Burda 11-2012-118, Classic Trench

So last Spring, almost a year ago now, I was in a mood to tackle a big project and to do it right.  I don't know why that came over me--it's unusual!  I am more of a "make it in a weekend" gal.  So I decided it was time to make a trench.  Burda 11-2012-118 is *almost* the perfect classic:  it has the separate collar stand, double breast, and gun/rain flaps--but the latter are weird and asymmetrical.  A totally unnecessary variant!  However, it was relatively easy to turn them into the classic look, and the pattern needed only my usual fit alterations to be perfect.

Fabric Mart had some fabulous red water resistant (more on that later) nylon allegedly from Marc Jacobs, I splurged on fabulous hardware from Pacific Trimming, and patiently got started.

Well, back up.  After tracing out and altered the pattern I cut it out in a coated linen I got from Fabric Mart a while back.  Luckily, I thought to actually test the fabric for water fastness before starting to sew.  Not only did the waxy coating on the linen offer no water resistance whatsoever, it seemed to actively soak up water *worse* than your average fabric.  So that's in pieces in my sewing room still.

So with the red fabric, I sewed some scraps together and tested various configurations.  I found that by pressing the seam allowance to one side and topstitching, the seams were surprisingly waterfast and I decided not to use waterproof tape on them.

I got the shell of the outer fabric most of the way constructed using my most meticulous craftsmanship...and then my partner and I bought a house.  So that went into a box for months and months while we moved etc.  Then in October we planned our trip to Italy--two weeks in advance (we had a rough Fall with deaths in each of our families).  And since it was October, it was predicted to rain the whole time we were there.  Eep!  I needed the trench coat, and I needed it now!  So much for taking my time on this project and doing everything right.

Taken with Flash to Show Reflective Piping

There were a few special details that were important to me.  I wanted to add some reflective piping, to give me more visibility when biking in the rain.  I wanted the front storm flap to be functional.  I wanted the traditional epaulets and sleeve belts, as well as tie-but-belt-buckle belt (I didn't put any eyelets in the belt).  I wanted a chain for hanging it on a hook.  And I wanted a functional but removable hood.

And I wanted all this in two weeks.  Hence, why there are no in-progress photos and no construction information.  I figured I'd rather post (after months of silence) than spend another couple months trying to recreate the construction process.







I kept a Burberry trench open on my computer at all times and used the zoom function on every possible detail.  In the end, I think I only got one thing wrong.  I looked at the pocket flap over and over and it really looked like it was attached behind the pocket and buttoned in front of it.  I'm still not sure which way the Burberry goes, but I knew at the time it was probably a mistake and it was.  As I discovered while walking home from work in a snowstorm while wearing my trench, the precipitation just blows right into the pocket.  Alas.  I will add a second flap on the front of the pocket so the flaps can button either way, depending on wind direction.



I think my most proud detail on this doesn't even really show to the casual observer--the lined vent, my first one ever.  I watched this video over and over and it really worked!  It made me extremely nervous to cut away my lining fabric for the underlap side.  I hate doing things that can't be undone.  But I had faith and went forth and the vent is beautiful.






My stupid mistake was that I haven't made a double-breasted coat in so long that I totally forgot that one row of buttons is functional and the other is supposed to be fake.  I made them all functional.  So there are a million buttons to button if I want to wear this buttoned.  Ah well.  In a way it looks better, because if I just wrap the coat closed and hold it in place with the belt rather than buttoning it, which I do more than actually buttoning it, then you still get the effect of the double row of buttons.



This fabric doesn't do "crisp."  Cidell kindly took the photos and asked if I wanted to steam it first.  Ha!  In order to give the sleeves and hem *some* body, I sewed multiple rows of parallel stitching, which worked out pretty well.

Believe it or not, the floppy pocket flaps are interfaced in heavy interfacing on both sides.  I also interfaced the lapel to a little beyond the roll line on the fashion layer (as well as fully interfacing the facing).




The only poorly done details on what was supposed to be a meticulous project are some of the buttonholes (appalling) and the hood doesn't really button under the chin.  The hood was the last step and I was sewing it deep into the night before we left the next day for Italy.  I found a Burda pattern with a hood, and shrunk it by about 30%(!) for my tiny child-sized head in a two muslin process.  It amazingly looks pretty good, especially with the sporty mesh lining, but the ends are too thick to work the buttons into the buttonholes without extreme effort.  Luckily, the drawstring (with red elastic cord purchased from Pacific Trimming for a luxe touch, rather than the more readily available generic black) and gold cord stopper keep it in place.



It's lined with a silk print I got on eBay for a great price.  The print has pinks rather than red in it, but I think it works.  I considered adding an interlining layer, but decided I wanted the coat more for Spring/Fall and so the nylon + silk would be warm enough.  In fact, it is the perfect weight.  As mentioned, I was able to wear it when it was snowing with heavier underclothes (but it is not very cold in DC when it snows for the most part--just below freezing) and have already had plenty of use out of this Spring.









I was proud to wear this coat in Italy, though I flew too close to the sun and got soaked one day.  Our last morning in Parma we ran out to get cheeses and bread and snacks for a picnic on the train to Bergamo.  It was POURING.  I just wore the coat, no umbrella.  Well, if you have this fabric, let me warn you.  It is water resistant.  There is a big difference between water RESISTANT and waterPROOF, as it turns out, and I got absolutely soaked.  In a light rain it's great.  In a heavy rain, you have about 10 minutes of comfort and the rest of the day of drowned rat.  It's no substitute for an umbrella!  I had a moment of rage that I had put so much work into something that was supposed to last for at least a decade and it didn't function as intended.  But now I'm over it.  And really enjoying wearing this in our light Spring rains!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 05-2009-102, The Agony of Plaid Matching (aka Blazer for Tweed Ride)

Tweed Ride was a couple of weeks ago.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to attend so I hadn't put any thought into an outfit, but I ended up being free that day and I had one week to pull it together.  Eek!  I had just returned from vacation, before which I had engaged in an absolute orgy of sewing and was still kind of worn out.  So of course the logical thing to do was make a jacket.  A lined jacket.  In plaid.  In one week.  But last year I vowed that if I did it again this year I *would* finally make this wonderful plaid (a wool/poly blend, as it turns out) from The Carol Collection into a jacket.

I went through my BWOFs and decided I just loved Burda 05-2009-102.  Unfortunately, the smallest size it comes in is 36 and the pieces are complicated enough that I skipped grading to a 34 at the shoulders and bust as I would normally do.  Luckily, I was able to narrow the shoulders a bit on sewing and the fit in the upper part was pretty good.



Because the jacket was intended for a long bike ride, I wanted to make sure I had plenty of room for my broad back--reaching for the handlebars gets awfully old when your arms are restricted.  For armscye princess seams, you have to first pin the back and side back together at the stitch lines, mark your L, and then cut along the L and open out your wedge.





Put extra tissue underneath and tape it to your pattern pieces to the extent you can while the pieces are still pinned together so you preserve the same angle on both pieces, then separate them and fill in the extra area.








I fused all the body pieces onto lightweight, flexible interfacing (except the collar and lapel, for which I used a stiff interfacing).  I turned my cutting table aka kitchen table into a pressing table by putting an old wool blanket down, then covering the wool blanket with a white fitted sheet I keep for that purpose.  This protects the table and allows me to use lots of steam without worry.









When choosing the pattern, I figured that shaped front, single welt, and side with integrated pocket would be tricky.  It turns out, it was actually quite easy.  You start by sewing the welt into the front, and sewing the front pocket bag into the seam allowance.  Then you clip into the corner at the welt intersection (the photo shows the right side of one half and the wrong side of the other).



When sewing the side front to the front, open out that clip and stitch the angle as though it were straight--the pins show the "straight" line I sewed.

I was pretty amazed at how neatly it comes out.  My corner looks sharp and sits flat.  Once the front and side front were constructed I pressed them over a ham so they would look flat on a round body.  The pocket is caught into the side seam to keep it in place.




What turned out to be difficult in construction was sewing the facing/collar to the body of the jacket.  There is a dart hidden under the lapel to give it shape and Burda's instructions were classic BWTF.  They have you slit open the dart, and then "sew the dart and neck all at once."

I tried a LOT of different configurations before finally figuring it out.  It sounds duh to write it out, but the dart is sewn to itself, the neckline is sewn to the collar, and the lapel is sewn to the facing.  Nothing is tucked into anything else (I kept wanting to catch the lapel in the dart seam because it seemed the most logical way to put it together when all the pieces were in my hand).

You do, indeed, sew from  the bottom of the dart up over onto the *back* neck and back down the other dart.  Then you go back and complete the lapel/front neck seam separately.  If I make this again, I would try *not* cutting open the darts, sewing them as regular darts, and then sewing the neck all at once.  It seemed like they were trying to be cool and innovative rather than trying to find the best construction.



I tried a new way of setting in the sleeve based on a suggestion I saw on PR (unfortunately I can't give anyone credit, as it is impossible to find the post on the message board).  It's set in mostly in the flat, leaving the last couple inches open on either side.

Once the sleeve is set, sew the sleeve seam and the side seam and press them open.








The last step is to sew the bottom little bit of the sleeve as though it was set in, matching the sleeve underseam with the side seam.

This way you get the easier setting in in-the-flat, but you have a normal seam distribution at the underarm.  With a true in-the-flat with the sleeve/side seam sewn as one, the underarm can be a little bulkier, which isn't a problem in most cases but in a jacket fabric it might feel too much like a wad of fabric under the arm.




I put in a strip of silk organza as a sleeve head.  I'm not going to lie to you: it's not cut on the bias.  The earth did not stop spinning on its axis.

I stitched the organza juuuust inside the stiching line of the sleeve's seam allowance.







From the bust to the hem I had traced my usual 36 at the waist and 38 at the hip.  It was WTF huge.  Think 10 or more inches of ease at the waist.  I think Burda may have drafted this from a coat block, not a jacket block, with enough ease to wear a puffy snowsuit underneath.  Burda sizing *never* gives me trouble so this was pretty aggravating!

Because of the construction of the pocket, I could only adjust the side seam about 1/4". The rest I took out the side back and center back seam.  I took it in a total of 6 inches.  I had put so much care into the Broad Back Adjustment that I forgot to do a swayback adjustment (I was falling asleep after cutting out the jacket in the evening and started straight up when I realized this), which would have given me a little more shape at the CB seam but would not have solved the problem by a long shot.



It's lined in a striped tie silk from FFC.  Cidell and I bought tie silk bundles several years ago.  They may have come from an end user factory, because most of them are only about 30 inches wide with one selvage and one raw edge.

I folded this piece in half the long way rather than selvage-to-selvage, so my stripes match all the way down but the colors are off on the bottom.  I actually kind of like the effect. Brings me back to the old days of Tetris.

And now for the bad.  Part of the reason I chose this pattern is that Burda shows it in a Glen plaid and had marked "check" lines for plaid matching on the pieces.  Burda, you screwed me!!!!

 First of all, the front and back check lines did not match up to each other at the side seam.  In retrospect, this is probably mostly due to my Broad Back Adjustment, but I'm not sure that explains the full discrepancy.  I matched the lines and cut off the excess at the armscye.

Second, the check mark on the sleeve pieces had absolutely nothing to do with the check on the body pieces!!!!!!!!!  I was so mad.  I assumed they'd put the check a little above the waist on all the pieces, but the sleeve is offset from the body by almost an entire plaid motif (my plaid has a thread down the middle, alternating yellow and turquoise.  I used a yellow thread as my check.  The sleeves' turquoise thread roughly lines up with the yellow thread of the body). Because of that happy coincidence, the sleeves *almost* look like they match but they don't.


The lack of vertical matching is all on me (Burda doesn't give vertical check marks).  I had limited fabric and the cutting layout was a nail biter.  I cut it all one layer, then flipped the layer over to cut the other half (the photo shows the first layer flipped over onto the remaining fabric to cut out the second layer).  I had to crawl around on the floor because I needed to see my entire acreage at once.  Here's what I had left at the end--a whole two inches of length to spare.

When choosing to ignore vertical matching, I figured it would only not match vertically at the shoulders, which I could live with.  I was NOT thinking of the front/side front situation.  You don't have to tell me:  I know it looks awful.  I am trying to console myself that I probably didn't have enough fabric to get it right anyway (although they're so close to matching I probably did).  Ugh.



Because of my lack of fabric--I couldn't cut the sleeves full length--I used the cuff variation.  I cut the cuffs and the pocket welts on the bias as accents, and so I wouldn't have to match the plaids!

My buttons don't match but I'm ok with it.  I didn't want to use the larger buttons for the cuffs and I had these smaller gold buttons in stash (both types of buttons are from a Fabric Mart 4 pound bag several years ago).





Here is the full Tweed Ride regalia (all my Tweed Ride photos are here).  The skirt is Simplicity 5914 I made several years ago and never wear because the waist is too loose--I didn't tape it and it just stretched way out.  The only fix would be to take the skirt apart and resew the seams and I have not yet made my peace with that annoyingness.  Since the low waist was going to be covered by the jacket--and the trumpet shape is good for biking--I figured it would be ok.  The hat will be reviewed soon!







Although it looks costumey with the full on vintage thing going on, I think the blazer is wearable for every day (plaid matching issues aside.  UGH!).  It will be a challenge for me to find outfits to go with it because I wear so little solid color.  But how cute is it with jeans?  Too bad it's too cold for a light jacket already.  I just need one day where it doesn't get below 50 degrees at night...

I really like this pattern.  It's double-breasted without being 80s-evocative, the shaped hem in front is really nice but the higher back hemline prevents it from being dated (nothing says "I bought my suits for interviews in law school in 1999" like long jackets, not that this describes my sad suit collection, ahem).  The pocket situation is totally clever and well-drafted.  I don't know that I need two of these in my closet, but I am definitely hanging onto my tracing.  If this issue is in your archive, keep it in mind!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

McCall 4394, Palmer-Pletsch Princess Seam Jacket

Source: shop.nordstrom.com via Trena on Pinterest

You may recall that when we went to Fabric Mart, this somewhat scratchy nylon jacquard was the only piece I regretted.  I had bought it thinking sheath dress (honestly, I'm not sure why I thought an ivory sheath dress would be a good idea in the first place.  I blame the fabric haze). Anyway, I realized when I got it home that it was in no way suitable for a dress.

I thought it might make a nice jacket, but the ivory color wasn't turning me on as a jacket.  Then I got the idea to dye it, as nylon takes dye to some extent.  So then I thought I'd dye it orange and make it into a jacket for me.

I usually sew for my mom for Christmas (I occasionally even take pictures, but then never get around to posting the projects).  The only two people I'll sew for are my mom and my niece, because they both like whatever I make for them.  I don't take requests!  Purple is her favorite color, so I decided to dye the fabric purple and make a jacket for her.

In snoop shopping I ran across this casual Eileen Fisher Open Front Three Quarter Sleeve Coat ($468).  I really like the causal open look and thought the longer length would suit my mom.




I had McCall 4394, a Palmer/Pletsch wardrobe, in my stash.  This pattern is now long out of print, but it has nice classic elements.  I may give the princess top a try at some point.

I also appreciate the fitting/alteration lines printed on the pattern. That is a big advantage of the Palmer/Pletsch line. I did a full bicep adjustment, in addition to a swayback, as mentioned below.




  One of the things I really like about the draft is that it has nice shaping through the back.  Too often, center back seams are straight, when nobody is straight in the back!

I also did a small swayback adjustment.  It's hard to get my mom to give me a set of current measurements, and I don't know all the adjustments she needs.  But I figured I was safe with a swayback adjustment.

My one gripe about this pattern is that the pocket placement is very low.  I mean, I'm short, but I don't know that I'm *that* short.  To be able to put my hands in the pocket I had to be pulling up the coat a bit.  Check the placement before you make it.



 



 
 
The pattern is drafted with a two-piece sleeve that naturally curves toward the front, to follow the anatomical shape of the arm.  It's a nice detail.


The jacket isn't designed with a closure.  I thought I had made it with an overlap so I could put buttons on, but due to the lack of measurements that was not the case.  We bought a frog closure from Joann in white.  I figured I'd dip it into dye and hopefully it would take a little color.  Well, it turns out those frogs are extremely dyeable!  I wasn't crazy about the super dark purple as compared with the pastel purple of the jacket, but my mom said she liked it so I sewed it on and that was that.









I forgot that I was really working hard to make sure this got done on time, and didn't take any in-progress photos.  This is the only photo I have of the inside, showing my two different linings.  I was in stashbusting mode and didn't want to buy a new lining.  The body lining (the red-purple) is leftover from a skirt I made for her a couple years ago.  I've made her several tops to coordinate with the skirt.  I thought it would be nice to wear the jacket with the skirt and show off the matching lining.

The blue-purple sleeve lining is the last of of the Fabric.com Vera Wang silk/rayon satin in that color.  





 



I've covered my mom's face for her privacy (that's Helen Mirren smiling in the front view photos).  Here's a star whose face I *can* show, Crafty.  He is a retired racing greyhound and the nephew of my family's beloved Smash.  We have always been a dog family, but this is the first time we have ever had a dog that likes toys.  He loves them!  Especially squeaky toys.  He squeaks them for a while, then tosses them in the air for a while, the squeaks again.  He knows his toys by name, so if you tell him to go get Pink Bear, he comes back with Pink Bear.  It is adorable.  He is wary of paparazzi, so any time I tried to sneak up on him to get an action shot he just looked at me reproachfully.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Burda 10-2007-119, Frilled With My New Coat

I have loved Burda 10-2007-119 ever since it came out in the magazine. Love the shoulder princess lines and the vaguely military appeal. At the time, though, I wasn't confident in my skills to think I could make a coat. Discovering Pattern Review and blogging has really helped me to grow! I changed the style to single breasted and eliminated that decorative seam in the front panel.

The outer fabric is a wool herringbone from The Carol Collection that I had block fused in New York on LindsayT's recommendation. What a luxury! It was awesome to just cut into this fabric and sew it up without a couple hours of fusing in there.

I lined it with tie silk from FabricMart, in 2008 Cidell and I split two 10 yard bundles ($20/bundle). I have used it previously in an obi, as lining for a hat, and to make wine gift bags. I think it is fantastic for coat lining because it is stable and sturdy, and silk is so warm and luxurious. I had to use two different fabrics because there wasn't enough of either. I had enough of the paisley-ish (used as trim in this blouse) for the body, and used the striped for the sleeves. They coordinate well enough, and I brought the stripe in more with a big pocket in the lining. The buttons are also FabricMart, from a 4 pound bag.

The coat is interlined with a wool/silk/cotton from my Fabric.com Vera Wang $1.99/yd binge last January. I have to say, though I bought too much of that fabric (probably), I have sewn up a surprising amount of it. I'm not quite up to half, but I have certainly sewn down a quarter of it--and considering I started with 46 yards, that's not nothing. I was hoping to make a skirt with the rest of the interlining fabric, but working with it confirmed that it is just too wrinkly for clothes. Great for interlining, though.

I started this project by serger-constructing the interlining. I did not get off to a propitious start as the first seam off the machine was the center back seam--except that there was one large shoulder in the middle of my neck. Hmmm. The downside of a shoulder princess garment is that it's not instantly obvious which is the center back and which is the side back seam. However, not having to ease those seams as in an armscye princess is worth momentary confusion and dumb moves.

The trim is the only pricey thing about this coat. At $12/yd from Fabric.com, the cotton velveteen is an expensive fabric by my standards. But I had a vision in my head and if $12/yd fabric is what it took I would pay $12/yd.

I had about six inches over two yards of the herringbone. The coat is drafted to below-knee length (on a petite, or should I say alleged petite given Burda's ersatz petite-ing). I wanted a mid-thigh coat so I shortened the length 4 inches. This turned out highly fortuitous as I had exactly the right amount of fabric--we're talking about one extra inch of fabric. I actually managed to make a coat with a self-faced front! I like the contrast facing (as seen here and here), but in this case I didn't want to do it. I definitely did not want velveteen as the facing since it would pick up lint, stick to my clothes, and start looking shabby before the rest of the coat, but I didn't want to introduce a third fabric, either. Relief!

As previously discussed, my new technique for this coat was bound buttonholes. I will say no more about that trauma. The other new thing I tried was topstitching. I had been admiring the topstitched seams on the RTW coats hanging on the coat rack at the gym (love this surreptitious opportunity to look at all different coats). I thought that to get the dimensional effect you had to do a welted seam or something, but I figured I'd just give normal topstitching a try. It worked! That great look is not complicated at all!



As usual, I reinforced the pocket seamline with ribbon to keep the pocket line from stretching out. When it is cold, I generally walk with my hands in my pockets for extra warmth. I was not thinking when I sewed the pockets and sewed them with a normal 1/2" seam instead of a slightly smaller seam allowance to roll them toward the inside. I used the tie silk as the front half of the pocket to reduce bulk, so it's lucky that I decided to ruffle the pocket opening as it hides that contrast fabric. Here's a view of the completed pocket.



For even more warmth in the pockets, I lined them with fleece. I cut out fleece pieces based on the pocket pattern, cut off the opening edge seam allowance, and sewed them outside the seamline to the pocket seam allowances. I placed the fleece on the front of the pocket for an extra layer of wind blocking.

I separately constructed the outer shell, lining, and interlining. The interlining was cut to match the lining with its center back ease pleat. To put them together, I lined up the lining and interlining at the neckline edge, pleated them together for the CB ease pleat, and stitched as one to the inner collar, as seen above. I hand tacked the interlining to the lining at the shoulder and underarms as well to keep it from shifting, and sewed the interlining and lining as one at the sleeve hem. I trimmed the interlining an inch above the lower hem and it hangs free inside the coat. I extended the interlining all the way to the front opening edge on the left side and sewed the buttons through the outer fabric, interlining, and facing to secure. For the right front opening edge with the buttonholes, I trimmed the interlining a couple inches short of the edge and then invisibly hand-stitched the interlining to the facing to keep it from shifting around.

My original plan was to serger gather the ruffles. I adjust the differential settings as high as they go and...nothing. Absolutely no effect on the velveteen. OK, fine, I'll just use the sewing machine to run a basting stitch. Um, no. The velveteen was way too thick for that the work. So I had to gather all the ruffles by hand. I thought it would take forever, but it actually only took the length of Legally Blonde. I didn't bother to locate my thimble until I was almost done, and my fingers were pretty sore. I don't think I pricked myself, though.

I was pretty proud of myself on the cuff frills. I actually had to calculate the final length of the sleeves in advance to properly place them. I ran the running stitch so the frill would create a wedge shape, narrow at the top and the full width at the bottom. The cuff frills are one of my favorite features.

I was so scared about setting in the sleeves. The Tuxedo Jacket of Doom has scarred me for life. As I was cutting, I realized that I had forgotten to alter the pattern for a broad back. As a quick and dirty fix, I swung out the armscye of the side back about an inch and then tapered back into the side seam. With this additional length in the armscye, the sleevecap needed no easing. It went in like a dream. Since Kathleen Fasanella asserts that sleeve cap ease is bogus and I have noticed no mobility problems (I mean, it's a coat--I'm not going to be doing yoga in it), I may do this in the future for coats.

One of the big places where coats fail me, I find, is where the wind whips in through the sleeve opening. This is especially a problem on a bike, where your hands are positioned for maximum exposure of the opening to the whoosh of oncoming wind. I have been biking a lot this winter using my Capital Bikeshare membership. As an aside, I LOVE it--I did not anticipate how much I would use it. If you're in the DC area you should really consider joining. Being able to take one way trips and not having to deal with locking up my bike (not to mention I carry it up to the third floor for the season) are huge.

For years I wore these gloves, which I didn't even like very much due to the blah color. But that woolly (synthetic) cuff kept my arms safe from the wind so I didn't give them up until there were holes in all the fingers. I cut off the cuff and slid it over the lining/interlining sleeve before bagging the sleeves. Once the sleeve edges were sewn, I hand tacked the woolly cuff in place at the bottom of the lining. The sleeve opening is not beautiful to look into, but it seals that opening over my wrist and no wind is coming through that sucker. I did this to a lesser extent on my purple coat just using fleece. It will be a feature in all my winter coats from now on.

I did my first successful bagging of the lower hem. It was very exciting.

I used my digital camera to place the back half-belt correctly. I pinned it on, took a picture, adjusted, took a picture, etc. It was tedious but handy, as I'd been having no luck using my paper tape double.

I went to Baltimore on Friday to hang out with Cidell. Well, I told her it was to hang out. Really it was to force her to take photos! So there are a ton of them and they are great. It was even snowing. You can't plan that. We took pictures, did a little shopping (more on that later), and ate awesome pizza at Pepe's before I hit the MARC to go back home. I had been avoiding wearing the coat, not wanting to get it wrinkled, but I see that I managed to sit on the back in a wrinkly way. Oh well.

This coat took three weeks to make and I thought I'd never finish. But I wanted to get all the details right so I'd be happy with it for several years. I hate to say it, but I am kind of over my purple coat. I have been wearing it a ton this winter because it has been so unusually freaking cold, and I feel shapeless and schlumpy in it (may have to do with the weather). I didn't want that to happen with this one, though it's not warm enough to replace the purple (it's no good below freezing and really only starts to be useful a couple degrees above).

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Bound Buttonholes: New Technique for 2011, Checked Off

I am not one to make sewing resolutions, and although I have a list of things in my head that I don't know how to do but ought (*cough*fly front*cough*), I don't really feel the need to "grow" in my sewing. It is a hobby for *fun* and it clothes me quite well without knowing all that fanciness. I only turn to new techniques when they are the perfect touch for a project--I don't choose projects to try new techniques. My most recent coat project (this is a teaser for the finished product, which I have not yet photographed) involved velveteen trim and somehow I got my heart set on bound buttonholes with velveteen lips, so it was time to give it a try.

First of all, lest anyone accuse me of not being slapdash, let me note that I made ONE sample before going on to the coat, and it was rather wonky. My learning curve plan, an ingenious one if I say so myself, was to start with the bottom buttonhole and work my way up so that by the time I got to the top, where people were likely to actually see/notice the buttonholes, they'd be ok. It worked out pretty well for me. And where any possible shortcut could be taken, I took it (sewing the lips in a strip, marking only one side of the fabric, marking only the length of the buttonhole).

Though I have read many, many bound buttonhole tutorials over the years and sincerely appreciate every single one of them, the particular one that finally pushed me over the edge was Gertie's tutorial, with very clear step-by-step instructions with a photo for each step. This post is less a tutorial than a document of the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making my bound buttonholes.

My first shortcut was to make the lips in a strip rather than individually. This is really only a convenient change if you have a serger.

Start by cutting two strips of fabric as wide as you want the final lips to be with a total combined length adequate for all your buttonholes. I cut mine two inches wide and allowed 3 inches of width for each of my 7 buttonholes (well, originally 8 but I re-cut the collar). This was generous and I trimmed them down once they were sewn in place, but I want to have plenty of room to maneuver.

Place the fabric right sides together and sew down the middle with your machine's longest basting stitch. Then fold each strip onto itself, wrong sides together, and press. Use the serger to trim and finish the long strip into individual lip units. The serging should be enough to keep the center basting stitch from unraveling while you're handling it.



You'll also need squares of fabric to sew into and pull through to the inside. For lack of a better word I call these "windowpanes." It's best to use the lightest weight fabric possible. Gertie recommended silk organza, but I didn't have any the right color and knew it was bound to show somewhere. I found some silky lightweight navy poly from the Carol Collection in stash. I cut it into a strip as for the lips, interfaced all at once (the white square in the photo was flipped over to show the interfacing), and serger trimmed to individual lengths. Once you have all your windowpanes and lips, you're ready to move on.

Now it's time to mark the buttonholes. I think technically one is supposed to do the bound buttonholes while the front is still a separate piece. I never use the marked position for buttons because isn't having custom-placed buttonholes in the exact right place for your body part of why we sew? I constructed the shell of my coat so I could mark the button position and then did the bound buttonholes.

I marked the buttonhole position on the wrong side with chalk, but unfortunately with a lot of handling the chalk rubbed off, so I did tailor's tacks to supplement. Although every bound buttonhole and welt pocket tutorial in existence urges you to mark the center line (the opening) of your buttonhole *and* the two legs, I don't bother. I just mark the two ends of the buttonhole and use the edge of the presser foot as the guide for the width of the space between the two legs.

The reason I mark on the back is so that I only have to mark once. After the markings are completed, just pin your windowpane squares to right side. They don't have to be perfectly centered over your marked buttonhole position, and therefore it doesn't matter that you can't see them while sewing.

Now you sew all the legs of the windowpanes. Using my tailor's tacks as a guide for length, I would sew one leg, then position the presser foot so that the edge was slightly past the first length (I wanted wide windows so my lips would really show) and sew the other leg.

Once the legs are completed, clip into the center and slit through the center to about 1/4 of the way to each end, then clip a Y to the corners. I really need to treat myself to a pair of nice embroidery scissors because my rinky dink thread snips are not adequate for this task, and shears are way too unwieldy and cumbersome.

Turn the windowpanes to the inside. They look like flowers! Until you press them. Then you have a nice set of windows, as seen at left.

At this point I was feeling cocky. All the preceding steps took little more time than making regular buttonholes would have, and were not at all difficult or fussy. Ah, hubris.

Then came the lips. Hooboy, the lips. It seemed easy. Just pin them into the windows and sew to the cut out triangles and edges of the windowpanes. I don't know if it was a function of the nap of my lip fabric or if this is what is hard about bound buttonholes, but after many, many, MANY failed attempts I ascertained that the only way to avoid flying a scuba flag of 100% diagonal lips (I mean, truly, wouldn't chaos theory predict that at least ONE of them would accidentally be straight?) was to hand baste the lips to the little triangle and the side flaps. Pinning was a joke. Hand basting the lips to the windowpane square very near the opening but not actually along the stitching line made no difference whatsoever in the scuba situation, it had to be along the final stitching line. And even then they shifted during sewing.

The time efficiency I had just been crowing to myself about flushed itself down the toilet and into a black hole and installing the lips in my easy, breezy windows took a good five hours.

Although it makes logical sense in terms of construction order, I think the psychological sense of making bound buttonholes in the middle of construction rather than at the end is even greater. If you knew that a mere 7 hours of buttonhole work were all that stood between you and a finished coat, I don't think anyone would ever make bound buttonholes.

But of course, you're not actually done. There is still the facing to deal with. My original plan had been to make windows as I had for the front, but of course without their own lips. But then I remembered a tutorial in Spanish Snap Buttonholes that Kay the Sewing Lawyer posted a while back. It sounded like a much better plan to make the windows all in one as an oval rather than messing with the Y cut and little triangle nonsense.

On this side I did use silk organza, figuring a little bit of white showing on the facing wouldn't bother me. I didn't actually look back at Kay's tutorial before starting so I didn't put my windowpanes on the bias.

The hard part here was that the coat was almost fully constructed. I knew the only way I would get the outer and facing buttonholes to line up was if I put in the facing buttonholes after the facing was sewn to the front. Especially with my thick velveteen ruffle between, there was no way to merely baste the facing on (broke 3 needles as it was!), mark the buttonholes, take it apart, and then sew it again in the exact same place. Absolutely no chance of that happening. So the hardest part here was maneuvering a giant lined coat under the sewing machine to sew the football-shaped buttonholes. I was actually panting by the end of it, and felt like I'd gone 3 rounds in a wrestling match.

The last step was to secure the facing buttonholes to the outer buttonholes, to make sure they'd stay lined up and to keep the button from getting lost in that void. Here, the thick velveteen of my lips was an advantage because I was able to whipstitch by hand, catching only the inner layer of the lip (remember, the fabric is folded on itself) and the edge of the Spanish snap buttonholes.

I ended up making 9 of these (in addition to my sample), as I put six buttons on the body of the coat, started with 2 on the collar but realized it just wasn't going to work (not enough length on the collar to place them properly), re-cut the collar and did another one. None of them are perfect, but they're all passable. And I realized to my chagrin that they hardly show at all when the coat is buttoned! I am a little concerned that the nap will wear off from the frequent friction of buttoning and unbuttoning, but as long as the fabric doesn't give I will survive.

All photos of this process are here.

I don't think bound buttonholes will be making a frequent appearance in my sewing, but I'm glad that I've tried them. Now I can coast for the rest of the year, since I've already done something new!