Fruity Tessuti - Butterick 5145

Ever laughed so hard your face actually looks like you're in pain and people start instinctively backing away from you like you're a crazy person? Well that's what I look like when I watch the TV show 'New Girl'. Things get a bit messy.

I saw my first episode of this show while flying back to Melbourne from Washington DC and my poor husband was ready to smother me with my pillow if I didn't stop laughing out loud. Bless.

photo curtesy of www.zdw.com

In one scene the lovely Jess played by Zooey Deschanel wears this striking hot pink coat and both my sister and I instantly fell in love with it, so I decided to make a similar version.

I used Butterick Pattern 5145 in a size eight for my gorgeous sister Angeline. It was nice sewing something so small!

I used a stunning wool/cashmere coating from Tessuti Fabrics for the shell of the coat which I purchased from the Melbourne store.

I actually made this pattern over a year ago for myself in a gorgeous green (also from Tessuti) but it was before I started this blog so I've never posted about it before. Here are a few pics of the green coat:

I'm having serious face-fail in this photo. Dear. Lord.

For the lining of this coat I used an awesome print that I found on spoon flower. It's called 'Fruit and veggie madness fabric' by heidikenney I love her quirky designs, and they are perfect for the lining of a coat! I had it printed on a silk/cotton blend.

 

For those of you that are not familiar with Spoon Flower, it's an awesome website where you can upload your own fabric designs and have them printed on a number of different fabric types. You can also purchase other peoples designs, which is what I've done here. It's such an awesome idea!

So let's talk construction:

The Jacket

I made view C with the length of View B in a straight size 8.

It closes with three button holes, has a peter pan collar, and a lovely box pleat in the back skirt of the coat.

The Lining

The coat is fully lined, so it looks pretty on the inside and out.

I didn't have quite enough of the lining fabric for all the pieces, so I made the biggest part of the sleeve linings out of a yellow satin silk with the cuffs of the sleeve lining in the proper fabric. That way if the sleeves are rolled up you can still see the proper lining.

Favourite Bits

My favourite features of this coat is the cute little peter-pan collar ...

... the back pleat ...

... and the sneaky little side pockets.

And just to be a bit of sewing nerd, look how the fruit on the lining matches up on the inside pleat!

    

But before you start calling me a genius, I must admit that this was actually a complete FLUKE. A glorious, serendipitous accident.

Changes I made

Bound Button Holes 
Instead of doing the regular machine buttons holes, I thought I'd challenge myself and try bound-button holes. I absolutely love the effect! It is a lot more time consuming, mainly because you have to make sure that you make everything absolutely the same so that you don't end up with uneven button holes, and also because it's my first time so I'm slow.

Yes they take a lot longer but they are well worth the effort. They are neat, strong and I reckon they look so much nicer on a coat! Now-a-days you only would ever see these type of button holes on couture items in the stores. Infact, if you opened up your own closet you'd be hard pressed to find any purchased garment that didn't have a machine stitched button hole.

Here's a comparison picture of a bound button hole and a machine button hole.

 

Images curtesy of Threads Magazine and Wikipedia

I ordered my fabric covered buttons from Button Mania Yes I know I could do them my self, but this is so much easier for a time poor lass, and Kate from Button Mania is a perfectionist so you know you are going to get good quality.

Pleated lining Hem
For extra movement in the lining I added a little pleat in the corner of the lining hem. This allows the lining to move up and down at the hem when you do. Stops potential tearing.

 

Conclusion

I love how this coat turned out and how well it fits my sister Angeline. It's definitely heating up in Australia, so my sister is going to have to wait a while before she can wear it.

 

Melbourne is known for being a sea of black clothes, so I like the fact that this pink coat will definitely stand out in a crown of muted colours.

Tutorial: Machine rolled hem with fishing line + Brooch Giveaway WINNERS!

You know your sewing techniques are getting crazier when you can easily have the following conversation with your partner and he doesn't even bat an eye lid:

Me: "Hey honey, do you have any fishing line?"
Husband (H): "Yeah probably, why?"
Me: " Oh, I need some for my sewing."
Slight pause as he contemplates whether it's worth asking how the heck I can use fishing line in my sewing. Decides it's best not to ask.
H: "Oh, ok sure. I'll get you some."

My latest tutorial involves a beautiful structured rolled hem with the aid of fishing line, and all sewn on a sewing machine! I learnt this technique from an inspirational and absolute sewing master who is the grandmother of a very talented friend Katherine. We shall call her 'Katherine's Grandmother'.
Nice.

But before I get prattling away, let's talk ...

Brooch Give Away WINNERS!

Two winners were randomly chosen using http://www.random.org

A big congratulations to the following two readers who have each won a brooch!

 The lovely Amanda Lyn from the blog Ardor, Zest

Madam Scuffsan

Congratulations ladies! I will be emailing you shortly with details.

Do not despair if you missed out. You can buy your own fabulous brooch at Ruemiraldi's online store. Thank you again to Ruemiraldi for providing me with these fabulous brooches for this giveaway.

Tutorial

What you'll need:

1. Fabric strips cut on the cross grain Looks really pretty on light weight fabrics like silk, organza and tulle.
2. Scissors
3. Sewing machine
4. Thread (a bucket load of it, rolled hems like to gobble it up) for a prettier finish it's recommended you use a fancy glossy thread like a poly-sheen
5. Fishing line (seriously) 55mm, 30 pound line - you can experiment with different thicknesses. Have fun walking into a tackle shop in your gorgeous couture and asking for fishing line. Tell the shocked shop attendant it's for sewing. Enjoy watching his freaked out expression.
6. A kick-ass backing track. 

Let's do this:

Machine settings
Zig Zag stitch (that's #8 on my machine)
Stitch width - 4 
Stitch length - 0.5

The wide stitch will help flick the edge of the fabric around the fishing line, the short length of the stitch will make the stitches nice and close together, keeping everything in place and looking pretty.

Position the fabric so that there is about a 1/4 inch seam allowance. This allowance needs to be small because it will be flicked up into the stitch and 'rolled' to make the hem.

Place the fishing line directly on top of the fabric, centred through the foot. If you were doing a straight stitch the fishing line would be directly under the needle. Because it's a zig zag stitch the needle will always fall either side of the fishing line.

Make sure you pull a bit of fishing line out the back of the machine, just like you would do with the first threads. You're going to want to gently hold onto the fishing line for the first few stitches so that the stitching doesn't get stuck and bunch up. Once it starts moving you can let go.

Lightly guide the fishing line so that it stays near the edge of the fabric and centred under the foot. You can see above how I'm holding onto the line to keep it close to the edge, but I am not pulling on it. Guide, don't pull.

Finish the row of stitching and then trim the threads and the fishing line at the ends. You end up with a flouncy, 3D structured hem.

Here's the one I made previously ...

Nice huh? Katherine's grandmother would explain this better (and do a much prettier job) but you get the idea. I love how it can all be done on a sewing machine (yay to no overlocker/serger!) and the result is so strong and pretty. 

This look would look great as a feature on a one shoulder dress, or as flouncy sleeves, or a veil for a wedding dress. The possibilities are endless!

Oh, and for those with a strong stomach (get it?! get it??!!), here's what I made for my Halloween costume this year. Disgustingly awesome and mildly inappropriate.

Happy sewing!