Thread Theory GoldStream Peacoat

I was so glad when TMS had us vote on the November challenge! I immediately went for outerwear because I was itching to do something big. Enter this coat for my husband. Luckily I just made the November deadline 😉

There is also a sewalong but I didn’t follow it because it was different to the pattern instructions.  I cant tell you how scared I was at first; there were legions of voices in my head shouting “You cant do this, whats the point? Just buy him a coat” but I chose to listen to that one tiny voice that was like “Well other people have learnt how to make coats by actually making them, it might not be perfect but it just means the next time you make a coat it will be better and then the next time after that….just go for it Hila….go for it“. SO I did and though it is NOT perfect I am so happy with final result. Ok deets…as follows

Fabric choices . Used 2 linings for the coat;  a Robert Kaufman cherry plaid flannel for body and normal synthentihc type for the arms. The fashion fabric is lightweight wool. I could have bought a Louden boiled wool type which is much thicker but it scared the bees out of me due to the thickness; was worried my machine wouldnt be able to handle the seams.

Prepping the fabric It was fun pretreating the wool. I read countless blog posts and settled on the easy dryer method. Pretreated wool by putting in dryer with a couple wet towels. I measured it before and after. Lost almost 2 inches in shrinkage (Amazing).

Fit. I actually made a muslin (this right here is a sign of how I am improving as a sewer;-) from calico and had to take 10 cms off of the arms. Mr SaturdayNightStitch was very happy with the length.

Construction The view Mr SNS chose was the classic peacoat but without the epaulets.  Cutting out took well over 2 hours because I had to cut out the wool then the flannel lining…then the acetate lining. Marking the fabric was even more of a ball ache! It took probably another 3 hours  (watching The Love Punch and The Apprentice 😉 ) since I decided to use classic thread to mark the fabric. Once that was out of the way the fun began.

First of all you start with preparing the patch pockets and OMG I spent 2 hours confused and nearly gave up until Mr SNS was like ‘Maybe I could help, lets read through the instructions’. Me : {eyes rolling} you dont get it blah blah….ok fine. He looked at the pieces with me and it turned out I was placing the wool and lining incorrectly. (If I had read the instructions properly and not assumed I knew better I could have done the pocket in 30 mins instaed of 2 hours! Needless to say, duly chastened I never wil assume Mr SNS cant help 😉. He did say he felt really good knowing he had contributed to his coat. Bless him 😜

SO back to construction. The interior is made up first , put aside that you have to do the exterior before joining them together at the under collar. You can use horse canvas like in the sewalong but I just opted to interface both the front and the facing for a more stiff look. Then it was this huge massive heap to work with. I am most proud of the double lip welt pocket on the interior. I practised it about 3 times on scrap fabric before the haze lifted and everything clicked into place you know like when Neo in the Matrix finally gets what is the Matrix. I am so glad that I took the time to practice it beforehand, because you know what  now I own double welt pockets LIKE A BOSS!

When it came to choosing the buttons hubby’s first trip to a haberdashery to pick his own buttons was….interesting. Ended up buying buttons that cost more than the wool itself…..and them we didnt use them as I made an executive decision.

I do like me that collar!

Mr SaturdayNightStitch loves posing for the camera!

I really really struggled with the button holes. It took me 3 sittings of about 1.5 hours each to get it done. Basically it was too thick for the machine and I could get it past the teeth to start. SO in the end I was lowering the feed dog teeth placing paper on top of the fabric and force sliding under the buttonhole foot. I would then align with the fabric then raise the feed teeth again and going very very slowly while gently helping the fabric along. We got there in the end but it was a long hard slog that was littered with many unpickings and seam ripping.

Also the longest seam I have ever had to sew was when the exterior and interior were sewn together. That was fun! Hemming was staright forawrd and I had to learn how to catch sticth , used a great tutorial on Fashion TV blog. My clapper came into its own on this project! It owned those seams.

I loved the huge amounts of steam I had to use and the smell It was so much fun. Mr SNS was extremely pleased with the end result and he could not wait to flash his workmates with the lining that he choose 😉

I would highly recommed this pattern, it takes your hand and holds you while it guides tou through the most challenging techniques. I love it. Well done to Thread Theory! More pictures….. #threadtheory

More deets and pictures on my blog