Sewing project: Chilton Trench

Work has been very busy lately, and it’s only going to get busier for the foreseeable future, so I decided to take this week off to get a bit of a mental break while I can. Of course, after I made the decision, hurricanes started barrelling towards us, which makes for a less than relaxing break, but we have been very fortunate with neither of the storms hitting New Orleans.

Anyway, since I knew I wasn’t going to spend my week off traveling (HA) I decided I needed to tackle a complicated sewing project. (I probably should have tackled cleaning my house, but that’s no fun.) Anyway, I’ve done a bathing suit, so not that. How about a coat? I’ve made the Pona jacket before, but it’s unlined. I mean a real winter(y I mean this is Louisiana after all) coat!

After looking at a million patterns, I decided on the Cashmerette Chilton Trench. I didn’t necessarily want a trench coat, but I couldn’t find any other patterns I like better so, why not? I knew the instructions would be excellent.

I really would have loved to make this out of wool or a wool blend with a luxurious satin lining, but in the end that would have been cost-prohibitive, considering the amount of fabric this coat requires. At least not for my first time out. And I couldn’t find what I really wanted anyway. So I decided to go with a plum herringbone cotton flannel from Joann’s. It’s a lot nicer than you might expect and only $10/yard (before the inevitable coupons.) And then I went with a dark teal matte satin for the inside. (Same price.) Once I bought the fabric, buttons, shoulderpads, and interfacing, I’d already spent $100, and it probably would have been double that for wool. Maybe next time!

I calculated I spent about 20 hours working on this (or four seasons of Schitt’s Creek.) About four hours cutting out pattern pieces and fabric, and then the rest sewing. And at least one of those hours was fretting over putting the sleeves in backwards (put one in upside down somehow at one point) and how to fix the hem/lining situation. (If I’m being honest, I’m still trying to figure that one out.)

Like I said, the instructions are very thorough and well-written, so just by taking it one step at at time, I was able to get through it. I have to thank David, Alexis, Moira, and Johnny for keeping me company throughout this journey.

And now pics!

Some various full length shots. Belted! Unbelted! Open! The back! With ill-advised purple shoes! And lots of loose threads I realize now I should have removed but oh well!

And now some detail shots like the pockets, the epaulettes, the chest shield (what?), the sleeve belts (trench coats are weird), and the beautiful lining. Love the colors here!

So now I just need the temp to drop at least 20 degrees so I can wear it. It won’t be warm enough on its own if the temp drops super low but that doesn’t happen very often anyway. And it’s roomy enough to layer underneath.

Bring on fall!

Hi there! I made my own Halloween costume!

This summer, I started watching The Good Place. I’d started watching it when it came out, but then stopped for whatever reason. I decided to pick it back up, and while I was watching the second episode, Miles wandered into the room and sat down. And was hooked. By the third episode, all three were watching it (and had gone back to watch the first two.) Over the course of a few weeks, we binged all three seasons and were pretty obsessed. We even listen to the official podcast. Nerds.

I thought it’d be fun for the boys and I to dress up as characters from the show for Halloween, but you already know they declined to do that. I’m not sure why, honestly. They re-watch episodes constantly and we actually sit and watch the new episodes when they air. (Who does that anymore?!?)

But I still wanted to do it, and naturally with my hair I wanted to be Janet. (I hate wigs.) (And strapless dresses aren’t my thing.)

I thought briefly of buying a purple vest and skirt on Amazon but AS IF. Instead, I bought a few yards of purple scuba fabric. Obviously I was going to make it myself!

The skirt was easy. I figured I’d make a simple half circle skirt, but then I remembered I have the perfect pattern – the Linea skirt by Wardrobe By Me. That came together quickly, especially since I left out the pockets. I hemmed it using bias tape to give the bottom a little more body.

The vest was a little more challenging. At first I was just going to wing it and use a t-shirt pattern and just hack it, but then I came across this blog post from a woman who made a Janet costume and decided I needed to step it up a bit.

So I went to Joann’s and bought a pattern since I couldn’t find any suitable pdf patterns. I ended up getting Butterick 5359 which worked perfectly (view C.)

Well, I should have lengthened it some, because once I was done I had to pull the skirt up to my ribcage so that the top would be covered by the vest.

In any case, it was pretty easy. I couldn’t find buttons in the correct color, so like the other blogger, I painted some that were close with purple nail polish, which cost me like 17 cents at Walgreens. Nice.

The last thing I tackled was the shirt. I had a plain white button down that I was never going to wear again, so I decided to paint the design on it instead of tracking down expensive fabric and sewing a shirt I’d never wear again.

My plan was to make a design of the stencil with my Silhouette and then paint it on the shirt with a mix of blue and purple fabric. In my head, it came out perfectly. In reality…well, I mean, it was a bit messier. Oh well! I also bought a little bit of white crepe fabric from the remnants bin, painted the design on that as well, and safety pinned it to the neck of the shirt for the ruffle. I mean, it wasn’t exactly ruffly, but it worked well enough.

Before the neighborhood Halloween party Saturday night, I straightened and curled my hair (thank goodness it wasn’t humid!) and put on some makeup and low heels and voila!