Winter coat

[Elnnina]

Another item useful in pressing - i.e. a wet cloth is a good old fashioned linen tea towel.  Also pieces of cotton sheeting are good, so when your bed sheet has had it i.e. worn through in the middle, the edges of the sheet are still thick and so very useful.

Another pressing cloth that is useful is a piece of silk organza - a  pricey piece of equipment, but you can see through this.  Wool as in coating is wonderful in that you can do all sorts with this fabric, and it does respond well to a wet cloth and hot iron, and when setting the roll line on a tailored collar the heavier the iron the better, also with careful manipulation you can shrink what would have been darts out of a skirt, so no bulky darts around your middle.

With regards to Gimp - I was taught to use gimp and have one precious reel, have never found this since.  However I believe that Empress Mills may do this, I haven't been on their website for a few years, but it is worth checking to see if they still do this.

I personally love corded buttonholes even on summerweight fabrics and I use DMC Perle thread mostly in white and I then close up the machine stitch and the white does not show through.  The Perle thread comes in various sizes and either in skeins or a ball, and I tend to use No 5 and this gives a lovely buttonhole.  Of course the skeins of DMC comes in lots of lovely colours, so you can easily get a matching Perle thread if you wanted to.

[Sonatine]

@Elnnina thank you so much!! So much useful information - I've bought a cheap wooden rolling pin with rounded ends instead of handles so I'll have a go at pressing with it this evening. I'm not sure if the fabric will respond as well as pure wool but I burn and bleach tested it and it seems to ba a high % so hopefully it should still work.

The lining hem is not behaving either but I'm just going to machine it and ignore slight wonkiness as it's hidden on the inside, it frays far too much to be able to handle it (or manhandle it due to the weight and bulk of the fabric!) enough to do it by hand.

@SewRuthieSews it sounds like you're making good progress, and a detachable hood is a great idea. Looking forward to seeing photos of it with all of those beautiful coloured fabrics together.

[Greybird]

I love my clapper. It was worth every penny. What I use it for most though, is pressing cushion seams. I use the narrow pointed side inside the cushion cover - with the point pushed into the corner I can press the iron onto it like a tiny ironing board. This would work with any inaccessible areas like collars.

[Tamnymore]

Yes I agree - a big clap for the clapper. I didn't think it would make a difference before I got one but it really does. Great at flattening seams.

[SewRuthieSews]

I'm slowly constructing my coat.
The pattern didn't inlcude a lining but I've cut lining pieces.
When doing construction would you sew the lining to the facing and then to the coat or the facing to the coat and then the lining to the facing?

[Acorn]

I sewed the facing to the coat, and the lining at the end - I'm not claiming that's the right way, but it worked for me!

[Nevis5]

That's how I would do it, too, @Acorn @SewRuthieSews  - it's easier to manipulate the facings and the linings that way.  And the lining is less likely to end up a creased mess 

[SewRuthieSews]

OK thanks @Acorn  @Nevis5
That is what I will do.
I am taking things slowly. It is not a complicated style but the pressing slows things up and it is larger than the ironing board.

[Sonatine]

@SewRuthieSews I've had the same issue with pressing, there's just so much fabric and weight to manipulate.

I've started pressing with the clapper (well, rolling pin) today and it's completely magical! Thank you to everyone who suggested using one, I don't think the front will even need topstitching now, it's lying perfectly flat with a crisp edge 

[Elnnina]

One other suggestion to those making coats and having a bit of a problem with pressing.  You can use strips of brown paper to slide under the opened seam on the wrong side and this helps stop indentation marks showing on the right side.

Then once the coat is finished, why not take the coat to the dry cleaners and ask if they will just press this on their machine - it sort of blows up in the middle filling out the garment and this can make all the difference especially if they are full skirted coats.

I must say I impressed with those of you making coats lately, and I am so glad that the use of a clapper or rolling pin has worked wonders for you.

Last week I mentioned the June Tailor Tailor's board, well went I went looking on the internet, I found a place down in Sussex who is making these at what I thought a very reasonable price.  I certainly paid a tidy sum for my original June Tailor board and its covers.  From time to time I see that a booklet showing you how to press using this board is available on e-bay - so do keep your eyes open for this it is called - The June Tailor Method of Custom Detail Pressing - a 22 page booklet.  There is also a small paper leaflet by June Tailor called - How to use your Tailor Board.

Looking forward to seeing the finished coats.

[SewRuthieSews]

I've got a piece of unfinished wood that I think was cut off an overly long curtain rail, or broom handle or similar (it has a circular cross section). I have been using that to bash my seams though I feel a bit silly doing so.
I've also been leaving the piece I've just pressed on the ironing board until it cools.

[Sonatine]

It's finished!
It feels like it's taken ages, but it's just under two months since I first decided to make it and there have been quite a few weeks where I haven't had any time to sew.
The buttonholes were the final time consuming issue, I initially wanted to do hand sewn buttonholes but even after lots of practise my stitches just weren't even enough or consistent enough, especially when dealing with 3 layers of heavy fabric plus interfacing. I ended up borrowing a friend's machine to do 1-step button holes, which in itself took a long time because I was fretting about getting the placement right. After cutting them open the contrast side of my fabric (bright blue) showed through and they didn't feel strong enough so I hand sewed over the top of the machine stitching with buttonhole stitch using Gutermann Topstitch thread. Having the existing stitching as a guide made the whole thing much neater and I actually really like the finish this way.
I'm also really pleased with the main hem, it's bound with narrow bias binding and then turned up and handstitched to the interlining so it's completely invisible from the outside and not bulky.
The less said about the lining hem the better!
The coat is very warm (it feels like wearing a blanket) and quite heavy. I tried weighing it and I think it's about 5lb. It was also a fairly expensive project - even with the bargain coating fabric the total was just under £100.
Photos:
Front (worn over the amount of petticoat / skirt I'd wear on a normal day, the weight of it does crush the volume)
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Back
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Hybrid buttonhole compared to one without the hand sewing
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Hem / inside finish
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And thank you again for all of the help along the way, I never would have managed it otherwise!

[toileandtrouble]

That looks lovely.  It may feel heavy but if we get a bad winter you will be so glad of it.  Haven't even started mine yet.

[fajita]

What a lovely job you've done there, @Sonatine   The button holes look fab. 

[Sewingsue]

That is one seriously stylish coat.
I dread to think what you would have had to pay for a coat like that.