Tag Archives: Coat

Last day of autumn

31/05/2010 5:06 am \ 5 Comments \ Carolyn

Today is the last day of autumn 🙁
So I thought I’d mark it by wearing my favourite autumn made garment; my trench coat. I’ve got it on over a Tshirt and skirt here, but I like how trenches can actually pass for dresses on a warm day, which it is today, sort of. I was quite toasty here in this photo and wishing I could take something off… well, I always feel warm during our dog walk in the morning and only start to slowly freeze when I get into the office. Australian weather being like it is we don’t have central heating here like northern hemisphere dwellers have. I’ve got the little gas heater warming up my toes right now…!
I left off the belt I made for the coat and instead donned an old black leather belt I’ve had since teenage years; and I like how the accents of black set off the sandy beigeness of the coat. The black buttons, black legs, black booties, black belt… the colour of winter is creeping insidiously into my wardrobe and before you know it Perth will be clad all in black and grey, yeah it’s hard to believe on a bright sunny day like today! but it will happen! One thing is for sure, I will be wearing this coat all through winter too, it’s so comfy and feels so nice to throw it on; instant outfit! I’m so glad I’ve got it!

Details:
Coat; Burda 7786, modified by me to be double breasted and with added wrist tabs, beige cotton
Belt; had for donkey’s years
Tshirt; Country Road
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive green corduroy
Tights; Kolotex, David Jones
Booties; Django and Juliette, from Zomp shoes
Bag; Gucci

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7786, coat, Sienna, skirt, Spotlight, Vogue 7303

Orange and khaki combo

14/04/2010 5:56 am \ 8 Comments \ Carolyn

Went into the city this morning with my daughter, and since it was a bit blustery I leapt at the opportunity to wear my trench coat… and am excited about wearing it a lot since it was so comfortable and cosy. Crazily, I went through my wardrobe for ages this morning, unable to decide what to put on. My husband laughs incredulously when I tell him stuff like that… “But you’ve got so many clothes!” yes, but I still wail about having nothing to wear on a regular basis. Ridiculous, I know. Perhaps it’s time for a clean-out.
I’m particularly happy with the colours of my outfit today; yeah, it was inevitable that my new knotted necklace would get worn at some time with my burnt orange skirt. I love this combination of orange with khaki and beige. My mother has been telling me to wear colours like these for years. They remind me a little of the outfits that men who like to hunt wear in the US; they would be all decked out in their camouflage gear, but with a neon orange vest on the top. I was told the orange vest was so they wouldn’t inadvertently shoot each other whilst hunting. But then why the camouflage, I wondered? Kind of hilarious, when you think about it…
This little olive top I’m wearing I’ve had for about ten years. It’s getting a bit thin and mis-shapen and a few times I’ve contemplated tossing it into the Salvos pile, but I’ve kept hanging on to it because of its colour.
My daughter took this photo and the reason I look so peculiar is I’m dying of embarrassment that someone is going to come around the corner of Wesley Church (the lovely brick backdrop) and see us; I loathe people seeing me have my photo taken… I’m too shy and need to be alone.
The other photos I took today I’m keeping for tomorrow; I have some interesting sewing-related observations on famous couture to talk about, but enough from me for now and I’ll be back with more later…

Details:
Trench coat; Burda 7786 modified to be double breasted, stone cotton
Top; Cue, had for about ten years
Skirt; Vogue 7303, burnt orange silk hessian
Necklace; made by me
Shoes; Betts & Betts Brazilian collection, had these for about twenty years
Bag; Gucci

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7786, coat, Fabric warehouse, own design, skirt, Spotlight, Vogue 7303

Autumn trench coat

26/02/2010 2:04 am \ 13 Comments \ Carolyn

I made a trench coat! Inspired by the beautiful coats in Burberry, but not by the sky high price tag, I set out to make my own…. I actually finished this a few weeks ago and have been dying to show it off(!)
but haven’t been able to wear it because of the 40C+ temps we’ve been having; seriously, the weather has been stifling, and I’m wearing sunnies in these photos to disguise the fact that I’m bleary-eyed through lack of sleep…
I used Burda 7786, which is a pattern for a single breasted trench coat and one I’ve used before here. I modified the front lapels to be double breasted and added tabs at the wrists to bring the sleeves in, I think this will be a welcome feature when the weather turns cold … (please, turn cold…. ?)
The coat is made from something called Ribstop cotton from Spotlight, and whilst I think it will be a good, very hardwearing fabric it did present some challenges in working with it. Firstly I know from previous experience (long story!) to wash it before using it, as it shrinks like nobodies business. I washed my length of fabric twice, in a heavy duty cycle. Also it has a very fine dense weave, again good for a coat fabric, but in sewing it the needle didn’t so much glide up and down through the weave as it did audibly punch through this tough semi-impenetrable fabric.
Setting in the sleeves was a bit of a nightmare as this stuff simply would not gather satisfactorily or iron-shrink down AT ALL. I ended up having to increase the length of the armscye and cut down some of the sleeve cap to get the sleeves to sit in nicely, which they eventually did.
As part of my new resolution to finish things off properly, I used Hong Kong binding on all the exposed seam allowances. For this I made my own bias binding out of some leftover black cotton. I am extremely happy with how this turned out. For the lining I used a nice contrast print shirting cotton which is lovely and soft on the skin and will provide an extra layer for warmth…. ha ha, anyone in Perth at the moment will laugh at that one!, but will be welcome in a few months, I’m sure!
The belt presented its own saga, as I found nothing remotely worthy in Spotlight (although I did get the brass “end” of the belt there), and Fabulous fabrics runs more to diamante buckles! so set out to tour the op shops. Luckily for $2 found a lovely brass buckle of the right size attached to a hideous vinyl belt. I’ve said it before; I would never cut up a leather belt unless it was in a really bad way, but a vinyl belt is fair game… Binned the vinyl portion, attached the brass buckle to my self fabric belt and sewed little miniature “buttonholes” for the belt holes…
And, finally finished.
Any dramas aside, I’m thrilled with my new coat and will be showing it off lots more…. ;D !!!!
(Thanks to my husband for the photo opportunity!)

Details:
Coat; Burda 7786, with some modifications, beige cotton
Top; New Look 6252, white seersucker
Skirt; Louis (?), op shop
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, from Hobbs shoes

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: Burda 7786, coat, Spotlight

Summer trench coat

01/12/2009 3:53 am \ 2 Comments \ Carolyn

Every so often I feel the need for a dressmaking challenge, a change from the workaday shirts, blouses, skirts and pants that can be run up in a day or two. When my Monday morning gals gave me a Fabulous Fabrics voucher for a birthday gift a year or so back I wanted to make some sort of classic. So I opted for this trench coat pattern, Burda 7786, view A.
The pattern was a great pattern, one I will use again; though ended up being not extremely challenging. Large amounts of double topstitching, but all the seams were simple straight easy seams.
Home seamstresses will concur that half the hurdles of DIY are sourcing the fabric you envisage for a project; in this case I went with this seersucker in spite of its white colour which wasn’t my ideal. I really wanted more of a beige or tan or even chocolate coloured cotton, as a classic trench coat colour but couldn’t find anything which fitted the bill. I feel this white is a bit too “lab coat”. As my original career was as an analytical chemist when I wore a lab coat day in day out I’m keenly aware of avoiding the lab coat look! However the belt on this one makes it less lab coat, and even though its a bright bright white this has ended up being a good useful fashion choice for summer. I think I’ll keep it going for another summer in this guise, then will probably dye it for next summer, for a change.
There was enough of this fabric leftover for me to make a little top, posted about here.
Wore it out today to meet some friends for morning tea, then it’s back to the office…

Other details:
Skirt; Vogue 7303, olive corduroy
Camisole; Country Road
Sandals; Vicenza, from Soletta shoes
Gold necklace; my grandmother’s
Pink necklace; self-made