More on the coat

I've done nothing that looks like much, just reshaped the side seams as I'd planned to, lengthened the princess darts, and started blind-catchstitching some seam allowances down; with no lining and the fairly long length, I think there's a good chance they'll flap around otherwise.

I also pressed up the hem allowance. Here the instructions didn't seem terribly clear (though maybe I missed something by reading only the steps that seemed relevant); I think you could easily end up thinking 5/8" was intended, if you didn't look at the pattern pieces.

Well, I didn't look at the pattern pieces, but I thought 5/8" would be terribly skimpy; 1 1/2" looked about right, so I pressed that up instead. Only later did I look at the pattern pieces and see that 1 1/2" was in fact the intended allowance.

Anyway, I think the fit is about right (or as good as it can get without undoing more than I care to; a length alteration for shoulder blades-with-respect-to-back-armholes probably would have helped) so what remains is to tack down all those seams, finish the hem, put on the pockets, give the collar a good steam, and maybe make up some sort of inside pocket and/or shoulder pads.

Pocket placement on Simplicity 1540

I'm working on placing the pockets on this coat. (Well, I also took in the side seams, but I think I'm going to have to reverse at least some of that. It had been bigger than necessary in the hips, but it had a nice slight flare that's now lacking, and I think it looks kind of sad-sack without it.)

On the right of the photo, the pockets are just a touch below where the pattern intends them to be: the upper edge is meant to be in line with the top of the lowest button. This felt excessively high. I can see why they did it, though. Views C and D are much shorter; this is where the pocket would have to be for it not to extend into (or past!) the hem. On a short jacket, you do what you have to do.

I didn't notice anyone complaining about the placement on Patternreview, but then nobody made the coat in this length.

To place the pocket on the left of the photo, I put a coat with reasonably-placed pockets on my form, and marked with pins on the form the top and bottom of the hand entry (these were near-vertical welt pockets, so not entirely comparable, but I had to make do) as well as the bottom of the pocket bag. The bottom of this patch pocket is about where the bottom of the RTW pocket bag was. It feels much better. I'm not sure which version I think looks better, but I'm going to go with something more like the one on the left; I think the one on the right will just feel too awkward, unnecessarily so given that the coat is long enough to support a lower placement. This does mean I have to lengthen the princess darts for sure.

On a side note, I've been reading Passformfehler, which has possibly some of the best coverage of balance issues (in fitting) that I've seen. I might go into more detail on that later, but this is just to say I think part of the reason things don't hang right on my dress form could be that it has a very flat upper back/very little shoulder blade shape. Not that I'm about to pad it out right before I move, but it'll be something to consider.

Sleeve bands on Simplicity 1540

I put the sleeve bands on Simplicity 1540. Some construction changes I made:

• I believe the instructions would have you interface the entire band. That would be unnecessarily stiff, IMO. I interfaced a little more than half the width, so that the outer layer, the fold, and a small amount of the inner layer is interfaced.
• The outside of the band is seamed to the sleeve. The inside is held on by the topstitching. I pressed the sleeve/band seam open, folded the band in half to match its raw edge with that of the pressed-up sleeve seam allowance, and temporarily whipstitched the edges together to prevent them from shifting during the topstitching.

I'm glad I narrowed the bands to the smallest size; they would have fit even had they been a couple inches narrower, although I think they're an acceptable coat width at this size. The length is fine, which suggests to me that others might find it short. Given the fabric I used, this is not a warm enough coat that I'd be likely to wear it with gloves. If that were the case, I'd want the sleeves longer. They do bunch up more than I'd really like, though not more than I'd expect of one-piece unlined sleeves.

Now that that's done, I'm considering the fit again. The side seams could probably stand to be taken in in the waist and hip area, possibly all the way down to the hem. I'm also considering adding shoulder pads, though that's iffy since the coat is unlined (I'd have to make them of self-fabric).

I'm no longer so sure that the princess darts need to be extended downward, but I am very sure that the pockets need to be placed lower. My marks were raised by the significant waist-length shortening I did, but as my arms evidently aren't at all short as far as the pattern's concerned, it's unsurprising that those marks are now much too high.

Simplicity 1540: Topstitching the princess seams

I worked on my boiled wool coat a little more today. (In terms of the changed construction order I posted earlier, I was at step 7, having bypassed step 6.) In case I haven't mentioned it, I took in the front and back princess seams 1/2" at the shoulder line, tapering to nothing at the back and the front notches — it conveniently worked out that that was about how far down the alteration was needed. I decided the shoulder seams themselves didn't need alteration, so I trimmed my altered princess seams down, then closed the shoulder seams the rest of the way. Then I topstitched each princess seam in one step, continuously right over the shoulder seam. This way there was no issue with matching both the princess seamlines and the topstitching lines, which would've been necessary if I'd done the shoulder seams afterward. The downside is you then have a lot more fabric to deal with and potentially scrunch in the harp of your machine. I try to remember clear all the random things off the sewing table before doing something like this, because they'll otherwise very likely end up on the floor.

After that, I set in the sleeves. I don't know if the instructions tell you to ease them — probably — but I've never found it necessary with boiled wool, as long as the sleeve is against the feed dogs. So here it is on the form:

A couple of points here:

• This form has gone through multiple moves (over, I don't know, more than 10 years?) and really has seen better days. I think it might have become asymmetrical, and it's developed a tendency to automatically shift downward on its stand over time (I do move it from room to room a lot, which I'm sure it doesn't appreciate). The fabric covering is kind of clingy, which has its upsides and downsides: things don't fall off right away if I'm draping, but it's also hard to get anything that's finished put on straight. The form also has narrower shoulders and a hollower chest than I do, and I really need to readjust the hip size.... In any case, I believe it's an older edition of a My Double. I have no idea how things have changed since, and I can't compare it to any other adjustable forms; the only other things I've used are standard-sized Wolfs (and a couple other brands I can't recall).
• There's a fair amount of ease in this pattern. I think that's just as well, given that it's unlined.
• I'm pretty happy with the sleeve fit. They could be better if they were two-piece, but they're about as good as one-piece get, I think.
• Several reviewers said the sleeves were too wide. I did narrow the bands, but not the bicep width, as any extra there is much appreciated.
• The sleeves will have bands added on, making them longer. I do need to check the length, but it might be fine... unlined sleeves, you know, ride up with wear anyway.
• I swear my inter-button distance isn't uneven, though it looks it in this photo.
• I may need to lengthen the princess darts. They were substantially shortened in my waist-length alteration, but maybe they should not have been. I might actually do the facing topstitching and maybe even the hem before I decide on that. I don't want to take too much out and have the fronts pitch apart, but it'll be easier to judge once the facing edge is flattened out more permanently.

blah

I've been busy with moving stuff, so I did nothing on my coat today. I did knit, but that's 6 stitches per inch so it'll be a while before it looks like much.
I did sort out about 5 other coats that I may get rid of (wrong size, etc.) which will help make room, assuming I don't have a big closet at whatever my destination is.

New Buttericks

Summer 2014 Buttericks have been posted: among other things, there are quite a lot of dresses and voluminous tops. Nothing struck me as anything I have to have — most of them are just not right for my shape.

I did find Gertie's swimsuit pattern interesting. It's meant to be cut on the crossgrain (!) presumably in an attempt to translate vintage-style structure to modern fabrics. I wonder how well that works. (I do actually have a couple of vintage swimsuit patterns for wovens, although I haven't dared try them.) And this might sound flip, but this dress looks like it would make a good nightgown.

May plans

Happy May Day.

I cleaned and oiled my machines today, but otherwise they had the day off. The sewing machine really could stand to be serviced, BTW; I'm waiting to get back to a 120V area for that.

If all goes as planned, I'm expecting to have less than three weeks before everything goes into a shipping container. I can't decide whether I should sit on my hands or sew like mad. Mostly I'm doing the former right now, but I really would like to get at least the turquoise boiled wool coat done and in one piece. After that, I'm thinking maybe linen trousers, but that might be a terrible idea.

Either way, toward the end of the month I will become limited to knitting and/or hand-sewing, depending on what goes in the Ark of Things Not Packed, and then, for some days (weeks?) I will most likely not be blogging at all. That could easily continue well into June, depending on what sort of connectivity I have (or don't).

Anyway, for now, the fit of the coat looks promising; I think I'll be able to do the princess-seam topstitching and the shoulder seams, and leave any changes to the (non-topstitched) side seams and princess darts.