Pattern: Vogue 8548

Fabric Used: 3 yards of brown quilted material. It is part of some sort of designer 'dark collection' but I should have paid more attention. What can I say, I bought the material before I had a blog! I also used 2 yards of cream-colored lining.

Notions: Two 1 3/8" brown buttons

Description: Lined coat has bodice with princess seams, A-line skirt and full-length sleeves. Length is mid-thigh.

I really do love this coat, but I had to make some alterations to it. Mostly the alterations were not due to the pattern not fitting, but because I was trying to fit into 1 size smaller than the pattern instructions had indicated. Sometimes I fudge the size a bit. I usually go one size smaller than the pattern instructs, but this time I tried two sizes down! I should have known that my shoulders would not fit into a smaller size... and my arm-length is similar to that of a chimpanzee!

So I had to alter the pattern to make it fit. I left the back the same but I cut out new pieces for the front bodice, front facing, front skirt and front skirt lining. I cut them out in the correct size and then added several inches to make the coat fold over a little better in the front.

I also had to add length to the arms, despite the fact that I added an inch to the sleeve when I cut them. They were still a bit too short when I hemmed the sleeves, so I took out the stitches and sewed another 4 or 5" inches to the end of the sleeve. Then I folded the newly sewn piece inside the sleeve, pressed it and then sewed it to the lining. So the very fold of the sleeve has a seam on it, but it doesn't look too much like a hack job. I don't think anyone would notice it. I'm sure that's not the best way to lengthen sleeves, but I'll tell you I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Next time I would cut the coat in the correct size! Or maybe even make a muslin first. I wanted to make a muslin but I was out of fabric and eager to get going on the coat. What an ammeter mistake!

Editors Note: I should also mention that I completely ignored the instructions for lining this coat. The instructions suggest that you sew the bodice lining in and then sew the skirt lining in and then somehow hand sew the two together at the end. I didn't take the time to try to determine what they were asking me to do. I just sewed all of the lining together as one piece and then sewed it all (bodice and skirt) into the jacket using the standard methods once the entire outer jacket was finished.

I'm dying to get going on my next projects, using the lovely fabric I picked up in South Carolina, but I am in dire need of some warm lounge wear pants for around the house. For around-the-house pants I use Simplicity 3640. I add length to the pants for a 34" inseam and also reduce the rise by 1" so they fit a little lower. I also have some extra grey polar fleece from my wool coat project in an earlier post. I'm hoping to make another fleece top out of that, but I haven't determined what pattern to use yet. I plan on sewing tonight instead of after I clean my house.