Just Coa[s]ting Along

I learned my lesson from the teal basketweave wool blend that I bought sight unseen and feel unfelt and ordered some swatches. So now the coat has gone from teal to tangerine. I purchased the gorgeous wool/cashmere blend coating in Bright Orange from Ann at Gorgeous Fabrics. And the creamy yellow diamond silk jacquard for the lining from Denver Fabrics.

I'm calling it a "burnt orange" since this is Longhorn country out here — University of Texas (Austin) Longhorns that is. I'm not an alum, but plenty of family and friends are. Burnt orange and white were my high school colors and the Longhorn was our mascot, so I think I have sufficient connection to co-opt the theme for my coat. Besides, when you wear this color in Texas, everyone assumes that affiliation anyway.

I also ordered some backup periwinkle wool/nylon flannel coating and an ivory silk jacquard from the same places, in case I really flub on the coat.

As for materials & supplies ...

• pattern (and back up patterns) - check!


• fashion fabric (and backup fabric) - check!


• lining fabric (2 options) - check!


• heavyweight muslin - check!


• underlining - still pondering (truthfully, waiting to see what others come up with)


• beeswax - check!


• hand sewing needles (betweens) - check!


• assorted hams & pressing tools (from stash) - check!


• matching thread - check!


• silk thread - check!


• gravity feed iron - check! (oh...wait...that wasn't on Marji's list)

This weekend, I'll be tracing off the pattern and figuring out any necessary tweaks to the flat pattern. I might also get the muslin cut out and sewn up, but I'm not sure yet. It is graduation and wedding season around here and I have 4 commitments this weekend alone!

Blanket? Or Coat?

I took an informal poll of LilBro, DBF, and myself:

• blanket - 3


• coat - 0

Congratulations! It's a blanket! I bought this fabric from fabric.com for Vogue V2935, a short jacket by Sandra Betzina, that I intend to make during The Great Coat Sew-Along based on the online description that it was a wool blend coating and the pictured fabric "swatch" (see my earlier post here). Fabric.com described it as a "heavyweight coating" with a "wonderful texture" that would give your "coats and jackets extra appeal." Further, and this is where I really should have paid extra attention, "it's also appropriate for throws, pillows, and blankets!"

To fabric.com's credit, it is a wonderfully luscious fabric. Lively color, great drape & very soft and warm -- I'm actually contemplating straightening & binding or fringing the edges to make a couple of throws, rather than returning the yardage. It is just not what I imagined from looking at the online swatch. The texture of the basketweave is a bit ... umm ... more pronounced than I bargained for. I really don't want to use my backup options from stash, so it is back to the fabric drawing board. This time, I've ordered swatches!

I found my cahones ...

And have signed up to join Marji et al on The Great Coat Sew-Along and make either this* ...




or this* ...





or this* ...

with this* ...
I'm leaning toward the Sandra Betzina because I think it won't need too much alteration and it is a style I'll get a lot of wear out of. I also like the second Vogue precisely because its such an impractical coat (in terms of fending off the cold around neck & shoulders). I don't really need a heavy wool coat down here in Texas. Every time I reach into the coat closet for the vacuum, I'm reminded of the cherry red felted wool jacket and the winter white cashmere blend car coat that I bought in London last Spring which I only managed to wear twice each this past Winter. But, I love coats and I just can't pass up the valuable learning experience Marji is so generously offering at TGCSA. So "hold on to your cahones," 'cause I'm in!

*all photos courtesy of named pattern companies & fabric.com