butterick 5203

Happy New Year!!

It has been a long time between posts. I am pretty sure that is par for the course during the holidays. So I wanted to make sure my next project was worth the wait.

This pattern is actually supposed to be a dress. I decided though that it would be too cute as a coat not to make it that. So I bought this killer home dec fabric and got started.

It started out great and I could feel my self getting back into the swing of sewing. It had been a while since I sat at my machine and I was a little nervous about how it would go.

But once the bodice and collar were assembled, everything went to hell. The neck was so big. The collar is supposed to fit closely to your neck and mine was somewhere middle of my shoulder. It had an interesting Star Trekky look but I just couldn't (and believe me I really wanted to) make it work. I wanted to make it work so bad that I actually finished the coat, buttons and all, just hoping that it would just magically come together. It didn't. My husband couldn't even hide the fact that it looked weird and he tries really hard.

So that is when I got up to sewing machine and started to have the mother of all pity parties. I berrated myself for not having any real talent, only being able to make copies of someone else's hard work, hell, I even trace it!! I was pissed that everything takes me 4 million times longer than any one else. - It was a pretty pathetic display. My husband and daughter even left for the afternoon, I think I was bringing them down.

I sucked it up, I sat down and I started ripping and sewing. I wasn't about to redo the whole thing but I was going to do what I had heard Tim Gunn say a million times - Make it work.

And that is what I did.

So now I want to say I learned some sort of amazing sewing lesson. I didn't. My shoulder seams were too narrow. Nothing epic there. But what I did take from this was the real meaning of "Make it work". I love you, Tim Gunn.

So here is the coat. And although it isn't lined (a pretty big no no in the world of outerwear) I am actually pretty happy with it. Far from perfect but I would still say far from ugly.

I chose the long sleeve pattern. I and also chose to do 3 off center buttons instead of four buttons, double breasted style. Really happy I did that. I think it adds a little funk to it, in a good way.


The pattern -

The front -

The back -

So, a long post for the new year but it is good to be back!