[Nicole]

Thank you Lotta.

The glue stick works so well, then you can press and fold the pattern sheet.

I finished Tilly’s dress, so so SO cute.

I can’t wait to share photos.

I am not sure what to do next…. perhaps a Tea Party from my pre-cut pile? I didn’t expect to finish the Garden Party dress so soon.

PS Bren, Hugo had a favourite Wrangler shirt and a Stetson his Uncle brought him back from America when he was little.

[Anonymous]

Ugh – sorry about the unpicking, Nicole! Navy on navy is painful.

[meleliza]

I made do with what I have, which is the theme for our house right now. I had some poplin I’ve been using to underline communion dresses for opacity and decided it was the perfect weight for facings and her collar. I used some ivory Bemberg I had to line her coat and some silk scraps for my round trip jacket. Then I went and cut out a Fiary Take dress from some stuff I needed to use up and got to work on that because cutting all those fussy coat pieces was a lot of work and I wanted something simple and fun. Then I decided to add the sleeves and collar just because I had enough fabric. Sigh. I’m a piece of work! But the dress will be cute for church on Sunday and I’m going to bang it out despite a busy week. Then I will bang out her pink coat too.

Incidentally, I’m copying this coat: http://www.mariechantal.com/products/details/i/673-s3dyp/n/empire-line-coat.aspx. Because I can. And because I made he mistake of showing it to her. 🙂 it’s actually exactly like the red wool winter coat I made her. I just shortened the sleeves and turned the cuff into a ruffle. http://sewing.patternreview.com/patterns/34300 an excellent pattern I’m happy to use again.

[Tamara]

My paper patterns arrived! So let’s get sewing!

[Masha Richart]

Ooh, that coat is lovely, Melanie! I keep dreaming of making something like that for my girls, but for some reason coats intimidate me.

I bought the Parisian Top pattern from Go To Patterns yesterday (part of their new Pattern Anthology, but I didn’t care for two of the other patterns so I decided to wait until they went on sale individually). Today I will print, tape, and hopefully cut fabric.

[Nicole]

Just don’t think of them as a coat, more a lined dress!

There are some easier coat patterns out there. The School days is a commitment but not hard and the CC Kestrel is a very easy coat.

I have nearly finished my second Garden Party dress. I love it but I had to make a second as I muffed the first one and I was blogging a tute!

The Clever Justine pointed out my error.

Read the instructions Ladies, I got a bit big for my sewing boots!

This one is a play farmy version in denim.

[Lightning McStitch]

Oh dear, I shouldn’t laugh Nicole, but if I ever think to photograph something as I do it I invariably screw it up. However I’ve had some resounding successes which I wished I’d documented along the way.

You have the photographed tutorial market well and truly to yourself as far as I’m concerned. 🙂

[with love Heidi]

Looking forward to seeing both dresses Nicole! I’m interested in how the bodice is done.

I’m making a grey Red Riding Hood Cape with a floral lining to check for fit and style for a friend. To see if I can I use it as a basis for making a cape to go over her wedding dress 🙂

[Sarvi]

Agree with McStitch. Even though I’m only photographing for myself, I can’t tell you how many of my sets consist of painstaking photos of the first steps (where I’m not doing anything complicated) and then all of a sudden a finished garment, because once it got interesting I got distracted. I LOVE that Nicole is so thorough, because inevitably other people leave out the very photo I needed to see.

[meleliza]

It’s true, Masha, if you can sew a fully lined dress, you can sew a coat. Kestral is really easy, but School Days is more fully fashioned. And the instructions are really clear, so even though it’s a lot of work, it isn’t too hard. The pattern I mentioned above is really well done and fits beautifully. For winter, I did red wool with black velveteen collar and cuffs and I even interlined it with some flannel for extra warmth. So it’s like sewing 3 separate garments, six sleeves to set in total. But this time, it’s just an outer coat and lining, so a little quicker. School Days is a great one to learn on, really. That’s the first one I did, years ago. In fact, I refer to those directions when I make other coats.

[cybele727]

Oh Nicole, what a great reminder. I think I see so many finished products be it a dress or a blog and think, why can’t I be that…. (fill in your adjective). Hearing that you muffed something makes me feel better about my own muffs.

I am like Sarvi, anytime I photograph it is the easy stuff and then I forget the middle parts. I wonder… didn’t I take a pic of that step for a reminder. Then I go back and look… I took pics of the stuff I know how to do, but the stuff I struggled over, I didn’t memorialize that. I was too busy struggling. 🙂

I wish I could take a vision and style class. I envy many of you. I see something you’ve all made and look at the fabric and think… I would NEVER have bought that fabric but damn that is awesome, looks great… etc. I wish I knew how to take better risks with fabric and embellishments for that wow factor.

[thejennigirl]

I gave in, and started sewing. Started with the only red item in my stack, and therefor only item requiring red thread and sewed up a quick linen Hop Scotch top the night before last. My poor husband has had to listen to the Frozen soundtrack while I sang/screeched along in my studio. It might be why he suddenly had the motivation to remove the motor from his Mustang in the garage, after previously whining it was too cold

[Lightning McStitch]

For anyone interested in making a spectacular tailored coat there’s been a brilliant series on the Thread Theory blog

[Tamara]

What I would like to know is WHERE the muff actually is. Mind you I haven’t popped on and read the blog post yet. I read the destructions (I mean instructions) last night and they seemed as though this dress is a total cinch to make.

I keep finding all these half made things! But I am currently doing a stocktake on notions in preparation for my Spotlight trip.

[Nicole]

Of course I will share where I went wrong, I always do.

No point in letting someone else make the same mistake, but I doubt you would. It was assuming something that was the problem NOT the instructions.

Thank you Shelley, I bought the coat pattern for Hugo.