An Orange And Black Coat

There was a mishap with the turquoise top - a rookie move I'll tell you about tomorrow. Maybe it was a gift. I decided it was not the weekend for practical, it was time for something fun so I cut up the orange black fabric that I'd cut up and cut up and cut up before and made an orange and black coat - in size three - using Simplicity 2745 - again. Earlier this year, one of the women in my knitting group had a baby girl and I hadn't made a gift yet. It seemed the perfect time. 

The main part of the garment is the black side out with the orange side used for accents. The trim on the collar looks like crochet and the...

... collar is a double layer. To sew it, I basted the seam line on the main body of the garment and serged off all the seam allowances on the collar pieces which were then matched one to each side of the neckline. The collars are stitched in place 1/4" from the edge and then zigzag stitched over the edge and then stitched again 5/8" away from the neckline encasing the seam allowance and creating a support for the collar.

Last week at knitting, the Mom was making a cardigan for her daughter and trying to choose buttons. Everyone kept telling her that the bunnies and flowers and other cutsy things were perfect but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted something more sophisticated. Since cutsy is not my style, sophisticated works for me.

There are four godets between center front and side front and center back and side back with an orange bow at the top of each.

There is no lining. On the inside, the seam allowances are pressed open adding black contrast. At center front and on the sleeve hem, the orange "wrong" side is pressed to the front. All the edges are serge finished.

For the ruffle, both long edges of a one inch strip were serged and then the strip was basted down the middle by holding my finger behind the presser foot to gather. The gathered strip was attached on top of the hem with a narrow zigzag stitch.

Apparently, I can't shoot a straight picture but you get the idea. The back and...

... the front. I'll wrap it up and take it to knitting tomorrow night. Hopefully the Mom is there. It's not hand knit but it is custom made with a wool blend. Good. Enough.

This little coat took about ten hours to make. It was a lot of fun particularly because I knew who it was for. Mass production is never fun in that way. I'd been contemplating creating children's clothing to sell and have decided against that idea. In fact, I've decided to stop thinking about anything to do with fabric, textiles, or sewing as a career. From a financial point of view, the coat would have to sell for $250 less the gallery commission less expenses to even make minimum wage. I know there are people who would pay that much for a little girl's coat but I do not know them or how to find them and I don't even want to look. From a spiritual point of view, God isn't opening those doors and it's time to let it go and see where He directs instead of assuming I know the answers. From a personal point of view, the last thing I would want is to lose my love of sewing because I'm pushing it to be something it's not meant to be. Better to have fun, be creative, and maintain my stress release. It feels like a good decision. Now to not pick it up again.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - some friends were in an accident with a semi-truck on Saturday and walked away completely fine. We're very grateful.