Coat almost done

Almost there! All I have left to do now are the buttons and buttonholes. I'm going to town on Thursday, so should be able to get some then, but I couldn't wait to post this. It doesn't actually look much different from my last post, but since then I've made and inserted the lining, done the hems, and lastly sewed the lining to the hems.

I never used to like hand sewing - why sew by hand when I have a perfectly good machine? Over the years I came firstly to see the benefits, and then to really enjoy sewing by hand. I really like the look of a hem hand catch stitched to underlining - not a visible stitch from the outside. Then lining invisibly fell stitched to the hem. Perfect! It takes a while, but is very relaxing to do. This is why I called my blog Everything Just Sew. I really love a project which takes time and care. I really do like doing everything just so. Well, maybe not EVERYTHING, but a lot of things :-)

This is what it looks like inside out. The pic is fuzzy as usual, annoyingly. It's skull and crossbones. Classy lining, no? I like clothing that doesn't take itself too seriously. My eight year old son is getting boxers from the leftovers. Or possibly Nicholas, depending how long it takes me to get around to them!

This shot shows it right side out with the front open. I'm still annoyed about the facing issue. I ended up using lining and stiff interfacing. Not stiff enough, but since the coat fabric is pretty stable and underlined with wincyette, it works well enough. When it's closed you can just see the edge of the lining at the neck edge, but it's not a big deal. In a year or two, when the coat wears out, I think I'll get over it.

In other sewing news, I have sweatshirting for two sorely needed sweatshirts for Georgia in the dryer right now, and I actually made a muslin for pants for me a few days ago. An honest-to-goodness, not-going-to-be-worn-even-if-it-works muslin. I'm still carrying a fair chunk of baby weight. (Which I wouldn't be if I hadn't got into the habit of having a snack every time I sat down to nurse. Twins nurse A LOT, but I digress.) So I figured I'd better try out the pattern in my current size before I potentially wasted time on it. To my utter delight, they fit perfectly! I've obviously retained my proportions well enough to fit the Burda sloper just fine. Now I need to retrieve the fabric (a rather lovely stretch corduroy donated from a friend's stash) from the roof, which requires a ladder and a sunny day, because I'm not dragging a wet ladder into my house! However, Georgia really needs her sweatshirts first, so I'll be Good Mum.