Friday, October 9, 2009

Mail Bag Treats

My wool melton I ordered earlier in the week from Fabric.com's irresistable sale arrived today! I am sew excited. I ordered the black and it is destined to be Simplicity E.S.P. 8150. This vintage pattern is circa 1977 (the year I graduated from high school!) I got it for a quarter at a garage sale and I have coveted this pattern for about a year now, waiting for the right fabric to come along (at the right price) to make it up. After I ordered the fabric, I began the search for the perfect braided trim. Not as easy as I thought it would be. I first considered using a charcoal gray, making the coat a bit more conservative. Number one, charcoal gray fold over braid is virtually impossible to find, and number two, the more I thought about it, gray seemed rather blah for a coat I have been dreaming about sewing. Since my fashion consultant is not readily available when I need her advice, I relied on my own fashion sensibility and asked my husband for his input. He initially suggested gray (can you tell we've been married awhile?),but when I offered up red against the black wool, he thought that would be smashing. I looked at JoAnns, but nothing there. Tom even went with me to Fabric Depot and helped me peruse all the trims there, but the only fold over braid to be had there was white, and that did not appeal to me at all. We even tried to think out of the box and looked at other trims, even the home decorator stuff. I got ideas, but nothing that really excited me, so I went home empty handed. I did eventually find what I wanted on line and am waiting for it to arrive. I should have the coat sewn by the time it arrives, even though I have vampire baseball shirts to embroider first! Here is the back of the pattern: The coat has darts in the back neckline, but I plan to "smoosh" them out (the Marta Alto way) because I feel they are unnecessary in this garment. If I was making a fitted blouse, yes, I would sew the darts, but this is a loose coat...I think I can get away with it. Well, my lunch is finished, I need to go punch down the bread and get my exercise in before I head up to the studio, because otherwise I might be tempted to skip it and I can't do that! I hope you all are having a wonderful Columbus Day weekend!

2 comments:

Myra said...

That's a sharp pattern. I think you will make a splash with the black/red combo.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see the finished coat. I have in the attic a sage green melton wool jacket to finish. I'm so scared to set in the sleeves and make a mess of it LOL!

Project Dress a Girl

For the past couple of years, I have made dresses for Project Dress a Girl Around the World, in part thanks to the campaign launched by Mari...