Description: MISSES’ LINED COATS: Fitted across bust coats have empire waist, princess seams with pleated lower section, side seam pockets and sleeve variations; coats are above mid-knee length.

I cut a size 14 in the bodice and did my normal princess seam FBA. I cut a size 16 in the lower portion. I probably could have cut the 14 in that too.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it did.

Were the instructions easy to follow? When I did refer to the instructions, they were fine. I mostly referred to my sewing and tailoring books for the construction and did things a little differently than the pattern instructions suggested.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? From the moment I saw this pattern, I fell in love with the lady-like, retro style, the dramatic collar and the swingy-ness.

Fabric Used: I used a black and ivory houndstooth, that's 70% wool and 30% polyester. This houndstooth print was a bit unusual and that's what I liked about it. If you notice this close up, you'll see that it has a digitized appearance. The weaving is square instead of the typical diagnal weaving which makes it look almost pixelated.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: Instead of using the buttonhole loop, I decided to omit buttonholes altogether. I went with two 1 1/8" buttons on the front and snaps on the inside.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Conclusion: I really enjoyed making this coat. I feel this project really helped my hone in on my tailoring skills.

The lining is in! I used Bemberg (100% acetate). It feels great, it was very easy to sew and it took a lot of heat from my gravity feed iron. When I was doing my research on coats, this is the fabric that I saw most often in RTW coats. I used the bagged lining technique and the sleeve lining was set by hand, using slipstitches. The lining hem can be done two ways: (1) free-hanging or (2) slipstitching the edge of the lining to the coat hem. I chose option 2.

Here is the notched lapels:
The upper collar:

Whenever two or more layers of fabric are held together in a curved position, the upper layer must be slightly larger than the under layer to allow for curve, or the turn of cloth. The drafting of this pattern was perfect and did not need to be adjusted. Also, as you see, the under collar is drafted in two pieces and cut on the bias. Why on the bias? Because it controls the roll of the upper collar. Why two pieces? So that the grain will be the same in both collar points.

Here is one of my favorite details that drew me to this coat... the sleeve:

As you see, the back of the lining has a center back pleat. This ensures that there is enough ease across the shoulders and allows for differences in the garment layers. I also added a hang chain.

Next, I assembled the bodice, both front and back. Made the pleats, made the inseam pockets and attached the lower portion and set the sleeves.

I added the sleeve heads (they prevent the sleeve cap of a set-in sleeve from collapsing) and the shoulder pads (used to shape the shoulder area).

My fabric is a very lightweight boucle, so I stabilized it with a nylon fusible knit. Here is a close up of the fabric. I've taped and pad stitched the lapels and pad stitched the undercollar. Tany has an excellent tutorial posted on her site. Also, if you are a visual person as I am, here is a great video I found on Youtube that shows you how to do it. They call pad stitching "feather stitching" on there at around 10:20.

Rihanna last week in Paris wearing a coat by Azzedine Alaïa.

What kind of tailoring do you think is going on inside those lapels and collar? That coat is fabulous!

Remember months ago when I discussed "The Great Coat Sew-along"? Yeah, way back then. Well, I finally made a coat. BUT, there have been some changes. Do you also remember when I bought THIS fabric? I know y'all thought it was for the Michael Kors peacoat. Isn't it a woman's prerogative to change her mind? Of course it is! I'm such a joiner that I had to join the coat sew-along and reluctantly selected two coats because I had to make a decision. I knew way back in the Spring that those would probably not be the coats I would make. When the new Vogue patterns came out, I saw the coat that would be perfect for my bright-colored coating fabric!

Description: Lined coats A, B, C in two lengths have bodice with princess seams, A-line skirt, closure variations and sleeves in two lengths. A, B: topstitching. B, C: cording button loops. B, C: length is 2" above mid-knee.

According to the flat pattern measurement, I cut the size 14 and did my usual 1" FBA. I also added 1" the skirt and 1" to the sleeve . I used view B and the shorter sleeves from view A.

While making this coat, I seldom referred to the Vogue Pattern instructions (I'll get to why). I used my own reference material in constructing this coat: Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket, Jackets for Real People and Easy Guide to Sewing Linings.

Sidenote: Now, don't hate me for not having all of the detailed construction shots you all have grown accustomed to. I worked on this coat last week and I had a terrible cold and I was just not in the mood for all of that. I'll be working on another coat in the that *should* be finished before Christmas (a gift to myself, LOL) and I PROMISE to take all of the detailed pictures for you.

• Inside the coat: I had plan to use hair canvas interfacing, but when I tested it with my coating, it felt too stiff... the funnel neck would have felt like cardboard. Instead, I used a fusible 100% cotton woven that I lucked up on at Hancock. I fused the entire bodice. For the back, I followed the instructions in both Tailoring and JFRP and created a back stay made from 100% cotton muslin. This was my first time doing this and I had already put the stay in when I realized that the back bodice need to be topstitched.

• The lining: Okay... this is the part that I had issue with the Vogue instructions. The instructions would have you construct the bodice lining and attach it to the bodice. THEN you would construct the skirt portion lining and SLIPSTITCH it to the bodice! Why not just bag the lining??? Well, I following the instructions in Easy Guide to Sewing Linings and bagged it perfectly. PLEASE, if you decide to make this coat, it's much easier to bag the lining than all of the extra handsewing that this "Very Easy Vogue" pattern would have you do. Another intersting thing about this pattern is that the front and back bodice facings are sewn with the fabric instead of the lining... see here.

• Finishing touches: The instructions suggested cording for button loops. Ummm... no! I used self-fabric loops for mine. I also added extra snaps. The instructions suggested only two large ones. The placement of those would not keep the front part of the funnel neck standing. Here is where I added the extra ones. They also eliminated gaping at the waist in between the two large buttons. Also, according the the Tailoring book, I added interface to the hemline to stabilize it. And since my coat has a free-hanging lining, I used quick tacks to secure the lining hem to the coat hem. Another method is French tacks. I didn't feel proficient enough to make those work, but I'll give them another try in my next coat. Also, as a last minute adjustment, I felt the coat needed shoulder pads even though this is the one thing that the instructions failed to list. Since I wanted to be done, I bought a set of the el-cheapo ones from Hancock that are really thin, but enough for what needed. One thing I didn't do that I will go back and do is add a weight to the mitered corner. I was looking at my picture and realized that the it's needed so that the hem will hang properly. The coat was finished with topstitching.

All in all, I really love this coat. It has hung on my dressform for days and I've tried it on over and over... it took a few days for it to grow on me. I recommend this if you like a coat that's a little different and not so basic.

These are the Pantone Fall 2008 Colors and I'm loving them all. Especially the Caribbean Sea.

This is the fabric for the coat and lining for the first coat I'll be doing for "The Great Coat Sew-along".

The fabric is 100% wool turquoise coating (54" wide). The lining fabric is Black, Turquoise, Blue, Gray, White and Blue Pattern on Charmeuse Fabric - 100% polyester (59" wide). Even though it's synthetic, it feels wonderful!

I've joined The Great Coat Sew-Along started by Marji. I'm very excited about this. I had been planning a coat since last November and now it's the middle of Spring... I know, right! This sew-along starts in July, which is perfect! May is for planning and June is for gathering materials. That way when the weather turns cold, my coats will be hanging in my closet waiting for me.