#VintagePledge - Butterick 5716 finished!

Commissions have been completed, presents made (to be posted about once the recipient has actually received them!) and it was time to get back to finishing my swing coat.

The pattern . . .

. . .  and my completed version

When last seen, this coat was causing me all sorts of grief. I'd made a mistake cutting out the fronts, and the loose weave of the fabric meant that the coat lacked any sort of structure. In truth, I was quite glad that other calls on my time meant that I could abandon it for a while.

When I picked it up again, I decided that the underlining was definitely worth doing, so I cut out the front and back lining pieces from black voile, basted them into the coat, and stitched along the edges of each square of the fabric.

And stitched, and stitched. . . . . and stitched.

Interlining sewn into the front

Then I made up the sleeves, basted them into the coat, and - well, you can guess. The sleeves were a lot more awkward because I wasn't working on a flat piece, but finally it was all done. The coat now hangs much better, so it was worth the effort.

Then I decided that yes I did want the fronts as symmetrical as I could get them, pattern-wise, so trimmed down the right front so that its raw edge matched the left front. Of course, this meant that I had to alter the lining as well. I left the contrast collar section unchanged, and instead made the actual lining narrower.

Once the lining is sewn onto the main coat, the instructions just say to press the seam. However I wasn't entirely happy with the end result, so I understitched around the fronts and the neck, using a back stitch rather than a running stitch to make sure that the stitches went through all the layers.

The contrast cuffs form part of the inside of the sleeves, and can be folded back if desired. When I tried the coat on, I felt that the cuffs could do with being a bit longer, so I lengthened the sleeve linings. This meant that when I sewed the lining onto the edge of the cuff, the whole sleeve was longer.

A gust of wind shows just how full the coat is

After I'd taken the photos I needed to to some shopping, and couldn't be bothered to change. Yes I was a little overdressed for popping out to the corner shop, but it gave me a chance to try the coat out. It was surprisingly toasty; I think that the underlining really makes a difference, even though it's only a thin voile. Also, the coat doesn't flap open nearly as much as I feared; the collar and the pockets add a little weight to the front and hold it in place. So all in all, I'm really glad that I actually finished it!

Ready to hit the local Spar!