have to do this for 3 different fabrics (fashion fabric, batting and lining) and I'm still debating adding another think layer between the fashion fabric and batting for adding warmth and water resisting to my coat.  Tell me what you think, my dearies.