Progress report on the coat .

Here are some pictures of my progress so far. You can get the general idea here of how the back will look. This is still unpressed and the sides need taken in alot. My tailors dummy needs padded out to my size so the coat will appear to not fit very well on the dummy. The collor is only basted on at the moment . The instructions say that the collar and lining all gets sewn at once.

I have pinned the Center front so you can see how it will look when the facings are added. I also need to add the shoulder pads.

These are the in-seam pockets . I like the genral idea of the them but ..they add bulk and they make my hips look bigger . I might remove them. I will do alot of pressing and give them one last chance. I need start the sleeves and get the side seams right before I start the lining, this coat has too much ease through the hips .

Fraying like mad !!!

This fabric is fraying pretty badly as you can see here in the picture below.My lounge carpet may never be the same again.  I am a bit concerned on how I will finish my seams . As this style is a Princess seamed coat the curves will need trimmed and clipped . I am thinking that overlocking them will be pointless ? If anyone has any ideas I would be gratefull . This is the first time I have sewn something which frays so badly and I love having neat seams .

So I am actually at the sewing stage of this coat    finally !!!  I have made two muslins and I am happy if not a little scared . I didn't need a FBA for the first time and I certainly haven't lost any weight . I went with the size 10 in the end as it gave a better fit around the neck and shoulder area.  I am really loving the fabric , I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture but there are lots of metallic threads running through it . It is deep chocolate brown with golds and bronzes . So here are a few pictures of what is to come .

My first blog award .

Well what a lovely surprise . The lovely Cybergirly has very kindly nominated me for a blog award , thank you Cybergirly . I must say I feel very unworthy of the award . I tend to rush my blog posts and I don’t spend as much time on it as I should. I always feel my posts as rushed . I will try harder ;-)
So I have to do the following :

Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

Link the person who nominated you for this award.

Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

Nominate 7 Kreative Bloggers.

Post links to the 7 blogs you nominated.

Leave a comment to each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

So seven things about me that you may find interesting .

• I work in a mans world ( as they say) I work in the engineering field. I almost went to art college after my A-levels to start a foundation degree before doing fashion design or pattern cutting. Somehow I ended up in engineering . ( but I have found my old passion for sewing as you can see on here )
• I have started with night blindness , I am slowly but surely going blind . Most of my family have a disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa and I also carry the gene. I am hoping that when I am older and the disease starts to affect me that Stem cell research has provided a cure . However I don’t feel a victim I will just have to adapt .
• I am Christian , I have always beloved in God but I never went to Church . After having my son I felt a real need to go to church . It has changed my life for the better .
• I am addicted to buying cookery books.
• I love the Foo Fighters , I have seen them live 5 times and I just adore Dave Grohl.
• I am scared to touch raw chicken , I don’t know what it is but I just can’t touch it . I have been known to chop it wearing rubber gloves and using a knife and fork .
• I drink more coffee than is healthy maybe 10 cups a day if I’m at home. It doesn’t seem to keep me awake at all . I can’t function without coffee.

So I am nominating the following people for blogger awards. Melissa at Fehr trade  she has been seriously ill lately and still finds the time and energy to post on her blog . She has been so helpfull to me when I asked  her questions about some of her projects . She took her time to email me vey detailed answers. I love the way she photographs her projects.
I love Christinas blog, Assorted Notions . Her clothes are so wearable and "current" they look like she bought them from a very expensive shop . Reading her blog has taught me that homemade doesn't have to be naff.
I love and admire the rate that Dawn at Two on two off  . Dawn makes gorgeous things , works and has young kids . I really wish I had her energy . I like everything that fellow Brit,  Eugenia  makes . I wish I could get to the fabric shops she buys from.
I love everything that Amanda makes . Eveything she makes fits perfectly and is so neat inside and out . I hope to be as talented as her one day.
I love this blog , I love the way Jemima writes I think she is  funny and her blog brightens up my day. Her clothes are fab too . It is so hard to pick between all the blogs I re ad but I will nominate Kathryn lastly for her blog . Her posts are so informative and I just love the backdrop on all her pictures.

Well there is some progress on the coat.

All I can say is fitting woes !!!!!! I would love to have a figure that required no pattern alterations. I have been altering the Vogue coat pattern for several days now. I have been tissue fitting , altering and I have even made a muslin on this one.  I think I am almost ready to cut out my fabric . Pictures to follow of my muslin later .

What I'm working on .

I haven’t done anything sewing related for a while . My son has had a flurry of birthday and Halloween party invites lately and with working has left little time for me. So today I have been fabric shopping and I have bought fabric and notions for a few projects .

So firstly I am preparing to work on my first coat pattern . I am using Vogue 8438 and I am doing view C ( The cream one) I like the sleeves better in view C they are more interesting , however I may add the pleated collar seen in the other two views .

This will be my first attempt at lining anything and I am quite nervous as I envisage it will be tricky sewing the slippery lining . I am also nervous at messing up the wool I have bought . It wasn’t mega expensive but it is the most expensive fabric I have bought so far . Lucky for me the shop has just got it in , I was the first to buy it so I can always go back for more .

I have spent the last two hours cutting out all the pattern pieces ( believe me there are lots !!) Now it’s wine time.

New pictures finally !

I do realise it is much nicer to see garments on rather than on a tailors dummy . It does take me a while to get around to doing it though . Ignore my squinting on the first picture the sun is in my eyes .

My up and coming plans .

I have a beautiful Black wool that I want to make into a skirt . I think I have narrowed down my pattern choice to Simplicity 2758 . This will definitely be my next project.

I haven't decided which variation of this skirt to do yet , I am trying to workout which one will be most flattering as I like them all . After that I want to make the following

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  Some basic long sleeve tshirts for layering , I need grey and black for sure .
  
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  A Winter coat.
  
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  A couple of day dresses.
  
  
  
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  I need to go fabric shopping ! I seem to have lots of Summer prints that I didn't get around to sewing this year . I need to fill my stash with Winter fabrics.