The Coat. Finished.

Woohoo! At long last, here it is. Unfortunately this is the best shot I have of it on me. My husband quickly snapped it when he came home for lunch and I didn't check it till he'd left, then found it a bit out of focus. Maybe he just shot me soft-focus to be kind? (Bad hair day and squinty eyes. Not my best look!)

Here is an only-slightly-better photo of it on my dummy. The buttons are actually ones I rescued from a jacket I bought in 1987 and loved to death. When it wore out I kept the buttons, which I'd forgotten about till I came across them by chance looking for something else after failing to find any I liked for this coat in town!

I nearly went spare over the buttonholes on this. I had to pick out one of them FOUR TIMES because it was too close to the body of the coat and the buttonhole foot sat over it. I tried shimming the other end of the foot, and after four attempts and much swearing, decided to move the buttonhole so that I wasn't so near the body of the coat. This ended up being about 5mm. yep, I spent an hour of frustration swearing over 5mm! Since the buttons are unevenly distributed anyway, it's not even slightly noticable. I had to move the button to match, but that was no drama.

I like the way I can button the collar right up around my neck. I love my almost-ankle length wool-cashmere coat which is very warm, but not around my neck. I hate having a cold neck. A scarf is easily added, but a coat which buttons up high is just cosy. Having said that, this coat is not for the coldest winter days. Mary Nanna, coming from Dunedin you'll remember just how cold it can get with the southerlies whipping in straight from Antarctica. This is my Sunny-Winter-Day coat. The wool-cashmere is for the really cold days!

I'm very pleased with how it turned out, but I do wish I'd thought about pocket placement before I made them. They'd be so much better lower down. So far I haven't added any extra buttons (I do have some). I think I'll wear this at least once and see if it flaps open too badly before I decide.

Conclusion: I have proven to myself that, AMEW notwithstanding, I am capable of not only making, but also altering, an Issey Miyake pattern. Despite not having had a proper night's sleep in over a year. Life is good. :-)

While I was on a roll (and waiting for new camera batteries because the old ones died right after I took the dummy shot of the coat yesterday) I made this new Ottobre nursing top. I'm considerably bustier than my dummy at the moment, so I fill it out better!