Marcy Tilton 8934 for Vogue

I have wanted to make this Marcy Tilton raincoat for such a long time!  I love the shape -- sort of like a Japanese lantern.  It is fitted through the shoulders and then has some flare that is controlled at the bottom with a series of eight darts.  And, I have had the fabric that I wanted to use forever.  It's from Apple Annie Fabric and I have no idea what the composition is.  It's an embossed very light weight, almost plastic feeling fabric.  When I bought it I had no idea what I would use it for until I saw this pattern and decided they were made for each other. 

Because the fabric is so thin, and I knew I wanted to be able to wear the coat more than on a rainy summer day, I decided to line it with a flannel back lining -- this one is a beautiful lipstick red from Sawyer Brook.  It was so slippery that I had to use a dual feed foot to control it as I sewed.  The pattern has a hidden placket for the buttonholes. 

 

In between the front and the front band is a double row of rattail cord.  Because I didn't think the fabric would press well, I interfaced the collar and the front facings with black silk organza that I sewed in.

 

I think the coat runs large.  I cut a Small with no alterations.  When it was finished I did shorten the sleeve a bit.  So, for those of you who are taller than a mere 5'3" you may want to consider the length. 

 

Absolutely love the coat and would consider making it again in a very different fabric, perhaps including some of the design elements suggested in one of the other versions.  The directions were excellent and easy to follow.  

Slan

Liberty Shirt, Part I

I traced off the Liberty Shirt pattern this morning. I really like to trace off with swedish tracing paper. I know there are less expensive things out there (a lot of people use exam table paper that you can buy at medical supply stores) but I like the feel of swedish tracing paper. It's soft and drapes nicely. You can fold it to put back into an envelope or drape it over a hanger -- I just think it's more tactile than other things. I use a mechanical pencil and find the soft pencil on the fabric of the tracing paper is more soothing than using a crinkly or stiff paper.

As a very recent convert to rotary cutters, I still go back and forth between cutting with my rotary cutter and plain old scissors. And, I still prefer pins in many instances to magnets -- some habits die very slow deaths! Although I did convert a long time ago to fine, glass-head pins, I do need to buy some flat flower head pins so I can lay my ruler down flat when I'm tracing and cutting. When I bought my first cutting mat, I was told to buy the largest one I could afford and I can't emphasize enough what a good idea that is. I thought I had bought a large one, but it is a lot smaller than my cutting table, so I need to check all the time before I use my rotary cutter to make certain I am on the mat. One of these days, I'll replace it, but there are so many other choices to make with sewing dollars that one is never sure what to get next!

I'm using an orange/pink cross dye that I've made another top out of recently. I love the color and they'll be worn in different seasons -- I do want to find some really funky buttons.

And....low and behold.....I'm sewing this on my new Viking Designer SE! So excited! Lastly, for today, I was just on the Greenberg & Hammer website to look at some things and was so happy to see how much work they've done on their site -- very nice! As my son would say -- eye candy.