Lady in the House

OK, Lovelies, here's a close up of the Lady Grey Coat, constructed via the incredible Lady Grey Sew Along. Do you think it would have killed the photography gods to give me a few good shots of my face?!?

At any rate, in the interests of forestalling mutiny (y'all have been the most patient crowd ever), I present to you the finished product:

FYI, the collar isn't generally wonky, I just smushed it up by accident in this shot...

Is it me, or is all you can focus on here the stray hair stuck on the belt?

I pick stitched both sides of this freakin' collar - because first off I did the wrong side by accident?! Fortunately, you can't see my efforts on either side (cuz they're not particularly good).

This shot points out how I'm going to have to put a snap at the bottom of the right lapel, above my left hand, because the fabric is just too plentiful there. It needs to be stabilized against my chest.

This shot is specifically to show off my WendyB asterisk ring!

The bound button hole that actually worked well. There's another I don't intend to show you!

So there you go. Please say some good things - or some constructive ones - because this freakin' thing clocked in at 100 plus hours of labour (though still estimate another hour to go by the time I snap it an catch stitch the ribbon hem to the fashion fabric hem) and about $175.00.

To answer a popular question: Do I like it, now that it's done?

Well, that's not a fast answer. I do like it more than I did a couple of weeks ago (thank the sewing goddess) when I wanted to hurl it across the room. I suspect, some of my dislike was related to my tremendous sewing-fatigue. When I signed up for the sew along, it was my goal to learn. On that level, I achieved and then exceeded my every expectation. However, from the get-go, I didn't particularly jibe with the pattern. Don't get me wrong, I see it's appeal and I do think it's a lovely shape. But I felt it was an exaggerated silhouette, and I didn't know how that would work on me.

I haven't seen every sew-alonger, finished result as yet, but I will say that I think the coat looks particularly fabulous on women of stature. I think if you have lots of shape - curves and height and substance - the silhouette exaggeration is not overwhelming, but sassy and sexy.

I'm a smallish person with large breasts - of course, you've been living under a blog rock if you don't know that about me now :-) I think this coat is shapely on me, but still a bit much, dare I say vaguely clownish. The body feels too big. I can't move the buttons any farther over (i.e. to narrow it up) than I have without distorting the mid-line of the coat, so I'm relying on the belt and (eventually) a snap to give it more skim.

But never mind my error (arguably, I should have noted this in the muslin stage - though my canvas cotton didn't give any evidence of this challenge in the final garment). The lapels and collar are just large. I suspected they'd be large for me, even before I started. I minimized them somewhat, and still I think they're large for me.

Furthermore, the sew-in interfacing, in addition to the 8 panel princess seam shape, means that the peplum is extreme (more so than these shots indicate). I don't mind this, but I have hourglass proportions. If one were rather endowed of hips and bum, I'd carefully consider using fusible interfacing only, or of working with fabrics that are thinner and drapier than the boucle wool I used.

Would I make it again? No. (Though who needs two of any coat, in truth!)

Will I wear it? Damn straight. I'll wear it and I'll brag about it. I've nicknamed it the "Judy Jetson Jacket", in honour of the crazy peplum.

Would I recommend it? To a woman of a specific shape, or to someone who naturally loves its cut, definitely. Just make sure to follow the sew along, for tips, and to cut your lining longer than the instructions direct - or you'll be adding some ribbon to the bottom of it to extend the lining length.

So now I put it to you. Have you made this coat? If yes, what are your thoughts? If no, would you like to make it (or would you wear it if you found it in a store)?