Home made winter coat update
I did this post a while back about my decision to make myself a winter coat, but the project has been on hold for a while as the perfect fabric hadn't appeared.
Not too long after that post I did find an excellent liner fabric - quilted red velvet! It was a little expensive but perfect for an awesome gothic coat that I also wanted to be as warm as possible.
The outer fabric was much more difficult, however this weekend I went into my usual fabric store to find a heavy upholstery velvet roll-end, 4 metres, 150cm width FOR SIX FUCKING POUNDS! I had to ask a member of staff to check that wasn't per metre (which would still have been an excellent deal) but nope, it was for the full thing.
It's not black, more like a charcoal grey, and it has a pattern to it which is good as patterning can hide many sins if your work ends up not as neat as you'd like.
Sunday was spent cutting my pattern, a process I hate, and made even more difficult by the thickness of this fabric.
I ended up with an epic blister on my thumb, but very pleased to have it done.
I know you need to be careful with the grain on velvet, but I'm not going to worry too much about keeping it all in the same direction when it's only the lining. The outer I definitely did make sure of however!
Then last night I made a start with the sewing. I was concerned my machine might not be able to handle the thickness of this fabric but it was totally fine. I also managed to set the tension right first time, so the underside of my work doesn't look a total nightmare.
Pockets to start, and it looks like they'll be nice and big.
I learned a new technique for these - understitching! Once the pieces are sewn together you sew the seam allowance to the facing. This keeps the edges of the pockets crisp and neat and prevents them from shifting into the wrong position.
It's difficult to properly explain with words and pictures, I was quite confused by it at first, but this instructional video is very helpful.
So now I have the outer shell of the coat ready to sew together, down each side, going around the pocket edges, and across the shoulders.
