Earlier last week, I decided to embark on a quick coat project. I chose to use the "Easy Coat" pattern as designed by Christine Jonson. Simple lines, great instructions. After measuring one of my ready to wear coats which I like a lot, I measured the flat pattern, found this pattern matched my existing coat, and therefore decided this coat pattern would be perfect for a quick project.
I chose my fabric - a $1 per yard wool tweed blend bargain from Jomar. (It was inexpensive but it's great fabric!) After all, this was going to be an "Easy Coat". Why use an expensive fabric on my first attempt at making the "Easy Coat"? So I lengthened my pattern. I cut out my fabric. I got to thinking. I couldn't leave it alone. I gradually decided, as I went along, that this coat needed to be REALLY GOOD. Not just an "Easy Coat" - a "Perfect Coat".
So out the window went the concept of serging my seams. Out went the idea of installing the sleeve on the flat. Only a sleeve head and perfect armscye installation for me! And while I'm at it, it also has to be: (1) lined with silk, (2) taped at all shoulders, bias edges, including armscye and neckline, (3) underlined with fusible tricot at upper back, upper chest, down the front, and at other strategic areas, (4) all hems underlined at 4 inches with same fusible tricot, (5) My fabric was ravelly, so I redrafted the front to include on-seam buttonholes...and on and on...improvement after improvement. My "quick" project - the "Easy Coat", has turned into an attempt at "Perfect Coat".
Is it perfect? No. But now it's almost done. The buttons are now on. (I used vintage buttons purchased from a local antique shop.) And because I made the effort to make it "REALLY GOOD", I'm gonna love wearing this thing!
Would my coat have looked great if I'd just followed the instructions for the "Easy Coat" and serged the seams and installed the sleeve on the flat? Sure! And it would have been finished last Wednesday.
But for me, sometimes, it's more fun to think, "How can I make it better?" "What am I capable of?"
I know in my heart I'll never achieve perfection, but oh, how I love to fantasize that it's possible!
1 comment:
Can't wait to see your perfect coat! Isn't it fun when projects turn into a labor of love, rather than just a quickie? No matter how much we love the quick ones, it's the ones we took time over that really become special.
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