Houndstooth Check Coat

How ridiculous is it that I made a coat in summer? I mean talk about an unseasonable make. I literally cannot wear this for a few more months but at least that gives me some time to sort out the issues I have with it. 

For starters yes this is a LOT of coat. Its definitely not a coat for the shrink violet kind of person. Luckily I've grown into my weirdness so I love it and I'll wear it with pride. 

The fabric itself is from the Abakhans fill a bag sale and I knew I HAD to make a coat from it as soon as I saw it. There was about 2.5/3m of it and it filled about a third of a bag so it cost around £3/4 for the lot. 

The pattern is by prima and I already used it to make this coat. I extended the pattern by about 30cm because I only wear winter coats if they cover my bum. Mainly because if the coat covers your bum you don't have to worry about if your dress has got stuck to your tights and ridden up because no one can see it anyway.

I added in seam pockets because I like to have somewhere to keep my keys in my coat. They turned out pretty nicely but they do sit better when the coat is open rather than when its closed! 

The coat is fully lined in some cotton that I had in my stash. Truthfully the lining is pulling in a lot of these pictures. I've done some measuring and the lining is slightly longer than the coat so it shouldn't be pulling. However! It is a cotton rather than a slippery fabric [Slippery fabrics are typically used for linings because they are easier to get on and off] and I think the cotton is snagging on the clothes I wear underneath so I either need to detach the lining at the bottom of the coat and leave it open or I need to take out the whole lining and put a new one in.

Here you can see how bag the pulling is. Funnily enough I put it on ten minutes later and there was no pulling. I did put it on a lot more carefully though and putting on a coat carefully is not something I want to be faffing around with.

Its got belt loops and a belt instead of buttons and I really like it however Lil man immediately asked me why I;d made a new dressing gown *sobs*

The material was quite a loose weave so I over locked every single piece before I started sewing. Which yes took bloody ages but was worth it for the piece of mind that it won't just fall apart after one wash or wear. 

I love the really big collar. I think it looks super cool. Rikki however said that the whole coat made me look like Huggy Bear, who I was hoping was going to be a fun Disney character but as it turns out Huggy Bear is a pimp from Starsky and Hutch and was played by Snoop Dog in the remake. Which not gonna lie made me feel a bit better about the comment because Snoop Dog is awesome.  

Also my hair doesn't look like this any more. In fact its back to blonde with a few pink streaks. I'm currently taking suggestions for what to do next with my hair. 

So all in all I really really love this coat I just have no chance to wear it at the moment which sucks. However I'm not complaining about the weather because its been quite nice not to be soggy all the time if you catch my drift? I feel like our winters are so wet and miserable that I spend most of my time trying to dry my coat or shoes and never quite getting them less than damp before I have to wear them again! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

Minerva Crafts Padded Jersey Review

So this is just a quick post because it dawned on me that I haven't shared the latest review I did for Minerva Crafts!

 

The fabric used was padded jersey which also comes in black and camel. Which was like a super soft snuggly quilted jersey!

And the pattern is an old one by prima. but I loved how it went together! 

Anyway if you want to read my whole post you can find it here.

Also rememeber to check out my Black Friday Deals post for some great deals! Treat Yo Self!!!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

The Half Finished Jacket Part 1

Okay so this jacket was given to me by an old friend, I used to go to school with her daughter and then I used to serve here in the pub! [Stella shandy, half and half, the fact that I can still remember drinks orders like this but don't know where my slippers are is highly amusing] 

Anyways she was moving and she started this jacket when she was in college [which was a little while ago, I ain't going to start divulging peoples ages!] and she offered it to me! As well as an awesome sewing box that folds out! 

P.S This is my first finished jacket so prepare yourself for a long post! 

The jacket was already cut out and all of the pieces had the interfacing attached and the pad stitching had already been done! The pattern was vogue 1446 , which as you can see is VERY 80's!!!! The jacket that was cut out was the middle one [view B] and a good portion of the work had already been done. 

Here's a list of what had been done:

Cutting out

Pad stitching

Pockets attached to front pieces

Fronts and backs of sleeves sewn together [They are in two parts]

Sewn side seams [As it goes I undid the side seams and sleeve seams and re sewed them because I know how seam allowances can vary from person to person]

Anyways I finished it!!!! Woop woop! I had actually forgotten just how good vogue instructions are!

I had to attach the collar which went in easy and attach the sleeves which was less fun, vogue has you set then in with the side seams sewn up and I scratched up my arms because of all the pins I had to wrangle around my sewing machine!

Then I had to sew and attach the lining, I sewed most of the lining to the front facing by machine but the neck area was stitched by hand just so I'd have more control and be able to achieve a neater finish.

I love how this turned out because you can barely see the stitches!

I hemmed the sleeves by hand as well.

The fabric was a British made wool and is LUSH! its like the most beautiful fabric in the world and I think I fell in love with it! Surprisingly it pressed really really well! Although I did use a pressing cloth so I wouldn't scorch it. The lining is just a typical lining fabric. The combination of the two makes a lovely snuggly coat!

I finished the hem using the "taped hem" method [At least that's what Jamie from male Devon sewing calls it!] Basically I turned up the hem once and whip stitched it down and them I covered the raw edges and the whip stitching with a strip of ribbon and some very neat stitches!

Then I top stitched around the edge of the whole coat, at this point I'd given up with the instructions and was just going my own way! I also left the buttons off because I just wasn't feeling it!

Okay so here's the deal , whilst I had a blast sewing this up and I love the fabric and I do genuinely think its some of my best sewing....... It is very 80's. I mean very 80's it has shoulder pads for gods sake! Now I know this slouchy style is very on trend however I think this might be a bit too slouchy for me [The lady who gave me this would have looked fab in it, shes very tall and by here own admission has the shoulders to carry it!] I however am quite short and have very little shoulders so It sort of drowns me, which is why..............

I have altered the living shenanigans out of it!!! Haha yep I went on a full hacking spree on this bad boy and now its bad-ass! But you'll have to wait for this until part 2!!!

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx

P.S if you made it to the end I'll be well impressed because this was a well long post!