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Coat Sew-Along: Week 3

Week 3 of our coat sew-along and these lovelies are starting to come together! We still have quite a bit to sew - coats are a pretty epic sewing project - but I can already tell these coats are going to be amazing. This week was a lot of fun. Toggles and linings and zipper guards, oh my. Here is how week three went for us...

Amber's Cascade Duffle Coat: Week 3

This week started with attaching my zipper and front bands. I had a little trouble comprehending the layering of the bands and zipper when attaching them, and after reading through the instructions a few times, I finally got it. Below is a helpful photo of how everything is placed. When it comes to placement of the 22" zipper for View B, the Cascade instructions are more descriptive for the shorter, view A, version. For the longer coat, the zipper will not be the same length as the coat front, so you place the zipper towards the neck.

Next up, toggles! I was really excited to make my own leather toggles! We have some great toggle-style buttons in natural horn, antler, wood and bone. I chose a 2" dark horn button for my coat. We have leather scraps on hand from our in-house bag handle production, and this dark bison leather coordinated perfectly. If you are interested in this type of DIY toggle situation, our local leather purveyor, Tandy Leather Factory, has all the tools and leather you need. At some of their locations they even have a bin of small, inexpensive leather scraps, perfect for toggle closure making.

I cut out my leather moon-shapes, and then cut strips of the same leather for the loops. I threaded my button onto the leather and then laid everything onto my coat to determine how long to make my leather loops. The epoxy glue takes a day to dry completely, so you may want to make your toggles at the start of your coat-making session. Once the glue set, I punched stitch holes around the edge, being careful not to perforate the leather loop underneath. My toggles were then ready to stitch to my coat! I used embroidery floss to stitch them in place and I'm so happy with how they turned out.

Once the toggles were secured, the next few steps were quick and straightforward. I sewed the side seams and shoulders, assembled the two-part sleeves, gathered the shoulder and set in the sleeves. The wool was really lovely to work with for setting in sleeves. When gathering at the shoulder to set in the sleeves, it was more like "squishing" than "gathering". It made setting in the sleeves easy to do without any troublesome puckering.

Jen suggests trying on your coat at this point, and boy, is that an exciting moment! It looks like a real coat - and I'm really liking the fit. The outer coat is almost complete. My hood will be my next adventure in this coat-along, and I'll get to work on that next week. I can't wait to get to my lining. Liberty of London lightning storms, here I come.

Jaime's Clare Coat: Week 3

Week 3 of our Coat Sew-along! This week I was in Grand Rapids, MI at my Have Company residency and brought my coat with me to work on it there. I was away from the support of the other sew-alongers so it was scary to embark out on my own. I took it easy this week and just sewed my lining. The lining is constructed almost the exact same as the outer shell - which made it super easy! I had already done all the steps and this time I was doing it with an easy-to-work-with cotton voile.

The only difference in the lining and shell is the lining includes a wool facing which will be used to attach the lining to the shell for a professional finish. Once I completed the lining I decided to stop and save the intimidating part of "bagging my lining" (attaching it to the shell) for next week when I was back at Fancy Tiger and could enlist the help of friends if I need it. Fingers crossed it goes well!!

Sara's Landgate Jacket: Week 3

After freaking out last week that I might need a bigger size, this week went relatively smoothly. First, I assembled the hood. The instructions call for you to sew a French seam, and then to top stitch the seam down. I decided that I wanted to do a flat-felled seam instead. In hind sight, the French seam might have been easier, but I like the look of the flat-felled better. The problem with a flat-felled seam on waxed canvas is that you can't press the seam. And, pins didn't want to go through so many layers of canvas. So, after running the first seam down the middle of the fold, I folded the first inch or so of the seam allowance into a flat-felled seam, sewed 1/2", tucked the next 1/2", sewed 1/2", etc. It was slow going, but worth it! I love how it turned out.

Next, I inserted the zipper and zipper guard. I totally didn't read the last line of the instructions on this step that told me to sew the zipper only to the seam allowance. I sewed through all the layers. Oops. You sew it to the seam allowance, tack the guard onto the seam allowance, and then sew through all the layers at the end. So, I ended up with two lines of top stitching. Don't tell anyone, they'll never notice that it's not supposed to be that way!

I also sewed the gusset panels to the sides of the body and the raglan sleeves to the body. It's starting to look like a jacket now! Next week, I should do the inseam pockets, the side seams, drawstring casing, and attach the hood to the body. I can't wait to wear this jacket!

Be sure to share your coats buy the end of the month on Instagram with #fancysewalong for a chance to win a prize! Check out all the details here. Happy sewing!

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