Saturday 6 August 2016

Vintage Style Burda Boule Coat - Finally !



My first hand sewn  coat .  I started this in May so I am more than relieved to be finished .
I seem to be on a bit of vintage kick this year and I fell heavily for the coat on the cover of Burdastyle 12/2011 .  I convinced myself that if I only make one coat why not do something totally different.
The coat is described as having a boule silhouette with 3/4 sleeves . The eye catching insert hides the snap fasteners. The sleeves are in two pieces being extensions of the upper fronts/ back . Inseam pockets are included.


I constructed the coat using all materials sourced from the op shop - from the magazine to the outer fabric , lining , interfacing , satin contrast and snaps !  Who says sewing has to be expensive ?  Admittedly I collected the stuff over many years - the outer wool blend has been waiting for 8 years and initially I was going to make a suit but this coat is far more interesting .

Surprisingly for Burda the instructions were understandable but as this was my first coat I also did some research especially about what pieces to interface , attaching the lining and the hand sewing of hems  . . Once the flouncey insert  was constructed and inserted into the front, the coat was relatively easy to sew . Last post I showed photos of how the flounce was constructed. Inserting the flounce required some care . I thread trace the corners of the coat front to allow accurate sewing and make it easier to see where you are sewing . I sew the along one edge then stop . Snip to the corner of the seam allowance but not too close and then sew along the other edge. This means you can get a really nice looking sharp corner.


I did change the edge finishing of the flounce . Burda said to top stitch along the seam allowance and then trim close to here. However I am never comfortable with unfinished seams ( even on knits that do not ravel ! ) so I did a rolled edge on my overlocker .I  left off the snap at the top of the flounce so this upper corner just flops down and  I also did not cover the snaps because you can not see them and it was the last step and I was getting impatient to finish and wear the coat . I added extra interfacing to the coat - to the front , hems , front facings and upper back and upper sleeves but apart from these changes made the coat as described.

Obligatory flashing the lining with mouth open wide shot. 

To make the coat something that is more me I used a dark navy blue  wool blend . The front insert is left over fake silk dupioni from my suede flounce skirt and not as shiny as it looks in the photos. I am ridiculously pleased with using the dupioni. It was only one metre and 112 cm wide - not enough a single garment - so really required some creative thought on how to use it . To think I was going to send it back to the op shop a few times in the past. I do not have very many lining fabrics and there was only one other choice - a navy floral silk - but I thought that might get made into an outer garment so the bright red garish silk it was ( this is actually genuine silk - a lucky find ) .

I am certainly glad to be finished - I tend to get impatient when things take longer than a few weeks to sew but I am determined to not have UFOs so just keep on .
I will leave you with some photos of  what else has been taking up my free time - my new babies .

This post is already long but I delivered the white one !  With only 20 minutes until I was meant to be at work I had my arm up the sheep trying to  bring down the second front leg so she could deliver normally . I did it ( and got to work on time ! ) . However my daughter ended up calling the vet to deliver the second black lamb who was also presenting incorrectly .  I used to deliver human babies and what I did to the mother ewe was nothing like I had done to a human - poor thing !

Our entire motley flock.

Happy Sewing Janine. 






Costings - Outer fabric $3.00, flounce fabric $0.25 , lining and interfacing $4.50 , notions - snaps and thread $0.50 and burda pattern- nothing ( costs accounted for previously. Total $8.75.

9 comments:

  1. The coat is beautiful, and the flock not at all motley! Respect to you for helping moma deliver.

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  2. What a lovely flock of sheep - they must keep you very busy, and worried as well, at times - especially birthing times. Mother sheep was very lucky that you were there to help her. It must have been satisfying. Now the coat - it is absolutely stunning - classic enough for everyday wear, but with a little something special to give it a lift. And such a lovely lining.

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  3. Fabulous coat. Love everything about it. My dear friend M of NonSuch sewing (https://nonsuchsewing.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/m-sewing-burda-122011101/) has made this coat this winter too. I'm full of admi8ration for both of you!

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  4. What a fantastic coat! Love everything about it too, especially the interesting design detail at the front and your choice of lining fabric! And what two sweet, adorable additions to your 'family'! Love, love, love the netting over your chicken area. We have a few chickens too. :)

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  5. Great coat. Just what is needed for this weather! Love the colour too. Thanks for showing us those little cuties - they look so cute standing there together.

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  6. You should get a lot of wear out of your coat and lots of compliments too.

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  7. Beautiful work...the coat and the lambs.

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  8. I've loved that coat too but it didn't translate to making it! It is gorgeous and wow what a bargain! Love the lining. Great job with the sheep too... poor ewe! But the little lambs are gorgeous!

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  9. Cool, the pattern of inside of the shearing coat is special. Love this color.Nice post, the lambs are so cute.

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