January 2017 – thedementedfairy

January 29, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #11: Hem-hem

My lovely wife tried the coat on again, and decided she doesn’t want to lose any of the length at all, so a ‘normal’ hem was not in the running. However, I noticed that somewhere along the line [maybe when I added the extra interfacing?] the back had become stretched/distorted and wasn’t lying smoothly along … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #11: Hem-hem

January 29, 2017

Testing, testing…

I’m going to be a pattern tester! Squeeee! I’m forever seeing people post the results of being a tester, and I think it’s very exciting to be part of a creative process. I saw something on Facebook yesterday, asking for testers, and was fortunately roughly the right size, so I volunteered. Saying no more until … Continue reading Testing, testing…

January 25, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #10: Bringing it together

My poor fingers! What I done today: Attached wool undercollar to main coat Joined coat and lining Made faced buttonhole openings on the lining/facing side, using silk organza and some swear words Understitched the facings by hand, because it looks nicer on thick fabrics, avoiding all my usual wobbly and wonky machine stitching Did a … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #10: Bringing it together

January 22, 2017January 24, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #9:structure

Tailoring, Fairy style: I’ve never been trained, don’t own any sewing books, and basically either make things up as I go or use good old t’Internet. So this is a combination of laziness, excellent blog posts [eg Gertie’s] and good old ‘needs must’. I’m more than happy to be informed of better methods, I’ve bled … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #9:structure

January 21, 2017

Dawn’s coat #8: Sleevils

Long seams all done, and a quick try on for the missus [very happy indeed, much strutting and swishing], so on to the sleeves. Unusual drafting and assembly here- remember that odd cuff design? It’s a tapered pattern piece, so that the short cuff edge meets the long cuff edge. Not acceptable I’m afraid Simplicity! … Continue reading Dawn’s coat #8: Sleevils

January 21, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #7: The seamy side

The long seams are all sewn and pressed [that was very hot sweaty work], and slow but sure, they’re also being caught down to the underlining. This really does make a difference to the finish on special projects, and is not too boring as long as I have an audiobook to listen to. While I … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #7: The seamy side

January 19, 2017

Dawn’s coat #6: Pocketer-pocketer

Not a huge amount of energy tonight [I swear those GCSE students are psychic vampires] but I managed to neaten the insides of the buttonholes, and make the pockets on the coat. Nicely drafted these, with cute little curves at the top so they don’t get caught into the side seams and made smaller. My … Continue reading Dawn’s coat #6: Pocketer-pocketer

January 18, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #5: buttonholes!

That didn’t take all that long, but it did take some concentration! Just before I started, I decided to interface the coat front, and then had some issues with it bubbling a bit. Gah! Fortunately, it’s a good quality woven fusible, and is fairly amenable to being pulled off and re positioned. It’s far from … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #5: buttonholes!

January 17, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #4- pipe smokin’

I didn’t get much done yesterday, but I’m happy with what I did. I joined the front facings to the upper collar piece, and CAREFULLY pressed that so-easily-scorchable lining. Thank you pressing cloth! Then I carefully marked the seam line on the facing edge, and basted a folded piece of burgundy shot taffeta bias binding … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #4- pipe smokin’

January 15, 2017

Dawn’s Coat #3: Cutting Edge

I got it aaaaallllllll cut out today. The lining, and the main fabric were straightforward enough, but I went more slowly than usual because of the price of it all! I dug out duvet cover which we hardly used because its taffeta top layer was beautiful but deafening, and used the [poly?]cotton back of it … Continue reading Dawn’s Coat #3: Cutting Edge