Back in business!

Phew! I've got the comment section working now on the new blog. On to other tinkering.

Thanks all once again for your words of support! Much blog lovin' to ya.

www.sewhotmommi.blogspot.com

Argghh! Dog gone coding.

I do all this work on getting out a new blog look and synchronizing it with the completion of my coat only to find out the comments section doesn't work. Arrgggghhh!!!!! I hate coding some days.

Thanks to all of you for taking a peak and leaving your thoughts and also letting me know there were problems. Not to worry, I just downed a TexMex eggroll from The Cheesecake Factory and I'm good to go. I'll "Get her done."

Ta da! The new blog site

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments and keeping up with me and my trials making this coat. It's been an awesome experience and your kind words are truly appreciated.

As you may know, I am constantly tinkering with blog templates. Having burned far too many useful hours, I've finally snagged a freebie template and juiced it up with my style. It's still got a few things that need to be done, but close enough.

Take a peak, there I have posted the detailed review of the Burda 7735 coat. Hope you like it.
New site:
www.sewhotmommi.blogspot.com

I'm done!

Yay! I did it, I did it, I did it. The coat is finished!


This is all I have time to post for now. I'll write a full review tomorrow 'cause I'm beat. Long day...but I wore my coat with a smile.

Eye candy

Rollin' in to work can be tedious. Here's a little visual eye candy on my drive in. To Baltimorian's, that rainbow ramping is a landmark, near 83 and MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). I drive right under it. Thank God someone has a can of paint because this still is an industrial town.

Progress Report

Hey All,
Thanks for the words of support! The coat is still coming along...slowly. Dang it, if I didn't have to be a responsible human being, I could have finished this thing by now. Anywho, here's where I am to date:

I've attached both sleeves and I must reach 'round and pat myself on the back because I actually did try and ensure that the grain of fabric on the sleeve is perpendicular to the floor (somewhat).

I skipped the double-breasted look and went with the single row of buttons. Why? Cause I could and no other decent reason...other than it would have made the coat too snug. :) The buttonholes came out nicely despite my trepidations in dealing with such a dense fabric. I sewed them, IMO, maybe 1/4" too far to the right, but it's not a deal breaker.

I reworked the pockets to lay better and a la Anne e le manine d'oro's suggestions, I used the curve of my sewing ham and lot's of steaming. (Thanks Anne!) I still have the other pocket to attach, but I am so loving the flap-over thing.

The sleeve opening is like having a bell at your wrist and I'm smitten with it. One large button for embellishment is plenty, but I will sew an internal snap closure for convenience.

Here's the back waiting for adornment. Just that two buttoned strip, sorry I can't remember the name.

To do list:
1. Re-hem the back (haven't gotten around to that yet).

2. Purchase more buttons for the interior.

3. Add label and chain for hanging.

4. Add lining with hidden pocket using Kenneth King's Cool Couture book.

Phew!

So far, so good.

O.k., I have to fess up. I could have made more progress if I weren't foolin' around with another blog template. Lindsay is always so sweet with her constructive comments, so I won't post a link until it's complete.

Toodles.

Let it snow!

Somewhere underneath all the lovely fluff is my driveway.

Ahh, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. A full day of guilt-free sewing.

Buttons found and more!

See what happened was...

I don't know why I can't come out of two places with the list I went in with....Walmart and ANY fabric store. With concrete list in hand, I had a 3 item list; buttons, thread, shoulder pads. That's it. A few yards of fabric later and here I am.

O.k., God bless the genius at G Street Fabrics who came up with the $2.97/yard fabric table. Smooches to you because there is always a great piece of fabric waiting specifically for me. Here is a spring inducing lavender fabric perfect for a spring dress which I need for our upcoming Women's Day at church and the other is a light weight gauzy sheer something-or-another (fabric gurus insert name here) that's destined to be a billowy top to pair with jeans. Of course I needed more thread and zippers.

There has to be some 12 step plan to give me more discipline. :)

But I did find the buttons for my coat. I'm going for a clean look with these slightly pearlized buttons with the rectangular groove. After three different stores and some online searching, I'm glad to finally have these in hand.

Moving right along...on my coat.

So here's where I am with the marathon coat sessions. My one armed baby!

I've inserted a covered chain into the hem, which has to be re-done because self-hemming is tough on this garment. This coat has a slight swing to it in the back and requires a deft eye, IMO, to make it pleasing or it will look home-sewn...which it is but it shouldn't be so obvious. I'll have to take the back portion out and have a willing assistant pin to perfection. Zsokay. Minor re-do.



Burda's pockets were ehh. I so love the pockets on this Sonia Rykel coat that I submitted to doing a similar version. Looks like one continuous piece that "flaps" over. It took some time to figure out how to do this with my fabric, but I came up with a suitable solution. They don't lay open quite as much, along the side, as the inspiration piece, so I'll edit a bit there and take it up a wee amount so that they lie flat a la Ms. Rykel's.



I also pushed the front panel aside a bit when attaching the pocket so the front panel now looks like it's off grain when I know it's not, so I'll reposition the pocket more carefully.

One sleeve has been hand basted in. The sleeve itself is a bit narrow, but I can live without wearing bulky sweaters under this. The cuffed attached needs a little TLC because I don't like the poof below the seam. I think some top-stitching is needed to tame that aberration. I must say that I do like the design of said sleeve because it does bring some interest to a basic double-breasted coat.

Now I have to decide on buttons. I'll post pix later on my options.

That's is for now.

Another site change

Yes, I know, this makes about the third time I've done this. I am helpless when it comes to blog skins. I love changing them. Still mulling over whether to switch completely over to "Sew Hot Mommi", my alter ego sewing blog. The look is cool and dark, not the typical haberdashery feel. When I learn enough coding, I'll create my own look entirely, but until...run by, take a peak and tell me what you think.

Just one caveat, Internet Explorer does funky things with the design elements...squares off the rounded edges of fields and changed some of the fonts. To see it in it's intended glory, view it using Safari or Firefox.

Well, actually two caveats, some of the coding still needs a bit of tinkering, like changing the quote and link at the top, but it's close to complete. That's it.


Love. Peace. And hair grease.