Almost there...

After posting the pics of the jacket, I sewed the sleeves on it. I had gotten to the point of just wanting it done. I made a couple of pleats in the back of the sleeve, pinned them on, sewed them, called it good and said to hell with it.  They were on, it looks ok and I could move on.

The collar was a joke. I had run short of fabric and decided to improvise. It did not turn out well and again I was getting frustrated. I went to bed and let it rest. When things start going wrong, I take it as a sign of a good time to stop and walk away.  I sleep on it and look at it later. A fresh mind is a good place to start. The next day- it still looked rediculous and no there were no pictures. Take it off and think again. I ended up going with no collar. Stitched the lining to the outer shell and again- called it good and said to hell with it.  I told you before sewing and swearing go hand in hand.  Thing is, the coat looks fine without the collar actually.



Then it was on to sewing the lining to the cuffs in the sleeves. I hadn't resorted to the directions on the coat before now, why start? Because that might make too much sense??? There is always that... I know how the lining in the cuffs is supposed to look so I stared at the coat and tried to work it out in my mind. Honestly, looking back I can't even begin to tell you how I did it, but it is done.  That will be sooo helpful for future projects, I know.

Soon all that was left was to hem the coat, find buttons for it, make the button holes, sew the buttons on and be glad it was finished.  The bottom of the coat was a few different lengths. That was a problem.  So I layed it on the floor, the lining hung out below... grabbed my scissors and took care of  that. Then I started to turn things under and pin them. I started with the piece that was the shortest. Pinned it all in place, hung it back on the hanger- front pinned shut and straightened it out across the bottom. I could see the finish line.

I took the coat to the store to pick out the buttons. I had almost bought them before, like before I had cut anything out and good sense told me to wait. I am glad I did. I layed the coat over the top of the cart & started laying different cards of buttons on it. The fabric has gold tones in it so pewter, silver, black and white were out. I found some buttons that were shiny and gold, flat, plain and they really stood out. Nope. I don't want to be remembered for the buttons on the coat.  Some were big, some were small, some were only available in one size and there were a lot of buttons to choose from...