Next steps

I am leaving for Rwanda next week and on my return trip it turns out that I will be able to visit with Jami for a few hours.  I have a stop over in Amsterdam, so she is planning on taking the train to Amsterdam from Paris and visit with me on my layover.  So that means I have to get her coat done before I leave.  I guess it is good that I work pretty well under deadlines!  I have been working fast and furious over the past couple of days - with trips to the thrift store with Traci, dinner out with my girls, and a few other things in between.  I still learning about this blogging thing, so I forget to take photos sometimes, but here is what I have for next steps with this coat.  

After I cut it out I cut out the lining and the thinsolate.  Thinsolate is a very thin layer of insulation that looks like batting, although it is a different material than batting I believe.  It is great to add a little warmth coats and jackets.  

The next thing was to iron on the interfacing on the body of the coat.  As you might imagine I like to look at the inside of garments.  When I have examined the inside of wool coats, there is often a layer of a knit looking interfacing, so I thought it would be good to add that to this coat.  It gives the fabric even more stability and makes the wool smooth.  The only problem was that there are small holes in this interfacing and when it melted it got all over my iron.  

You can see it in photo - it is kind of see through and with small holes.  So just a warning.  If you use this kind of interfacing be sure and use a pressing cloth.  It takes much longer, but saves cleaning the iron later.  

I added more interfacing to the front lapel area and did what is called a "pad stitch".  You are supposed to stitch with it already rolled the way that it will eventually lay so that all the layers will lay correctly.  

I rolled the collar around my pressing ham and pinned it before I did the pad stitching.  

Sorry,  I thought this photo showed it with stitching and I don't know how to delete a photo on this app.  Anyone??

Pockets were made next.  I think I will sew them on by hand.  This is a technique that I learned at a sewing class I took in January.  Most of this I did by machine, but the flaps will be done by hand.  

Front sewn together at shoulders and side seams.

Back.   This is about as far as I got yesterday.  What fun.  It is not often that I get to create something from scratch.  Most of what I do is alterations.  So this is a fun project especially since it is for my sweet daughter.