Slightly scary sewing!

Work on my Vogue 8548 coat has officially begun!

I'm making view C, with the narrower neck.  I love the look of the wider one, but I know it would drive me mad.

I started earlier in the week by tracing the pattern and cutting out my muslin.  By the time I decided I wanted to make this coat the pattern was out of print, and the copy I managed to track down was actually one size smaller than I really needed.  I've needed to grade up a little, but not much, so adding 3/16ths of an inch to each vertical side of each pattern piece seems to have worked out OK.

Here's my muslin on Rosie, as you can see with only one sleeve so far. 

The weird shadowy lines are from my lampshade!


I've made a few slight changes, but it actually fit me pretty well straight off.  The shoulders are too wide, they are going to need about 3/4 of an inch taking off.  The skirt portion was also a little snug on my hips, and also longer than is flattering on me.  I've solved this by taking 2 inches off the top of the skirt portion, which has meant that the hip area is a little wider, and the hem a little higher. 

I'm also adding pockets - a coat has got to have pockets!

I am debating whether to use bound buttonholes.  Having never made a bound buttonhole in my life I have consulted my Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing and have followed their instructions for the two piece piped method. 

This is the result:



What do you think?  Is it neat enough to use on my coat?  And more importantly am I brave enough to do it?

My alternative to bound buttonholes would be enormous press studs such as these.  I don't like the loops that are used on the pattern instructions.

I suppose I should really try and find some buttons I like before I make my final decision.

What would you suggest?  Bound buttonholes or press studs?   If I used buttonholes, what colour buttons would you get?

4 comments

  1. Bound buttonholes! Just like the photo. I love that fabric!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! So do I! I bought it ages ago and put it away, and it had morphed into some hideous floral design in my mind, so I was very happy to get it out again and realise how pretty it actually is.

      Delete
  2. That's a good first attempt at a bound button hole! Have you practiced the facing stage as well? I found this was as hard to get right as the front. I'd try to get a blue button if it was my coat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I haven't tried the facing part yet. I must do that before I get too excited! I did get some buttons this morning though. The shop didn't have any nice grey ones so I ended up with very dark blue/navy, which looks surprisingly good. They had some blue ones almost exactly the same shade as the fabric, but they actually looked too blue.

      Delete

Thank you so much for your comment, every one is read and appreciated. It means a lot to me that you take the time to read and comment on my posts.