The coat chronicles continued .....

A big thank you to everyone who commented on my dithering over the Lady Grey coat pattern in my last post. Your extremely astute opinions helped me clarify what I really felt about my dilemma. The overwhelming consensus was, at the very least, proceed with caution! Some said don’t do it at all. Whilst I am not saying that I’m never going to make it, I have decided that I am definitely not going to make it now. I shall, however, be following the Sew-Along with keen interest and envious admiration.

I do love the pattern but, as I am small, top heavy, short-waisted and not particularly thin, I really don’t think this is the style for me. I have to confess, however, that I don’t always follow the ‘rules’ when it comes to determining what I might look good in and what I want to make. For instance, it is often advised that small ladies should avoid full length dresses and large prints, yet one of my favourite dresses is my maxi dress, made from Simplicity 3503 (blogged about here and here). It’s long and the print is huge. I totally agree with the advice that The Slapdash Sewist offered me: “if you're comfortable in what you're wearing, you'll look good. So just *decide* it's going to flatter you and it will”. I think that is very true of my maxi dress – it doesn’t really matter whether it actually flatters me or not because every time I put it on it makes me feel cool and carefree and makes me smile!

So I don’t mind taking risks when deciding what to sew but I’m not in the mood to do it with a coat. A coat is a lot of work and takes up a lot of space in the wardrobe so I want a coat that I am going to be able to wear often and always feel good in. Lindsay T commented that she felt I would “look better in a more streamlined and classic style”. As soon as I read that I thought YES, that’s what I really want – streamlined and classic is what my wardrobe needs. So I have been looking through pattern catalogues and my collection of Burda magazines to find something that fits the bill and have found some promising contenders.

Still obsessed with the idea of my coat being camel, I set off for the Goldhawk Road to do some research on cost and availability of camel coloured coating. I went into most of the stores before finding exactly what I wanted. My credit card came out and what was supposed to be a research mission turned into a buying trip. Here it is, pictured with the reference books I have been studying in preparation for the task!

It’s 100% wool, beautifully soft and is a delicious melted toffee shade. It cost £12 per metre.

So, last week I had a coat pattern but no fabric. Now I have the fabric but no coat pattern!

I have to tell you that I am quite exhausted by this coat before I have even begun so, for now, I am going to turn my energy to making a few less demanding items of clothing to get my autumn wardrobe going. After all, I am going to be needing something to wear underneath this coat, when it finally gets made!

In the meantime, what about you - do you know what ‘the rules’ for your particular body shape are? Do you care?

two great things for the sewing obsessed

It has been a year since my sewing obsession took a real hold on me - I posted my first ever review on Pattern Review on 20 January 2009. So, to mark my first year of serious sewing I treated myself to a couple of things that I have been yearning for.

Firstly, this DVD Rom

This DVD puts the entire Threads magazine archive from 1985 to 2009 on to your very own computer. That’s 146 issues and you can read every page of every issue “faithfully reproduced and in its entirety” (I quote here from the box). It shows you thumbnails of all the covers, which you can click on to open them up and browse through the pages, or you can use the search facility that allows you to quickly find any particular subject or article that you’re interested in. You can then zoom in and read it in detail or you can easily print it out. It costs $149.95 (they ship to the UK), which is quite an investment but I really do LOVE it and so, for me, it’s been money well spent.

My second indulgence was this book

I have to confess that I do already have a lot of sewing reference books (how many would be too many, I wonder?) but this one really is wonderful and has taken over as my ‘go to’ book. It has had some glowing reviews on the U.S. Amazon website (click here if you want to read them) and I can see why.

It’s a very comprehensive guide (560 pages) to sewing the professional way but if you are a home sewist (like me), don’t think it’s not for you. It is written in easy to understand language and has very clear illustrations. I have taken a picture, at random, of a couple of pages to give you a ‘sneak peak’ at what it looks like inside.


I love it because it takes a fresh and modern approach, both in its style and in the advice it gives.

There is, of course, one drawback with my new purchases – too much reading about sewing and not enough actual sewing! Do you have this problem, or is it just me?

Oooooh ..... look what I got!

Christmas is such a lovely celebration, isn’t it? Spending time with friends and family, entertaining and visiting and feeling thankful for all life’s pleasures is such a nice feeling! And getting presents!!! I got so many nice things this year but what I’m keen to show you, of course, is my sewing and fashion related gifts, which were all from my lovely husband, Mr. Fabulous.

Firstly, something practical - a pressing mitt and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with this. I’ve already tried it out and can report that it really does work! I’ve put my hand in it and wooshed loads of steam over it and didn’t burn my hand at all. I’m very keen to use it on a real garment. I think, however, the nicest thing about this present is that I didn’t ask for it. Mr Fabulous ventured into a sewing supplies store all on his own and, with some consultation with the store owner, worked out something that I didn’t have that would be good to have! Isn’t that amazing? I have no idea what David Beckham bought for Victoria or Tom Cruise bought for Katie but I bet it wasn’t half as nice or as thoughtful as my pressing mitt!

I also got four wonderful books to add to my growing library. The first one (pictured next to my pressing mitt), called Patternmaking for Fashion Design, by Helen Joseph-Armstrong, is a real technical bible, of over 800 pages. It offers “detailed yet easy-to-understand explanations of the essence of patternmaking”. For those who want to make their own patterns from scratch this is an amazing book but it is also full of useful information for people, like me, who want to understand how commercial patterns are drafted and learn how to alter and adapt them.

The next two books are real inspirational ones. Forties Fashion - From Siren Suits to the New Look, by Jonathan Walford is full of wonderful photographs and fascinating information about how “fashion was considered not a frivolity but an aesthetic expression of circumstances in the 1940’s”. I’m really going to enjoy reading this one.

Mrs O The Face of Fashion Democracy, by Mary Tomer is a truly fabulous source for those of us who admire Michelle Obama’s sense of style. This is where I have to say thank you to Carolyn, of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic, because it was reading Carolyn's blog post about this book that motivated me to put it on my wish list. Now that it is in my hands, I can assure you that I am not disappointed. I have been poring over every page and am already thinking about how the patterns in my stash can be adapted so that I can ‘steal’ some of Mrs O’s style.

Lastly is The American Fashion Cookbook – Over 100 Recipes of Favorite Designers, by the Council of Fashion Designers in America. Now, if you love fashion and like to cook, this is one for you! The illustrations are great fun and a lot of the recipes really look to me like they’re going to be worth cooking up – I’m planning on making Michael Kors’ ‘Grandma Bea’s Pot Roast’ and Diane von Furstenberg’s ‘Saturday Night Chicken’ pretty soon. To be followed by Cynthia Steffe’s ‘Apple Crisp’. However, I had better be a bit careful dipping into this book because, after all my Christmas feasting, my waistband is already feeling a little tight. Much more food and my carefully altered and fitted TNT patterns are going to have to be redone several sizes larger!

So, lucky me! Do you like what I got? I'd love to know what you got …………..