Monday, November 15, 2021

The Making of My Quilt Coat Part 3 - The Finish!

Ta da! 


Earlier this month, I shared the process of creating the panels and the pattern prep (part 1) and then shared the assembly process (part 2).  Today, I want to share my finished quilt and some more learning and overall tips.  The pattern is the Patchwork Chore Quilt by Patchwork and Poodles and followed the extra instructions for a zipper (see instructions).


I am just thrilled with the finished coat!  I made the large size and it is a generous large - I'm pretty sure I could have made the small and been happy with the result.  I do like to layer up in the winter so I think it will work out fine.

The pockets, the zipper, and finishing the armholes gave me the most trouble.  (no photo)

The first time through the zipper installation process, I used a zipper foot and did not use enough pins.  As a result, the geese did not line up well.  Hard to describe - and I didn't take a photo - but somehow in the topstitching process I ended up with only the two bottom rows being aligned and the rest was skewed quite a bit.  Once the zipper was removed (took me almost 3 hours), I was relieved to find that the geese did actually line up just fine.  For the redo,  I decided to go with a binding and then topstitch it down on top of the zipper.  I'm really happy with how it looks - the geese are lined up and there is none of the zipper tape showing.


The process of sewing the bias tape over the seams was tough in the armhole.  It isn't my best work but I got the job done.

The pockets are constructed by sewing the lining to the front side and then turning inside out.  This means you are dealing with bulk in the corners which is difficult to lie flat.  If I make a coat again, I will bind the pockets to get nice crisp corners.   I am also unhappy that the geese don't line up vertically.  I kick myself for not making just a few more geese to give me options on cutting the pocket.  But, at the time, I thought I was going to be able to line things up just fine.   Might I remove these pockets and redo them?  Yes I might just do that!


One pocket bit that did work out well was an added inside pocket on the left side the coat where I can tuck my phone.  The seams lines are hidden inside the outer pocket.  Although I finished the seams so the coat could be reversible, I'm not certain I would wear it that way.  (This was my own modification - i.e. not in the pattern.)


I ended up with an inch of coat between where the collar ended and the top of the coat where the zipper would go.  (I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be this way or if I did something wrong.)  To address, I extended the seam binding (which I used instead of twill tape) all the way to the edge, top stitched and then sewed the folded over part down by hand.


I truly enjoyed the entire process of  making this coat, even the fiddly hand sewing.  The pattern is a really good one - i highly recommend it.   I'm even considering making a second one since I enjoyed it so much.

Besides the pattern, there are a couple of supplies I'd recommend (affiliate links):
  • Swedish Tracing Paper - it gave me easy visibility to the fabric underneath the pattern piece so I was able to line my flying geese points up right in the center.
  • Silicon pins - they are heat resistant and you can just iron right over them 
  • Binding clips - perfect for holding pieces of coat together for sewing
You can read the part 1 and part 2 posts for more tips and photos but wanted to list some keys recommendation here - both for you and for me if (WHEN!) I make a second one:
  • Trace and cut the pattern pieces onto the Swedish Tracing Paper  
  • Adding binding to pockets and consider making them larger
  • Use the walking foot to install the zipper
  • Install zipper after binding the coat center pieces
  • Don't bother to seam the bias tape for seam finishing since individual pieces cut are the right size.
  • Take it slow - don't try to do it all at once.  
  • If you aren't enjoying it, stop and come back to the step the next day.

Can't wait to wear the coat out in the wild!

Have a wonderful day! Patty

20 comments:

  1. It turned out so awesome, you will wear it proudly and get many compliments on it I am sure.

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  2. Congratulations!! Reading the back-story of the challenges you had as you made this makes the finished product even more amazing. It's beautiful!

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  3. omgosh!! I love this coat <3 I am so afraid to try to sew clothing because I fear I would end up making mistakes and waste good fabric ;-) I'll live vicariously through you :-D

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  4. Congratulations on such an awesome finish. Your quilted coat is gorgeous and what perfect alignment of points with your zipper. I'm impressed and now I definitely want to make one. I love, love, love yours. Great job!

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  5. Well done! I agree with you on the pockets. The opening seems awkward too. A welted or piped pocket might work really nice with the pocket bag on the inside.

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  6. I LOVE IT! ( just not sure I want to take it on for myself). I don't think you did anything wrong with the inch between the collar and the front edge of the coat; I believe that's to allow for one front to lay over the other front piece for buttoning/etc. If you didn't have that inch, your collar would over lap itself, too, and that wouldn't be very pretty.

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  7. Your coat is just great and looks much better than some I've seen that look way too big/overstuffed. I'm pretty lax on lining things up and wouldn't have noticed the issues you pointed out. That said, I once removed a collar on a jacket I made 3 times because it didn't want to lay right, so I do understand your need to make corrections.

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  8. Wow that turned out awesome. So did you ever sew clothing before this? I know a lot of quilters never have sewn clothing, so it is a struggle for them.

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  9. That is very impressive as I consider garment making to be difficult!
    It looks fantastic on you and you will be able to add a sweater or a hoodie underneath for very cold weather. Enjoy your new coat!

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  10. Awesomeness! I absolutely love your jacket, and it looks terrific on you! Great job! :)

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  11. Wow - the coat looks amazing and also looks great on you. Top marks for persistence, unpicking etc was worth it in the end!

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  12. You look great in your new jacket!!

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  13. Fabulous job, Patty! You look smashing in your new coat and you will love wearing it.

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  14. Great work! The coat looks amazing. xo

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  15. The coat looks really nice on you, Patty! I agree about making it a little bit oversized, so you can layer-up underneath, if you want. You did a really nice job! Not sure you need to remove/replace/realign those geese pockets. No one but you would notice that they don't match the coat. Ready-to-wear sure wouldn't take the time to make them align! Enjoy wearing it proudly! That's such a good feeling.

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  16. that is beautiful and well worth the effort it took....i've made a couple of quilted garments not nearly as involved and even they were a lot of work...well done

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  17. I love this and the idea of making a coat with one of my quilts really appeals to me. I was a sewer before I started quilting at age 70 ... I was intimated by quilting but sooo love it now. This is on my to-do list now! Great job and thanks for sharing!!

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  18. Wow!!!! I missed this when you posted but saw it on your Best of 2021 post--and this certainly is the best!! It looks amazing! Great job! I talked to my SIL yesterday and we have a plan for 2022--I'll make the quilt parts and she'll make them into coats, one for her and one for me. Your tips are super helpful, thank you!

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