I haven't posted in ages, my apologies. It's a rainy day here on the coast of Maine; so it's a perfect time to recap the making of this most unusual jacket. I knew when I saw this fabric on the Gorgeous Fabrics website that it would be perfect for one of my best and oldest [...]
Yes, I'm crazy about winter white coats. And if you've been around here long enough, you know that I already have one! Still there's something about them that I can't resist. I also have a fascination with the capote, a traditional handmade coat made from a Hudson Bay blanket. The candy striped ones are my [...]
Work continues on my boiled wool coat. This will be a pretty "geek heavy" post, so you've been warned! With the pockets completed it's time to baste the prepared canvas to the coat fronts. I adapt the sequence that Roberto Cabrera uses for a suit jacket. Basically one bastes from the shoulder down the length [...]
I continue to bang away on my Vogue 9262 Blazer. It's been quite cold here in Maine (It snowed a few inches just two nights ago), so I've had no problem staying inside; working away in my little sewing space. This post will be quite "tailoring geekery" heavy, so be forewarned. My purpose is just [...]
Things are progressing on the frock coat front. I altered most of the pattern pieces. Here they are all spread out. I shortened and narrowed the sleeves, lowered the lapel and increased the back by 1.5 inches. Again, if you haven't tried the Swedish tracing paper I encourage you to try it. I'm a true [...]
OK, moving along. The next step is to pad stitch the lapel area. I was really dreading this for some reason, but it wasn't difficult at all. I think all the practice on the plastron paid off. The pad stitching begins along the roll line in parallel lines. This time, however, the pick stitches will [...]
Why are these guys on today's post? Because I bet none of them has ever pad stitched anything in their entire lives! Maybe I'm dead wrong, but after spending hours with a needle and thread it seems highly unlikely. Pad stitching is a method of joining multiple layers of fabric so that they act as [...]
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