winter

Winter Coat Part 5!

September 27, 2015 By Mary Peterson 10 Comments

Hi Everyone!

.

I know, I know, I have been stalling long enough. BUT in my defense I have had a lot of design problems to work through. The gusset question is just one of them. Below you see my original thought. And here is another BUT! I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stitch it down. I felt I should sit with it for a while and sure enough…I have a new plan which I hope to unveil in the next week or two.

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I have to fill in the underarm but with what? is the question!!!

.

This was my first plan but I don’t like it!

.

My new plan is a little less obvious than this. I am going to use the herringbone fabric to fill in the area and the seam that it will create will be less obvious. It should blend in a lot better.

.

Back to the drawing board!

Let me know what you think!!!!

.

’til then…

Love ya!

Mary

Refashion Drama-Winter Coat Part 4

March 1, 2015 By Mary Peterson 4 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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This is where we left off on my “Little” coat project.

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Well, I will give you the bad news first. There was a terrible drama in part 4 of my coat! BUT the good news is that I think it happened for the best, and this project will emerge much better for the loss! What was the loss? About 2 weeks ago I decided to clean up and organize my sewing room a bit. I put scraps to toss in one bag, and all of the remaining pieces of my coat in another bag. Being the happy homemaker, I cleaned up my room to make it ready for part 4 and threw away what I “thought” was the bag of scraps. BUT GASP! IT WAS THE REST OF MY COAT! Once I discovered my mistake, the trash was gone. Never one to give up, I knew exactly what I needed to do to get out of this predicament. So, for the last 2 to 3 weeks I have been haunting the thrift shops looking for yet another wool sport coat. The color I had in mind was a dark shade of blue or teal and I FOUND IT YESTERDAY!

The picture does not do the color justice. It is a beautiful teal blue. This will actually solve a lot of problems for me. I will be able to use the pocket flaps of the teal coat as is and there will be no need to create new ones from the black scraps. Also, One of my side panels had this little problem. What you see next to the red pin is the remainder of the black pockets. I will be able to change this side panel under the arm to the teal color and take away this flaw.

My Sleeves will be in the teal color too. I am still deciding how to go with the back. and the bottom.

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What have I learned from all of this drama? #1 If you want to make a winter coat start in the Spring LOL! I have got to get busy now, but I will leave you with my latest find. The dress below was only $5, tags still attached, and my perfect size. Don’tcha’ love it? I have paired it with leggings and boots. No refashion required.

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I am working on several sweater rehabs and now I can continue on this darn coat.

’til next time…

Love ya,

Mary

Winter Coat Part 3

January 11, 2015 By Mary Peterson 7 Comments

Hello Everyone!

OK everyone! When last you saw my winter coat, I had just made changes to one side in order to combine the two jackets. The next step was to mark the changes and transfer them over to the other side.

.

Trace basting is the method I use to mark the new changes. Just “trace the new line with a needle and thread like you see here. After the tracing is done, I released the herringbone piece.

.

I cut the seam allowance to fit the new design lines, put right sides together, and cut the other side to match without disturbing the interfacing!

.

My design professor would shudder if she knew how I did this step. I left the pins in the altered piece put it on top of the other side and pinned it until it matched. Not exactly the way it should be done, but I am patient and I got it right!

.

Next I put the panels back together. Looking better already…Don’t you think?

.

Whew! This IS a lot of work! Hopefully it will be done before out winter is over here in SoCal.
As always, let me know what you think? Are you brave enough to make a coat this year?

“til later…

Love Ya,

Mary

Winter Coat- Part 2

December 26, 2014 By Mary Peterson 5 Comments

Hello Everyone!

.

Time for part 2 everyone! I have been dancing around this project for a couple of weeks now! What have I gotten myself into? My first step was to take off the black sleeve and open up the side seam. I only work on one side at a time. I didn’t meticulously pick the seams open and as you will see my tendency to rush will cost me a little time on this one! In this picture you can see where I pinned my new design line for the front. I am still not sure how the herringbone will work into the sides at this point.

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I closed my eyes and cut the new design line for the front of the jacket.

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I should not have taken the back panel out of the jacket and realized it after the fact. My bad, I had to put it back in. Sometimes I just get ahead of myself.

.

Here you see I totally took apart the herringbone jacket and shaped the new side panel. I am still not sure how the back is going to look or if I will be able to add to the bottom of the coat. At this point a shorter coat may be the only option. We will see how things move along.

.

It took me a while but I think I finally have the herringbone panel settled.

.

Here is the side seam and back panel as it stands now. I am beginning to see that I will have to add a gusset to the underarm. All of my usual tricks to raise the armhole are not going to be enough here.

.

Now it is time for me to mark the new design lines and transfer them to the other side. That will be part 3!

‘Til then,

Love ya…Mary

WInter Coat Part 1-The Plan

November 29, 2014 By Mary Peterson 9 Comments

Hello Everyone!

.

Did you know the hardest part of refashion blogging is not the sewing? The hardest part is blogging and putting together your steps together coherently so others can follow what you did! It is especially hard for me because I tend to be a bit of a multi-tasker. At any given moment I have 5 or six projects in the front of my mind and 5 or 6 in the back simmering. I can’t quantify what makes me attack one project as opposed to the other, and sometimes I walk away to think it over before I know how to keep going with it. This leads me to forget if I took pictures of my steps. Then there have even been projects that were too hard for me to go back and figure out the steps, so you don’t see them.

So, for this project I am going to try something new. I will post the steps of this refashion as I complete them. At the end I should have a finished coat. This I have to tell you is scary for me. Will it be a success? Or will it be a flop? Stick with me and we will find out!!!!

.

It all began when I saw this article about “Contrast Coats” in the magazine InStyle.

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This got me thinking about all of those great men’s suit jackets I see in the thrift stores. I purchased the two you see below at the American Way Thrift Store for a mere $5 for the two of them. The black one is wool and the herringbone jacket is a silk weave. Both are “about” the same weight.

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The next thing you see is my plan. I guarantee it will probably change from this, but what you see is the way I am thinking of combining the two. At this point I am not even sure where I want each to go. Gotta step away and think! 🙂

.

Part 2 to come soon! And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to fit a few other projects between episodes

Stay tuned!

’til next time…

Love Ya,

Mary

winter

Hi Everyone!

.

.

I have to fill in the underarm but with what? is the question!!!

.

This was my first plan but I don’t like it!

.

My new plan is a little less obvious than this. I am going to use the herringbone fabric to fill in the area and the seam that it will create will be less obvious. It should blend in a lot better.

.

Back to the drawing board!

Let me know what you think!!!!

.

’til then…

Love ya!

Mary

Hi Everyone!

.

This is where we left off on my “Little” coat project.

.

My Sleeves will be in the teal color too. I am still deciding how to go with the back. and the bottom.

.

.

I am working on several sweater rehabs and now I can continue on this darn coat.

’til next time…

Love ya,

Mary

Hello Everyone!

OK everyone! When last you saw my winter coat, I had just made changes to one side in order to combine the two jackets. The next step was to mark the changes and transfer them over to the other side.

.

.

Trace basting is the method I use to mark the new changes. Just “trace the new line with a needle and thread like you see here. After the tracing is done, I released the herringbone piece.

.

.

I cut the seam allowance to fit the new design lines, put right sides together, and cut the other side to match without disturbing the interfacing!

.

My design professor would shudder if she knew how I did this step. I left the pins in the altered piece put it on top of the other side and pinned it until it matched. Not exactly the way it should be done, but I am patient and I got it right!

.

Next I put the panels back together. Looking better already…Don’t you think?

.

Whew! This IS a lot of work! Hopefully it will be done before out winter is over here in SoCal. As always, let me know what you think? Are you brave enough to make a coat this year?

“til later…

Love Ya,

Mary

Hello Everyone!

.

.

I closed my eyes and cut the new design line for the front of the jacket.

.

I should not have taken the back panel out of the jacket and realized it after the fact. My bad, I had to put it back in. Sometimes I just get ahead of myself.

.

Here you see I totally took apart the herringbone jacket and shaped the new side panel. I am still not sure how the back is going to look or if I will be able to add to the bottom of the coat. At this point a shorter coat may be the only option. We will see how things move along.

.

It took me a while but I think I finally have the herringbone panel settled.

.

Here is the side seam and back panel as it stands now. I am beginning to see that I will have to add a gusset to the underarm. All of my usual tricks to raise the armhole are not going to be enough here.

.

Now it is time for me to mark the new design lines and transfer them to the other side. That will be part 3!

‘Til then,

Love ya…Mary

Hello Everyone!

.

So, for this project I am going to try something new. I will post the steps of this refashion as I complete them. At the end I should have a finished coat. This I have to tell you is scary for me. Will it be a success? Or will it be a flop? Stick with me and we will find out!!!!

.

It all began when I saw this article about “Contrast Coats” in the magazine InStyle.

.

.

The next thing you see is my plan. I guarantee it will probably change from this, but what you see is the way I am thinking of combining the two. At this point I am not even sure where I want each to go. Gotta step away and think! 🙂

.

Part 2 to come soon! And don’t worry, I’ll be sure to fit a few other projects between episodes

Stay tuned!

’til next time…

Love Ya,

Mary

Whew! This IS a lot of work! Hopefully it will be done before out winter is over here in SoCal.
As always, let me know what you think? Are you brave enough to make a coat this year?