The Sad Tale of the Coat That Failed

Once upon a time there was a coat.  Well not so much a coat exactly, but all the materials required to become a coat, a lovely, navy blue military inspired coat.



All the fabrics were there, the navy wool blend for the shell, the flannel for the underlining, smart navy self striped lining.  Buttons were purchased, shoulder pads and sleeve heads obtained. 

The pattern was downloaded, printed off and taped together. (A labour of love in itself!).

Then all the poor pieces sat in a cupboard for a year, feeling unloved and thinking they'd been forgotten.

Then one day their owner (lets call her Sam) opened the cupboard, gathered them all together and brought them out to be used and loved.  They were so happy!

They sat patiently while Sam made a muslin and adjusted the fit.  They whispered to each other as she laid them out and cut the pattern pieces from the shell fabric and the underlining.  The lovely striped navy lining sat by and watched, awaiting its turn with growing impatience. 

Sam stitched and trimmed, made bound button holes and pressed.  Everything was going well. 

Then the poor coat got pushed to one side.  It was nearly Christmas, Sam was busy with other things, shopping and cooking and lazing about watching television.  The coat began to wonder if it was ever going to be finished. 

Imagine it's joy when once again Sam came back to it!  It had missed her hands gently smoothing its pieces into place, carefully stitching its seams.   Finally the shell of the coat was complete and Sam set about making the lining.  The lining fabric was almost overcome with excitement when it was her turn to be cut, and as she was sewn together all she could think about was finally being part of the lovely coat she'd seen taking shape from her place on the shelf. 

But it was not to be.  Disaster was on the horizon!

One weekend Sam got up especially early so that she could spend lots of time working on the coat and finishing it.  The weather was cold and she desperately wanted to wear it. 

Again Sam pinned and stitched, pressed and trimmed.  The coat was coming together. Soon it would be ready to take its first step out into the world and (hopefully) be admired by everyone that saw it.

Then came the time for Sam to try the coat on.  It wasn't completely finished.  It's hems still needed stitching and its buttons attaching, but at last it looked like a coat.  It shivered with excitement as Sam slipped it on, holding its breath as she walked to the mirror. 

It was then the disaster revealed itself.  Sam had made a mistake... a big mistake.  She had missed a pattern piece when cutting the skirt lining, which meant that the poor lining was too small, and was trying to pull the shell of the coat to the inside to join her.

Sam took the coat off and cried.  She'd spent so much time on it and had thought she'd been so careful!  When she had calmed down, Sam told her husband what she'd done. 

"Can it be fixed?" He asked. 

"I don't know," Sam sniffed. "Maybe I can cut the side seams and add a section in.  It won't look perfect, but that should solve the problem."

So Sam cut the side seams of the lining and measured the extra she would need to add. 

"I'll just try it on again to make sure this will work," she thought, slipping the coat on her shoulders once more.  She was confident all would be fine, and if Sam was confident, then so was the coat. 

They stood in front of the mirror again.  The poor coat still didn't look right.  There were wrinkles across the bodice, it looked like it was pulling somewhere.  It looked like the lining was too small!

With a sigh Sam took off the coat and got out her tape measure.  Almost holding her breath she measured the coat's bodice, first the shell, and then the lining.  The coat held it's breath as well, awaiting the verdict, dreading the result. 

Sure enough, Sam had made another mistake... the bodice lining was also too small.  Sam shook her head, she couldn't understand how it had happened.  She had used exactly the right pattern pieces, not missed one like she'd done with the skirt.  What had gone wrong?   Could the coat be saved?

Unfortunately by now, Sam had lost interest.  She thought she could save the coat, but only with a lot of work.  Lots of seams to be unpicked, new lining to be purchased and cut (whilst crossing her fingers she didn't mess it up this time!), new seams to be sewn to places where seam allowances had already been trimmed and clipped. 

Sam just couldn't face it. 

She folded the poor coat up and put it back in the cupboard, where it sits to this day, wondering if it will ever be loved.

25 comments

  1. oh no! i am so sad for you and your poor coat!

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  2. Please write a happy ending for this story! What if you cut the lining at centre back and add an extra piece, starting with an inverted pleat at the neckline? Not much unpicking involved and you could even make it a design feature in a totally different colour.

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    1. I'm not sure that would work, as the front lining is also too small. It might be worth a try though.

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  3. Oh no! So sorry this happened. I had this happen to me last year with a coat. I decided to move on with another project and didn't look back.

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    1. Yeah, I've kind of put it out of my mind now. Onward and upward!

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  4. That was one of the saddest tales I've ever read :( oh gosh.
    Make something cute and fast to take your mind off of it!!!! Then consider redoing the lining. But Ahhhhh. Clipped SA? Weep.

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    1. I know, its the fact that I've trimmed and clipped the seam allowances that is putting me off trying to save it. I've made a cute dress and top since, which have made me much happier and I'll blog about soon.

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  5. Argh, you poor thing! It's so miserable when a promising project goes wrong.

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    1. It certainly is! What made it worse was that I thought I was being so careful AND I really don't know how I did it wrong!

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  6. Put it away for now, but you know the only way to save it would be to cut the lining out and put a new one in. I hope someday you get to finish it, but even if you don't it's not the end of the world. It's only fabric!

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    1. Exactly, it is only fabric. (And luckily it wasn't too expensive either).

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  7. Did my last comment come through? Put the coat away for now but hopefully someday you'll be able to finish it. Sounds like you invested so much time in this. Why don't u just get an alteration seamstress to finish it :-) cheating I know but it would be such a shame if it was never finished.

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    1. It's put away for now. I might give it another go at the end of the summer. I might have got over my annoyance by then!

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  8. Oh, this is such a sad story :-( I hope that in the future sometime, there will be a happier sequel!

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  9. Show that coat who is the boss. Alternatively burn it, drink wine and move on.

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    1. Wine has been drunk certainly ShelleyLou!

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  10. Oh, I feel your pain. I like ShelleyLou's advice, but agree with you to leave it alone for a while.

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    1. Thank you. Yes, I've moved on for now.

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  11. ooh, such a sad story!! I hope it can be fixed one day.

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  12. I feel your pain too. I think I would have put it in the rubbish bin, and then gone and had a good cry....

    I wonder what you will do - it may not be too much one day, to just take out the lining and start again with a new line. But not right now - you need to get over your disappointment first.

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  13. Oh what a sad story! So sorry to hear about your lovely coat. Hopefully the coat outer is fine and it is only the lining that you have to do again.

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    1. The outer coat is totally fine Jen, but to be honest I can't be bothered to try and fix the lining. I've got too many other things I need to get on with (including another coat!)

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  14. Sam this is even sadder than hearing it the other week! One day we'll get you re-visiting the coat and we'll all hope for a happy ending then!

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