Inspired by.... a patchwork trench coat & lace dress

[Manuela]

.... this coat from Junya Watanabe’s S/S2019 collection

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.... and a view of the back

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I set out to make my own version using this existing plain denim trench coat, bought at a sample sale a while back, boucle, lace and perforated denim scraps all left from previous projects. I used sashiko and catch stitches to patch them on.



Wrestling the heavy coat was no fun though, I may or may not add some more patches at the back. At the moment my hands are aching from 2 weeks of hand stitching in every free minute I had. I’m rather pleased with the result and had just enough unicorn buttons left for the project 

I decided to put on fake yokes to make it look more like a classic trench coat.

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Given the speed in which the boucle and perforated denim frayed, I decided that catch stitching the edges would be the best option.

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I may or may not add some more patches at the back...

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[Nevis5]

Wow, that's clever, @Manuela !  I like the appliqué lace particularly on the front.  My hands ache at the thought of manipulating all that fabric, well done to you for that!    Enjoy wearing it!  x

[BrendaP]

Fabulous - and actually going back to the roots of Sachiko - a means of patching up and adding warmth to existing garments.   

[Sonatine]

That's really striking! I particularly love the lace you've used, it looks beautiful against the denim.

[Tamnymore]

Fabulous @Manuela . Yours is much nicer than the Watanabe version. Clever patching like yours is so effective.

[Bodgeitandscarper]

Excellent work!  I also love the lacey bits.

[Manuela]

@Bodgeitandscarper, @Nevis5 & @Sonatine, the lace appliqué at the front ensures that I have workable buttonholes. I thought quite a lot about how to tackle the issue, until I rummaged through my 'lace bits' drawer. Next up is a patchwork lace dress...

[Nevis5]

It's a gorgeous piece of lace @Manuela .  Do you have an inspiration dress for your lace one, or are you going to base it on this Watanabe piece?

[Saashka]

Fabulous coat, Manuela! I love your version. The original, meh.

[Manuela]

It's a gorgeous piece of lace @Manuela .  Do you have an inspiration dress for your lace one, or are you going to base it on this Watanabe piece?

No inspiration, just an idea of utilising some of my favourite laces. I got remnants of 3 different white laces which I’m currently appliquéing them onto the underlining of the dress. I use Vogue 1496, it’s coming along well, still lots of hand sewing of the appliqué.

[Helen M]

Your coat is fantastic Manuela. It's so 'you'!

[sewmuchmore]

Wonderful coat, looking forward to seeing the dress.

[Catllar]

Fabulous work Manuela - makes me go cold thinking about trying to sew the patches on down the sleeves!

[Manuela]

Instead of starting a new thread, I just tag the lace dress onto this one. Again, I spent a lot of time hand appliquéing the lace...

Here are the three laces I combined, all leftover from previous projects:

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I underlined them with a light/medium weight cotton sateen, also a leftover.

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All in all I am pleased with the dress, particularly because I love the butterfly (top right) and the open floral lace (on the left) a lot. Both laces were sold out the day after they arrived at the shop. He only had one roll each and I haven’t seen anything like it since.

I also got myself these nifty shoes to go with the coat   

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[wrenkins]

Sometimes there just aren't the words!
That is absolutely stunning.