19 July, 2006

SewRetro : the polka-dot pea coat.

I made a coat for the SewRetro challenge this month; I used the same pattern my grandmother used for my mom's coat back in 1970. Because I only had about 2 yards of the green fabric, which is also vintage form the 70's, I shortened the pattern by about 8 inches, so it hits at the upper thigh instead of above the knee. I decided to fully line it with a very light polka-dot cotton, which meant I had to make up the lining pattern as the original only calls for lining the front. I eliminated one of the outside pockets and made the remaining one and inside pocket (instead of a pouch pocket). I also put two pockets on the inside front because the lining fabric was so long :). I will probably add at last one more button to the front, so the left flap stays smooth, but I may go ahead and do the full set of buttons the pattern calls for. This was my first time making buttonholes, and I did it by hand as my machine does not have a buttonhole anything. What surprised me was how big the coat turned out. I had to make quite a few darts, which is odd because the original coat just barely fits me. I guess grandma likes to make really WIDE seams. I'm pretty excited about it, and it should last through until winter hits.

2 comments:

Michelle said...

love the way it turned out, great fabric choices! :)

hjortron said...

congrats! this coat looks stunning! love the colours, too.