Inauguration Coat: The Final Analysis

Now that I'm finally here I don't know what more I have to say!

I love my coat. It is warm and cute. I don't normally go around proactively telling people I've made what I'm wearing, but I just can't stop bragging about this coat!

New Techniques:

Extensively fusing the pieces with interfacing was new for me and I like the body it gives to the coat. Given how floppy my fabric is I should have fused the entire sleeve instead of just the top half.

Pressing was an issue with this much bulk. I don't have a clapper per se, but I have a rubber mallet so I used that to pound things flat. It really does make a difference. To get nice-looking darts, I cut them open as far as I could (zigzagging the edges to finish), pressed open, and rolled the points toward the center.

Likes:

I am pleased with all my little touches, like the lining pockets and the hanging loop (another thing copied from Melissa!), although frankly I'm afraid the coat is too heavy to be hung by the loop and I don't plan to use it except in case of emergency. But I like the way it looks back there, especially as contrasted with the navy facing.

Contrast navy hem extensions.

Faux welt pockets.

Fleece interlining. Immediately when I put it on the interlining starts trapping my body heat. It is so toasty inside the coat (but not sweaty). The interlining also helps block the wind. And I am inordinately proud of the fleece cuffs.

Dislikes/Mistakes/Slapdash:

Although I love raglan sleeves on coats during the sewing process because there is no painful easing in or sleeve heads or any of that jazz, I'm not sure I love the style when completed. The shoulder area is kind of shapeless. I had trouble with the pattern anyway because the shoulder was about 8 inches out from my real shoulder. So I kept having to take in the upper sleeve seam to get rid of the shoulder nipple problem. I should have fixed that in prep.

Based on the line drawing (the coat is unbuttoned in the editorial photo) I expected this to have more of a wide funnel neck going on. The neck is, in fact, pretty close fitting. Although it disappoints me as a style matter, it's better for warmth.

When I was still wearing it with the shameful basted hem I thought I regretted doing vertical buttonholes instead of horizontal, because I couldn't get the waist seams to stay put and lined up. But moving all the buttons down 1/4 inch fixed that. (I should also say, I never remember in reviews to mention that I pay zero attention to button and buttonhole markings on patterns. I place them according to my body and personal preference.) Someday I'll want to try bound buttonholes, but this was not the project.

The lining pulls the hem on the right side. I don't know why only on that side, and I'm lucky it doesn't pull both sides because I didn't shorten the lining at the waist as I had the fashion fabric so the lower circumference is slightly smaller.

I cut the front interlining on the facing line, figuring that the coat plus facings plus overlap would make four layers of wool, which would be plenty warm and the interlining might make it too bulky. I only feel the lack of interlining when it is very cold (mid 20s or below) and windy, but if I were to do it over I would cut the interlining to the full width at the left front and leave it at the facing line for the right front. That way the interlining wouldn't bulk up the buttonholes, but it would still be there. But as I've only noticed the issue twice in the several weeks I've been wearing the coat, this wasn't a huge error.

I don't think the list of dislikes is bad for how quickly I put this together!


You can see all the photos of the coat here, the pattern review is here, and all the posts here.

Previous posts:
Inauguration day
Sewing timeline
Pockets
Keeping warm
Aesthetics