Red plaid wool coat Part 2, bound buttonholes and other details

Onward with my red wool coat that I started in the previous post. I need to finish it the next day or so as this upcoming weekend we have the Bay Area Frocktails event and I might as well wear it then. Because winter is fleeing fast, it's barely coat weather anymore. Just days of sunshine, which might sound nice and it is, but as usual we need the rain.

A downside of having the flu was that I certainly couldn't go out and buy buttons, so I boldly just made them and figured I would find an appropriately sized button later. Which might turn out to be easier said than done...I did stop by Stone Mountain on Sunday but didn't see anything that looked good with this coat. I have a specific thing in mind which is often trouble when shopping. In any case
the buttonholes are done. I chose a dimension that I thought looked good with the proportions of the coat. They are 1 1/8" wide and the welts are 1/4" wide.



Shown above is my tester. I always do two of them, spaced the distance apart that I'm planning for the coat or jacket so I can see proportions, how they look when completed. I'm a bit of a Goldilocks when it comes to details like this, never use the markings on the pattern and just play around with spacing until it looks juuuuuust right.

With a coat like this with a waist seam you have to take that into consideration, and also the collar area. So I start just under the collar, and also decide where near the waist I want a button, and then work my way from there.

Once I've decided spacing, then it's time to mark the buttonholes. I do it very similarly to a welt pocket, additionally creating what I call a thread ladder so the placement is even from the edge all the way down. Note I've marked the edge seam allowance stitch line, which is 5/8" in from the edge, and then the second red line is the coat center front. The buttonholes should cross over the center front a bit, between 1/8" and 1/4". Depends on the size of button and the thickness of fabric.



Once it is marked in pencil or chalk on the inside I go over each line with a thread trace. Using a very contrast-y thread color. This is going to be used on the right side so that's why the contrast is important. Mostly I use silk thread for this as it pulls out so easily. No knots, just running stitch along the lines.

Shown below, this is what you see on the right side, the blue thread ladder which makes it possible to place all the buttonholes accurately and evenly.




Next step is placing the welt pieces across the button placement marking. I neglected to take a picture when I sewed the welts. I've found that it's easier to start with a length of fabric, about 1.5" wide, press in half with a good crease, then stitch 1/4" in from the folded edge, and then use the rotary cutter to trim the other side so the finished welt is precisely 1/2" wide.



The welt pieces are placed across the button markings, and then the ladder part of the thread trace is used to make the chalk marks which show where to start/stop stitching the welts.




Then I stitch them down, right on top of the existing stitching, reversing at the ends and then tying off the threads in knots. (which may not be necessary but that's how I started doing it so I continue :)
Also I've found that using the open toe foot on my modern sewing machine is really helpful, the regular foot has a bit of plastic in the center that while clear, doesn't really let you see where the needle is going. On my old Singers I do love the straight stitch foot, you can always see exactly where you are stitching.

Next it's time to boldly cut open the buttonholes. I say boldly but I really mean carefully and precisely!




They are cut just like a welt pocket, but in miniature. It's extremely important to make those little triangles big enough so that you can stitch them down at the sides of the buttonhole. I tend to mentally divide the length of the buttonhole into thirds and then have each triangle a third of the total length. With tightly woven fabrics you have to cut very accurately all the way to the stitching, with loosely woven fabrics such as this one it's better to cut where it looks correct, and then flip it over and see how it looks on the right side. Because the loosely woven fabric tends to unravel a bit so it's best not to overdo the cuts. At this point I give it a good press on the wrong side and would probably trim off the ends a bit although not necessary at this point.

They were all finished, pressed, basted shut and I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself when I realized that I hadn't sewn down the edges. Duh! I blame the remnants of being sick for my brain fog. But fortunately I did remember, see below. A wooden kitchen skewer makes a good tool for holding that little triangle bit in place as you stitch, with the zipper foot to get close to the edge.




Ready for more?  Now it's time to deal with the facing at the back of the buttonhole. I don't like the windowpane method, it seems like extra work plus how can you get it to match exactly to the buttonholes in the coat or jacket front? I see a lot of people using this method but I prefer to cut and hand stitch the facing.

Here's the coat with the collar sewn on, and the facing attached. But before I trimmed the seam edge along the front and on the collar.



So here is how I do the back. Once the front facing is pressed I might baste that edge with silk thread just to keep that crease (which I did here).  Then the most important step is to baste around each buttonhole so that the facing is locked against the buttonhole and can't shift. (yellow thread circles below). This is the right side of the coat. Button welts are basted shut also.



Then the fun (ha!) begins.
From the right side I poke a pin through each corner of the buttonhole. Then I snip a similar triangle cut on the facing, which will be turned under and hand stitched. Of course at this stage it's really important NOT to cut the button welts.



Once the facing is cut open I slip the four edges inside and hand stitch them down to the edges of the buttonhole. In this thick and loosely woven fabric the hand sewing doesn't show. I think hand sewing is something you get better at with practice, like anything else, over time you learn how loose or tight to pull the thread, a lot depends on the fabric you are working on. Also how to bury the stitches so they don't really show.



Here's another look.  I think in this one the three sides but not the top are sewn. By the way it makes me crazy how every photo has a different color.
Once it's finished the sewing is robust and then with a good press it is nice and smooth.



So that's the latest on my red coat. This might be more than anyone wanted to know about bound buttonholes but since I took all the photos I figures I might as well write it up.

Another result of my being stuck in the house is that I rummaged through my lining stash and came up with this pink satin which is a perfect weight for a coat. And a bold color choice but I think that now I like it.

As usual, I kind of free-form the lining, using the coat pattern pieces, and trim away at the front in order to match it up with the facings. Hand stitched in as the facing is tacked down already. Plus I'm a  hand stitched lining fan.



That's Part 2 of this coat, onward to finishing the hem tonight and then time to move on to other things. In fact I also stitched up a pair of Ash jeans yesterday as I teach a class this upcoming weekend at Hello Stitch and wanted to refresh my tired brain on the zipper fly construction. Which always comes out perfect with that Ash jeans pattern/instructions.

Happy Sewing,
Beth

Today's garden photo is a throwback to 2018 when this red rose was in bloom. I just looked at it today and it has all kinds of new growth so I'm hoping for some great blooms again this year.

Red plaid wool coat Part 1, preparation and fitting

Right around Christmas I ordered a couple of different wools from Mood Fabrics. I think I got an email that they had wools on sale, and I had been eyeing both of these fabrics for a few weeks, ever since I got swatches of both of them a few months previous. Any time I order from Mood I take advantage of the free swatches, even if I'm not really interested in the specific fabric it's nice to see them in person and compare to the online description, color etc. I think for some quantity of $ spent you get a free swatch, and then also for your orders you get points, so I had about $ 25 worth of points to use toward the cost of the order. In any case, it was a little holiday present to myself 😊.

So I will jump ahead a little bit and show you this coat in progress. Last week I was still stuck in the house recovering from the flu (quite a persistent bug!) but I'm finally feeling better after 2 weeks. But being stuck at home meant I could work on this a little bit each day, in between naps and Netflix.

I'm going to break up this project into several blog posts. It's been a while since I made a coat and I ended up taking a lot of photos during construction. So in this post I'll review some fit and construction things, then in the next post it will be all about the bound buttonholes. And after that I'll finish it and find an opportunity to take some pictures of me wearing it.



The color is just so beautiful, it's my ideal color of a red coat. And I will be ready next December to put this into heavy rotation for the holidays.

Sometime last year I kept looking at this pattern on the Burda website so I finally bought the PDF pattern and even printed it out. They had some very cute Burda Easy patterns on the old website, I also have a dress that I planned to make last summer but never got around to it. I don't know if this has a pattern number, but due to my strong dislike of zippers in wool coats I was only ever going to make the 1D version. Plus collarless, also not my favorite. I actually don't think this is all that simple, with that many darts and a center front separating zipper  - that is not in the easy category!




This color blocked dress lives on this dress form which I have adjusted and padded to mimic my measurements. It's really useful to use as a comparison for all kinds of patterns, particularly ones with a waist seam as I can see where the seam falls as compared to the dress. This is my go-to method for starting with pattern fitting. I prep the pattern pieces in my size (in Burda it's 38, in Vogue etc. it's 12)
and then I grade out as needed in the waist and hip. Then I pin in the darts, pin together any seams (such as princess seams), pin the front and back together at the shoulder and then put it over the form and see how it lines up. I also put it on myself and do the same checks. Granted that the dress on the form is a fitted dress but that's kind of good, as I can see how things line up, how much ease I want in what I'm sewing, how wide the shoulders are and also where the waist and bust line up on the paper versus the dress on the form.



You might not be able to see it but the waist seam on the pattern piece is above the one on the dress, and I thought it might need a bit of length, so I  made another comparison.

This is a coat I made a few years ago, which is probably a better comparison than a dress for a new coat. While the paper pattern was a bit awkward over the coat it showed me that the waist dart might need to be lowered a bit. I decided to split the front horizontally and give it about 1/2" more length, and rebel that I am, I didn't adjust the back. I decided that I could make the front and back side seams fit as needed with some easing and steam. Which worked but I'm getting a bit ahead.  I also added another 1/2" in length to the whole bodice at the bottom, both on the front and back pattern pieces but ended up removing that when I sewed it. Fundamentally I just created a 1" seam allowance on the bottom of the bodice pieces to use as adjustment area. On a lot of outerwear I use 1" seam allowances instead of altering the pattern as I like to see how things fit as I go along and a 1" seam allowance on several seams gives me enough room for adjustments I might need.



I also added 1" seam allowances on the side seams for more fit insurance. I think looking at the pattern pieces over the blue coat deceived my eye and I thought it would be too small. That turned out to be quite wrong.

Time to baste! As I have made a number of coats over the past few years I find that I can hand baste them together so much quicker and with more control than sewing on the machine. So I basted the skirt pieces to the upper pieces and also basted the side seams so I could try it on for size. Note the interfacing is not yet applied to the bottom front, but it will be the same as the upper, it's the Pro-Weft Supreme Lightweight from Fashion Sewing Supply.



With this preliminary try on I could see that I overdid it with adding to the side seams, so I seamed it in about 2" in the side seams. Once I decide on the side seams I mark with chalk, and while still basted together I cut away the excess. In this instance I left the side seams at 3/4".  Now I could take it apart and still know that when I sew the sides together the seam allowance is a steady 3/4" all over.



I sewed the sleeves and hand basted them on as well for a better idea of fit in the shoulders and around the bust. I pinned in some shoulder pads and tried it on, it seemed way too wide in the shoulders for the style. I also compared the width across the back to the blue coat and it was at least 1.5 inches wider. So I moved in the entire armhole by 1/2", also taking off that 1/2" at the top of the side seam. That maintains the armhole as the same - just shifting the entire thing toward the center.



In the above photo there is just one pocket flap, since that seam is hand basted I just put it on one side to see abut the placement. The skirt has some small gathers which are covered by the pocket flap. Which is a fake pocket! I did put pockets in the side seams, because a coat needs pockets.  The blue spots on the bottom of the skirt portion are pieces of painter's tape, which I sometimes use to distinguish right and wrong side. With this fabric I couldn't really tell a difference, but I always want to use all the same side so as I'm cutting out I either mark with wax chalk or put a piece of the blue tape.

Also no topstitching as shown in the pattern diagram. Everyone has their preference and I don't like the look of topstitching on wool, plus on this fabric it wouldn't even show. But to me it looks too casual. Another thing to notice - this is a plaid! (go back to the first photo) A lot of work for a plaid that isn't really multiple colors but the line pattern was all I could see as I prepared to cut it out and I knew it had to line up or it would make me crazy. I'm quite happy so far with how that detail has turned out.

So here is where I will leave it. Pockets sewn on, side seams finished, sleeves and sleeve heads attached, bound buttonholes still need some more detail work, collar needs trimming and grading, and then onto the lining.

Next post will be more than you may want to know about bound buttonholes!




My plan is to buy some buttons tomorrow - oh yes - I made the buttonholes not having any buttons but I was stuck at home so I just went for it and I'm sure I will find something nice. Next weekend is our Bay Area Sewists Frocktails event so if I get the buttons I will have a new coat to wear - even though coat weather is rapidly departing the bay area. You know I love summer but I wish it would rain (a lot) before our winter ends.

Happy Sewing,
Beth

Reaching back a few months to this lovely little flower on one of my succulents. Which are getting more and more space in the garden.

Final version: V7975 wool jacket with Avoca handwoven fabric from Ireland

Hello and welcome to so many new readers this month. This project was finished a week ago but I have been slow with my blog posts despite intentions in 2014 to post more often. In any case here is Vogue 7975 made with vintage handwoven wool fabric from Avoca Mills in Ireland. (note: this jacket is not for me, for one of my sewing clients)

Looking at this photo I see a need for a bit more pressing which I have done after I took the pics. This is such a great pattern, very easy to fit and I recommend it if you are wanting to try a first lined jacket. I did stray from the pattern design a bit and lined to the edge instead of any facings, mostly because this wool has the potential to be so itchy and I prefer lining against the neckline.

Whew, it is hard to photograph this color and have it look the same in each image. I am basically a rotten photographer and also very impatient when it comes to taking photos. I have read lots of blog posts about improving your photography - and one recommendation is always to take many many pictures so as capture the one very best one. However I am way too impatient for that and usually snapping away at the end of a project where I want to be done!  After all taking photos reduces sewing time, right? 

Do you love these buttons?  I do, they are just right. Thanks again to Stone Mountain in Berkeley, and their lovely wall of buttons. I took the finished front piece with me so that I could actually see the buttons in the buttonhole and how they the shape and size worked with it. I had intended to make smaller buttonholes but this was as small as could be done in this very ravel-y and springy wool.

I said ravel-y and yet it was a pain to get that fringe to separate. This is one tough wool. 

Inside of buttonholes. There are a lot of variation on bound buttonholes but I prefer the one with the least layers, if that makes sense. So no windows or squares cut. I sew on the welts, slice, turn, and then make the full lining. The very last step is to slice the lining and turn and hand stitch. Using this method you can control exactly were the lining is joined to the buttonhole, I think if you made little windows in the lining and they were not exactly centered over the buttonhole then what? I don't know as I have never tried it. Looking back through my previous blog posts I have not shown the step where I attach the lining so I will have to document that next time I do it. For more details on bound buttonholes here is a post with the steps shown. 

View of lining. It does look a bit bigger but that is intentional in this very fitted jacket, I often make the lining with a smidge more room than the outer layer to allow for a bit of movement. 

Side and back view.  Please ignore that big crease in the lower back. Ok now I am chagrined but I did press after these photos. However also note the great lines in this pattern, such perfect fitting sleeves and the princess seams allow for so many fitting options. 

One tiny tip for making patch pockets. As you may know I love my Chalkoner chalk markers and I like to make templates from pattern pieces, and then trace the seam line to make for super simple sewing.
So I made a template from the pocket pattern piece, including the seam allowance and them trace the line so I could attach the lining by sewing on the chalk line and get a smooth even balanced pocket.

Here are links to the previous posts on this jacket:

Part 1:  Info on Avoca Handweavers in Ireland, details on fabric prep and interfacings used

Part 2: Setting in sleeves, hem details

I made this same Vogue 7975 pattern back in October in plaid for myself, so if you want to see a different version and some details on working with plaid, here is the post. I wore this version a lot back in the fall but it was eclipsed by my wool herringbone tweed Burda jacket which is more of a neutral color so can be worn with more outfits. 

Up next some simple and happy sewing, t-shirts and other separates which are so much more useful than a sparkly plaid jacket, right?  I just got an order of super cute knits from Girl Charlee so I am itching to get started on those.

There has been a woeful lack of garden photos and I fear that this year will be a low point for my garden. Despite a bit of storm last week it is dry, dry, dry. No rain and nothing but sunshine. Which may sound good if you are suffering in the latest polar vortex but we will be in trouble this summer. In any event there are daffodils and a few tulips just starting. Also I have a new pet. OK, not really as I am wildly allergic to cats and only like to see them from a distance but for the last month this guy has been putting in a 9-5 day on my garden furniture with occasional attempts at gopher hunting. I wish he would catch that darn gopher which has eaten all my pansies in the front yard. I just makes me laugh to see him out there snoozing on his apparently favorite chair and drink water out of the bird bath.

Happy almost spring sewing,  Beth

Finishing Details: Bound Buttonholes on a wool coat

Let's start with a photo for a change.

I gave a peek recently at this winter coat at the end of a post and it is nearing the finish line. As I sewed the coat I didn't really take many photographs. A black wool coat is not the best subject for detail photographs and I was really concentrating on progress not documentation. However I have been doing the last steps before hemming and thought the back of a bound buttonhole is worth a look.

Bound buttonholes are my go-to solution  on this type of fabric. My Singer buttonhole attachment works really well but the thickness of the finished coat front precludes its use. Also the feed dogs on the attachment tend to shred the fibers a bit, although I have a little trick using a piece of cardstock that I should remember to show one of these days.

Here is the inside of the coat front, with the bound buttonholes sewn.  But not completed! In fact the front is only half the story.

To complete the back here are the steps I use.  

• sew the facings to coat front and give them a proper pressing
• baste the garment edge together in a long running stitch (see below in pink silk thread)
• while coat front is flat on the table, baste around each buttonhole, securing the coat front to the coat facing. This is to keep the facing in the right place relative to the coat front and the buttonholes. (see below in white silk thread)

Now to find where I am going to cut, I place pins through the end of each buttonhole and mark with chalk. 

Then I cut along the chalk mark. The actual cut is very similar to the inverted Arrow shaped cut that is done on the actual buttonholes on the garment front.  Sorry for the out of focus photo here but you can see the chalk marks and the triangle shape cuts.  The most important point here is NOT to cut those buttonhole lips on the front of the garment...which is a bit tricky as the whole thing is sandwiched together with that circle of basting.  

The last step is to tuck those 4 triangle-y bits under and hand stitch all around the edge. It might sound a bit fiddly but it works really well and in this type of fabric the stitches disappear.  Here is the finished buttonhole reverse, just needs some steam to smooth everything out.

Here is another example, on the olive green corduroy jacket I recently made. It is a little easier to see it and I admit, easier to sew it. The black wool plus fusible interfacing made the fabric a bit bulky and not easy to flip those little quarter inch wide flaps inside. 

After all the bound buttonholes are done I like to take a break...or shall I say a sigh of relief? They do make me a bit anxious, despite making them for a good long while. I think because it is so definite - once you make the slice in that coat or jacket front you are commited, no turning back. So time for a small celebration, preferably involving a twist of lemon and some ice cubes tinkling in a glass. You get the picture.

But that is only one side of the coat front, we still have to sew on the buttons. Easy-peasy, right?  This is one of those simple tasks that can elevate a coat to perfectly classy or class clown. I know you have tried on a coat in a store and the buttons were sewn on a bit wonky so that the coat front tugged all the wrong ways, ruining the look. Sometimes sewing students have the tendency to sew the buttons on too tightly causing this same problem.  Buttons need breathing space :) 

For these large buttons a pencil is the perfect size to use as a spacer. I also have a gizmo which I showed in my corduroy jacket post but I find the pencil works really well too. Prior to hemming I sew the buttons on lightly, with just a few turns of the thread, so that in case they are not exactly right I can easily move. It never fails that there is one rogue button needing to be moved by the teensiest eighth of an inch, but what a difference that makes (see above - button wonkiness).

If I haven't convinced you yet that the button needs space, here is proof. That button shank needs to hold the button through almost 1/2 inch of coat front.   On the right is the button sewn on, looking like some weird flying saucer, surverying the sewing room. Getting a look at my yet unfinished fuschia wool jacket in the mirror. But really it's just to show that the button thread shank is important. 

When I finish this coat I will take lots of photos and give details on the pattern(s) used.

Enough about all things button related.  That twist of lemon is calling me.
In other important news, we have Tulips !  oooh I love this photo, so green. We need to enjoy it while we can when the brief green season is here.
Happy Spring sewing, Beth