So minty!

My finished Winterfresh coat, for those who wanted better pictures.

I wear it everywhere, guys. It's wool, and fully lined, and seriously saves me from so much cold. And looks fabulous while I'm at it.

Too Popular

So there's this thing called Life, right? It sneaks up on you and SHAZAM- everything is topsy-turvy. Yeahhhh that's what happens here irl. So! Haven't done a lot of sewing, since I had to leave the sewing machine at the dorms over winter break. I got a new one for Christmas, but I almost wish I kept the old one, because new things have not gone through everything and anything and therefore lack resiliency and I have no idea what to do when something goes wrong. So we'll see how quickly I can get this snag fixed and be back on the bandwagon! Because, let's see, I made a Christmas dress, and Salmon's Xmas present (which I'm refraining from posting pics of because I haven't yet managed to get it to her. BUT OH GOD GUYS I AM SO EXCITEDDDD), and there are some other things in the works, but for now, I enjoy having people who want to see and hang out with me every day, despite not having any time to myself for a while. Like, a week.

That can't be a bad thing, though, right?

Making the Winterfresh Coat

Okay, so I lied. I was going to do different pockets, aaaaand that didn't happen. Why mess with a good thing, right? But I did add the hood! But we'll get to that in a minute.

Firstly, my inspiration: a lolita coat I bought back when I was first getting into the fashion. It's adorable, but it has so many things going on, it's sometimes difficult to wear. Also, looking at some parts, I thought to myself, "Man. I could do better." Anyway, this is the only picture I have of it, from last March.

So I used Butterick 5425 for my jacket. I picked up this really dark green wool blend from the Hancock's near home (since there wasn't enough in the one near my college/dorms) and some itty bitty white lace to use as accents. Any other lace I used was lace I already had (and isn't that the weirdest sentence I've ever typed). Also, lining and interfacing. But I was a silly penguin and bought sew-in interfacing instead of fusible. This actually works out better in the long run, because if I had to get my coat dry-cleaned, the heat from cleaning every so often might mess it up. So! Since I'm silly, I had to go in and sew all of my interfacing in, which, you know, whatever.

And the lace! I usually pin it to the front side panels, and then sew those to the front panel(s).

close-up on the lace

So it comes out looking like this:

And then I decided to magic up a hood. I don't have a pattern for hoods, so I took a hoodie out of my closet and messed around, trying to get a good grasp on what shape to cut out. And then, because I'm silly and a dork, I added a point :3 And then lined it with fur.

The nice thing about fur? You don't have to hem it. Just go around the edges and kind of... tug, I guess, to make sure none of it will come off from where you cut it. Back to the jacket! I didn't have enough lining left over to make the pockets out of that, but I certainly had enough wool. And I figure that'll just keep my hands warmer, and I certainly don't have a problem with that. So you attach these bad boys at the side seams.

It's at this point that I realize this is a lot of fabric. And it is wool, which is heavy. I'm grateful I decided to make this at home, where we have a decent-sized kitchen table, and not my dorm, where it would inevitably need to be spread out on the floor.

And then, there is the lining.

Granted, my life would have been easier if I had decided to iron it or somehow get the wrinkles out, but my point still stands that lining is a terrible, evil fabric straight out of hell. Unless I am paid rather well and can run screaming and crying through the house without being judged, I do not want to work with this stuff again. Because, trust me, I cried over this lining. I wanted to bash my head in and call it quits and strangle small children and kick puppies. But I persevered! Also, change of fabric requires change in needles. I could use the heavier needle for this, but really? That's how needles get broked. I know this, so I don't push it anymore.

So, after some strange flipping around and attaching lining to coat, it was time to add the collar. I decided on a permanent hood, and that was my first problem. I managed to get the back part or the collar + hood attached to the neckline, but then the needle refused to go through the rest when I tried to put it all together, and cracked, and then broke. So I had to do that by hand, which hello, super-thick fabric what was I thinking dear God, but I am ever so thankful for large, curved needles :3

Then I attached the sleeves! And so, after the first full day of sewing, this is what I had:

Then, there was lining the sleeves and slipstitching, buttons and buttonholes and figuring out what French tacks were (and I still don't think I did it right, but whatever I did got the job done), hemming (and this is seriously the worst hemming job I've ever done since I started sewing), added some lace around the bottom, and then finally some around the cuffs.

And this is what you get :3

Sorry for the image-heavy, but! Totally worth it.

Winter Coat

So my next project is a coat. I'll be using Butterick pattern 5425, and just looking at the directions for this thing make me want to kill myself. But I said I'd do it, and it's going to be the most beautiful winter coat you've ever seen. EVER. I can already tell you I'm altering the pattern a little (like I always seem to do), in that I'm not including insertive pockets - rather, mine will be on the outside. Much easier that way, I think. I'll also be adding a hood. I want to do it so I can button it on or take it off, depending on how I feel like wearing it, but I don't want whatever buttons I use to look tacky sitting on the collar when the hood's not there. And of course, there will be decorative things.

I will try to take pictures along the way, but I can't promise anything. This is going to take me long enough as it is. On a side note: I think it's hilarious that, although neither of us knew what projects we were going to be doing this Thanksgiving break, both Salmon and I are working on our coats at roughly the same time and speed. So hopefully we'll get back from break and get to go on a photoshoot adventure again! And be awesome jacket buddies together. We seriously need to start a club.