Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I didn't buy the coat

Thanks for your opinions, oh wise readers.
I have decided not to buy that coat.
The boy thought it made me look like a little girl in an oversized grown-up's blazer. Not that I have anything about oversized as a fashion style, only it isn't so styley if the wearer is short enough to pass for an actual little girl (albeit not as smooth-faced or bright-eyed).

Also, although I like the green - it's not my preferred colour for a coat. I'd rather it was a deep plum or a bright violet.

And, to borrow from the Project Runway judges - it doesn't look expensive enough.

But it has given me the idea of sewing my own coat. I like these two - the orange one in the top picture and the pink one in the bottom picture:


Of course I would start with, say, a dark denim spring coat - then, if all went well, go on to a nice tweed winter coat in a similar style. By the time I got through all that cutting and fitting and sewing and re-sewing, it would be the right time to wear winter coats again!

Or maybe that is too ambitious for someone who has only made one good buttonhole in the last 20 years...

8 comments:

Antoinette said...

I have both of these patterns and bought them for the same views you like! I haven't sewn any coats yet! I wish you luck. The non-PR pattern has been rated very highly on patternreview.com and is now out of print here in the U.S. Your plan to sew a spring coat as a muslin and a thick wool one for winter is great! If you buy stretch denim, maybe you can flat fell the seams and skip lining altogether!

Watson Woodworth said...

I've always liked a pea coat but those look best on tall and the thin men, two things which I am not.

Angela said...

Wow lots of sewing.

I do hate coat shopping.
Coats are always expensive and I can never seem to find one I like.

It also seems as the bug is going around your home in circles.

Hope you guys all get healthy and stay that way for awhile

I guess if TLM calls for daddy then you get a bit of a break. Gregory is doing that a bit lately and I am starting to enjoy my bit of a break.

Smiles

Violet said...

Antoinette: oh no - if it's out of print in the States then I probably won't be able to get hold of it here!

nigel: I used to wear my brother's pea coat a lot. But that was when I was really into oversized clothing. I bet if I saw a picture of me in it now, I'd think I looked like a tree stump.

angela: I would enjoy coat shopping much more if I had more free time and more money. And of course most of us have little of either...

Anonymous said...

The only thing is the material will be quite expensive... (if you muff it up that is).

Violet said...

donnasoowho: that's for sure! If I can get through the basic construction without any mishaps, I will still get a pro to do my buttonholes.

Antoinette said...

You might check google/ ebay/ etsy for that maybe-OOP coat pattern. But I'm pretty sure it's OOP and reputed to be a good pattern!

Violet said...

Well I can actually order it from the Simplicity website, but the international shipping would cost me $US8 so the whole thing would cost me nearly $40 in local money! That's about 10 coffees in a nice cafe (or 2 Vogue patterns)!