JemJam

School Days Coat Sew-a-Long, Day 2

Today, we will assemble the hood & prepare tabs or cording, depending on which view that you are doing.  I am doing VIEW B (with tabs).  

** ALL SEAM ALLOWANCES ARE 1/2" UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED.

 

Gather pieces 8 & 9 (main fabric & lining).  

Match notches and edges on CENTER HOOD PANEL (#8) and one of the SIDE HOOD PIECES (#9).  

On the CENTER HOOD PANEL, mark seam allowance with an air-soluble fabric marker/pencil and then clip inside (about 1/4") to allow for a smooth fitting.  (We are marking the seam allowance to make sure that we do not clip too far into seams.)

 

 

 

Pin and sew with a 1/2" seam.  

 

Clipping is very effective.

 

Here it is sewn:

Remove pins and press seam allowance toward the center hood.  

Edge-stitch the seam from the right side, if desired.  I am edgestiching the center hood (and everything else).

**Since I am edge/topstitching, instead of using pinking shears, I am grading the seam allowance.  To grade your seams, when your instructions direct you to press seams to one side, trim the enclosed seam allowance to about half the width of the top seam allowance before edge/topstitching.  There is a diagram in the pattern instructions.

 

Here is my one of my hood seams being graded and ready for edge-stitching.  Notice that I trimmed one of the seams, now, I am ready to press and edge-stitch.

 

Repeat above steps for the other SIDE HOOD.

 

The outside of our hood is now complete.

 

 

Now, we will do the hood lining.

We are assembling the hood lining in the same manner, but no edge-stitching is to be done.

Press and trim seam allowance. *no picture*

Put main fabric and lining fabric hood pieces right sides together.

 

Stitch perimeter of hood with a 1/2" seam allowance (leave the lower (neck) edge open.

Trim to approximately 1/4."

Turn hood right side out, press lining *just inside* of the hood so the lining does not show on the right side.

Edgestitch the outer edge of the hood (if desired).

I desire topstitching, here is the hood with the lining rolled just inside of the hood with edgestitching.

 

Now, baste together the raw edges of the lining and hood at the neck.

 

Here is the bottom of the hood with basting stitches.

 

Put aside completed hood for now. We just made a hood!

 

Now, we will go ahead an make tabs.  

Gather your cut pieces for BUTTON TABS (#6), you should have 12 pieces.  

Fuse a small piece of interfacing to the wrong side of a tab piece at the markings you transferred from the pattern.  

Pin the interfaced tab to a non-interfaced tab right sides facing and stitch both long sides and one short side with a 1/2" seam.

Trim the seams to 1/8" and clip corners (be careful not to clip within seam allowances).

Turn tabs right side out.  I used wool and turning the tabs right side out was the most tedious part, it was so tiny and thick!

Press and edgestitch tab.  Repeat for the remaining 5 tabs.  

 

 

Stitch the marked buttonhole onto 3 of the 6 tabs.

*I did not photograph that step because I was not sure what buttons I wanted to use at the time...

Tabs are done, yea!

 

If I left out something, let me know!

 

School Days Coat Sew-a-Long, Day 1

I am really excited to host this sew-a-long, this is my first, if you have any suggestions or questions after I've posted, I am all ears.  Here's the schedule:

 

A few notes about this coat/jacket:  

• I wanted to complete this coat entirely before starting the sew-a-long just in case I ran into a few problems with my comprehension, I am happy to report that it all went smoothly!  

 

• Do not feel intimidated by this pattern, it is written very well.  There are mostly straight lines if that's a concern, there are a few curves, but, just go slowly.  

 

• You do not need a serger for this pattern, I have one (that I love) and I turned it on once near the very end for a 2.5" piece (x 2), you can use a zigzag stitch for this small piece.  Since the coat is lined, there was no need for anything extra to finish it.

 

• There is a little bit of hand sewing, near the end of completion, it was quite therapeutic!  

 

 

Let's begin preparing our fabrics, notions, and pattern for our coat.  Here are the views from which you can decide:

 

NOTIONS: JACKET - Thread, 2 large snaps or Velcro© patches for front closure.

VIEW A - 3 toggle buttons with 1 yard of leather or fabric cording (handmade or purchased).

VIEW B - Three 3/4” buttons. 

 

I am making the VIEW B coat, which has tabs instead of toggle buttons and cording.  I am using 2 Velcro pieces instead of snaps to close the jacket. 

I am using wool for the outer fabric and a voile for the lining. You can read more about Anna Maria Horner's voile right here. You can buy some from Melanie here. Voile is soft and feels a little slippery, so, it will be easy to slide in and out of the coat. It really feels so good.

 

 

Gather your pattern and trace it or cut it out. I personally do not recommend cutting it out, it is now an out of print pattern, costs $16, and you very well may have the urge to make this again, I am ready to make another one!

 

When you trace your pattern, be sure to transfer all markings, including the size and every single notch. When doing notches, I make a snip into the fabric well within the seam allowance (which is 1/2").

Get started on cutting out all of your pieces. There will be 10-11 pieces to cut out on your main fabric depending on the view that you choose and 6 pieces for the lining. It takes a while to get all of this done, really, the most time-consuming part! The cutting layout is on the the pattern pieces page, make sure that you place that back in your envelope if you cut it out. Once I cut out my pattern pieces, I keep them pinned in place until I am ready to sew with them, this is especially helpful with this many pattern pieces (and some of them are the same piece for the lining and main fabric).

 

 

Well, get started and we will meet back here on Sunday!  Have a fun Halloween!

*graphics courtesy of Shabby Princess & Oliver + S.

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

When I told mini me that I was baking cookies, I heard the anticipated pitter patter towards the kitchen. Shortly, we gathered all of our tools and ingredients.

Yes, that scooper is VITAL in this kitchen.

 

From a 42" person's view:

Let's get it started!

 

Toast your pecans while mixing everything else...

Whisk your flour, salt, and soda

Mmm...sugars...

Mix it, mix it good

Add flour mix to butter sugar (here's a tip for chewy, crispy cookies--melt at least one stick of your butter).

Chop cooled pecans.

Add morsels and pecans.

Jimmy would eat cookie dough if allowed--yuck.

Bake for 11 minutes.

Hot!

Warm!

Cool!

 

Gone!