Project: McCall’s 8814, Coat (1952), part 3

Readers,

A lot of my sewing projects seem to be like a Chinese stir-fry recipe.  Most of the work feels like prep before you even get to the main activity: the cooking, or, in this case, the sewing.

So interfacing the fronts and backs was prep, not worthy of photographing, but necessary to the final appearance of the outer fabric. The fashion fabric is along for the ride, to quote Kenneth King, and the interfacing and underlining are behind the scenes providing support.

Yesterday I did the three bound buttonholes in the right front. They turned out well.

Both patch pockets are done.  I machine-topstitched one to the right front at 1/4 inch.  I’ll slipstitch the edges, too, so they don’t stick out.

The topstitching looks slightly wavy to me.  But from the back it’s a smooth curve.  An optical illusion of the fabric?

At this point in the project I’m very critical of every step and notice every irregularity. I wish I’d used double thread in the topstitching.  I wish I’d gotten the lips of the bound buttonholes exactly even.  I ask myself whether I could have done better this time or could next time.

Then comes the point where I stop seeing the project in parts and start seeing the garment as a whole.  That’s later, though.

What’s next? All kinds of good stuff:

• Stitching the fronts and back together at the shoulders and side seams.  Then I can see this is beginning to look like a coat!
• Stitching on the under collar.
• Stitching on the sleeves.
• Creating a unit of the beautiful deep turquoise lining, the upper collar, and facings.

I am so ready to make great strides in this project.  The most labor-intensive parts are done.  Next time this should be looking much more like a coat!