hecho por mano: December 2010

I am so excited that I finished this coat in one month. I chose the materials, washed, dried, ironed, and cut them to fit the pattern. I embroidered this cute owl pattern that I found on badbird's blog. The pattern is the Uptown Coat by Favorite Things. I completed 90% of this coat at Crafty Planet in a class that met for four hours over two Saturdays. There were two other girls in the class and we had a blast working together. May have made some new friends. As I prepared to sew this I read some other blogs by folks who had finished it. I really liked this one by Additional Jesus, man that gal can sew!

On to the coat: It is a fine-wale brown corduroy with a blue satin lining. I love the big, square, blue buttons. I top-stitched the corduroy with a turquoise cotton thread and top-stitched the lining with a coffee cotton thread. The coat is lined with a thick cotton batting that makes it even warmer if not a little bulky.

I purchased all of the materials and the pattern at Crafty Planet except for the lining. Any materials purchased for a class receive a 15% discount, that was approximate to the cost of the class. I knew how to perform all of the tasks to make the coat, but it sure did help to have Lisa there interpreting the pattern for me. Also, she had a model available so I could see how the steps would all come together.
I had to cut and piece together 11 pieces for each part of the coat: shell, batting, and lining. It was overwhelming to look at.

Mike was super helpful along the way, he reads manuals so well. He was a great editor, revising my button hole placements until they were uniform. I couldn't have done it without him. Remi, as usual, was a constant companion when I worked on it at home. He sits at my feet under the machine/ironing board and sighs to remind me that he is there. I am such a lucky gal, and now I have a pretty warm coat to remind me 6 months of the year!