Emerald's Thread: 2011

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Pink Grapefruit

I felt so tired today I could barely keep my head up. I hoped the very bright pink would wake me up. The dress is the one I adjusted here. I love 1950s style dresses and polka dots so couldn't help rescuing this old Primark dress with its missing buttons, ragged hem and loose threads and tidying it up.

Dress - charity shop, various alterations by me

Cardigan, Scarf, Necklace, Shoes - charity shops

Tights - Primark

Coat - Jane Norman

Brooch - Anna Lou

Earrings - gift

Belt - vintage store

Saturday, 24 December 2011

Coat Adjustment

I spent today adjusting a coat I bought from a charity shop yesterday. I saw someone try it on the day before, sigh the shoulders were just too big and put it back. It actually looked much better on her than on me now as she was taller.

I always find coats either unable to button up at the front or too big at the back and waist. While this extra space is useful taken up by wearing lots of layers underneath or a scarf tucked in at the front, it does make me look like a well wrapped beaver. Great for when it's snowing but not so much when you want to look a bit smarter. The fabric is actually a deep plum red cashmere. There will be better photos later - I was hurrying to get the adjustments done today so lazy with the photos.

The coat fit perfectly at the bust but had handfuls of fabric spare at the back and a few inches at the waist. The shoulders were really much too wide. As the coat had a back seam I unpicked this and detached the lining where it joined the wool at the top and bottom. I did not cut down the lining, just unpicked enough outwards from the centre back seam to allow room to turn it inside out. I cut the collar in order to take it in as the shoulders were much too large for me but with the raw edges are turned inwards on all sides the finish is fairly professional. The excess seam allowance was trimmed and pressed to prevent any bulkiness.

After unpicking the back seam I pinned the edges together to gauge how much I wanted the coat taken in. I tried it on and moved my arms, sat down and walked to check the fabric was not pulling unduly or too loose. I did this wearing whatever layers I would wear under the coat. The fit wearing a thick jumper will obviously be different to that from just wearing a t-shirt.

I have a big butt so you can see the amount I took in becomes considerably less at the bottom of the coat. I'm also did all the pinning shown in the photos on the right side of the fabric rather than the wrong side (on which it should be done). This was to save time turning the coat inside out and right way again while I was figuring out where the small of my back was against the coat. Once I'd got a rough shape of how much to take in, I pinned and tacked the reverse sides of the fabric together.

Then it was just a case of taking in the collar first, tidying it up and sewing down the back seam. The seams were trimmed to 1cm seam allowance with little snips in places (I forget their proper name) to allow give.

After pressing the seams and turning the coat the right way I reattached the collar to the rest of the coat. I stitched the lining back to exactly how it was before except with a larger pleat (to use up the excess fabric) down the centre of the back. This saves having to cut the lining and reshape it to the alterations.

Before I refitted the lining I also took in a little more at the darts on either side of the front of the coat to define the waist. Before I did this the coat looked smart but not that flattering on me. See the photo.