This is the coat I made for the RTW-Sew-along that Sherry from Pattern-Scissors-Cloth was posting. It was an AMAZING sewalong and I cannot give her enough credit for it. This is probably the most precisely constructed/sewn garment I have made so far. And that coming from a pattern from 1938 really means something. I have written two previous posts:
First: RTW-Sew-along THE MUSLIN - where I wrote about some fitting issues
And: RTW-Sew-along ALMOST THERE - where I wrote about the things that I learned and all I had left to choose were buttons.
From the original illustration it seemed like they were using Chinese Frog buttons:
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| Source: Deutsche Moden-Zeitung, Heft 25, 1938 |
First of all, thanks to everybody for your input here and on the Flickr group! I really appreciated it and it helped me decide! I first toyed with the idea of making my own. I found some instructions, especially for the button part, but I worried about it a lot. I find buttons can easily make or break a garment, and as I was already liking my coat a lot at that point, I didn't want to risk anything by putting on scraggly little hand-made crooked frogy things. (If this is all you see from this post now, click on the "read more" sign below. It's small and I like to point it out...)
I was quite happy when I found these, especially in dark blue:
But if you look closely, you won't only notice that I used matching pins, but also that they are actually a touch too wide and are getting in each others way.
So I was ECSTATIC when I found these:
It's funny: we spent a lot of time learning RTW techniques in order to cut out all hand-sewing, and then I spent an hour hand-sewing these buttons on my coat, ha! It wasn't easy getting them on evenly, and I swear my hands were shaking. I am happy though. Oh, what the heck, might as well say it: I am thrilled with the result! All the credit goes to Sherry anyway, so it isn't bragging too much.
Moving the shoulder seam forward was a good adjustment.
I also got rid of the bagginess in the waist area which I didn't like in the muslin. I took the waist band in a lot and made two darts in the upper back and lower back. I think the solution is ok. Seeing it now though, it looks almost as if I could have taken that width out entirely, as the shoulders actually fall a bit low. Looking at the muslin, I would not have thought that at all! Not a huge issue, and maybe it would have made the coat too tight and caused ripping at the sleeve seams. The bit of bagginess that is left now in the upper back is intended, I believe (there was lots of easing between waist band and upper back in the original pattern, too)
I couldn't match the stripes at the side seams any better, since the angles on front and back piece wasn't the same, but I did my best.
Same with under sleeve and upper sleeve - there was no way to match stripes at all, but I guess you won't really see that, unless I write about it on my blog. Duh.
I guess the elbow ease could have been a bit higher for me, and what do you think about sleeve length? Is there a rule as to how low sleeves should go? I bet there is. I like mine quite long, but looking at the photos I think they could have been a bit shorter.
I get such a kick though when I see how beautifully it is shaped, even just hanging on my dressform:
Ok, that is about it. OF COURSE the whole thing is lined (we spent lots of time making the lining pattern!), and I sewed on a sort-of-vintage coat hanger that I once found at a flea market.
I will make jackets again and again, and I will go back to Sherry's posts every single time I bet. HIGHLY recommended. Sorry about the capitals in this post. I don't mean to be screaming at you. I just am so excited. This coat makes me feel DIVA!
Happy sewing everybody!!!
