Coat construction

Once upon a time there was a sweater.  It was grey and made out of really soft wool.  The sweater went on an exciting adventure to Switzerland where it kept a fantastic missionary warm.  The sweater did not have an easy life, however, and it was subjected to the washing machine and the dryer.  This caused the sweater to shrink and become tight.  Luckily the sweater's owner hung on to the shrunken sweater and gave it to his wife.  She wore it through a horribly cold Logan winter and was kept very warm.  Stupidly, she washed it and dried it multiple times until it was too small even for her. Thankfully the life of the sweater was not over, it would find new life as a COAT.

Okay, the stupid story is over and here comes the fun stuff.

When I decided to make a coat for Mina I needed to decide what I wanted the final product to look like.  What features did I want it to have? Did I want a hood?  How about a collar?  Would it fit over her dresses for the cold walk to the church?  I had looked at numerous other coats for babies and kids so I was able to get an idea of what I wanted. The coat posts can be found HERE and HERE.

After I drew up a tiny sketch I took measurements and then I started patterning.
I used a 6 month onesie to get the shoulders and armscyes in the right place.  Mina currently wears a 3 month size so hopefully the coat will fit for a while.

After I finished the pattern I cut the pieces out of the sweater.  I realized later that I hadn't taken any pictures of that step.  I should have measured the sweater beforehand so I knew how full the skirt of the coat could have been.  It wasn't nearly as full as the pattern.  I was able to still have cute pleats in the front but the back pleats weren't as successful.

As I attached the peter pan collar I realized I didn't allow for the bulk of the collar at the neckline.  I used some of the ribbing from the sweater sleeves to fill in the gap.  I think it worked out pretty well!

This was after I attached the buttons and finished off the cuffs.  I am STILL getting used to the automatic button hole function on my BabyLock.  I wish I was better at it.  Just don't look too close at the button holes if you see the coat in real life.

I lined the coat with silk that was leftover from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at USU back in December of  2010. I painted 30 or something yards of silk and this was my test swatch.  I steam set it with the other painted pieces and kept it.  I figured the silk lining would keep Mina a lot warmer than the crappy polyester lining that usually comes in coats. I ran out of the Midsummer silk and subbed in a swatch from Avery's Cinderella dress.

I used the ribbing from around the bottom of the sweater as an earwarmer and bow for Mina's head.  I love that little girl so much!  (And the slightly creepy looking guy hiding behind her)

I added a bow to the back because bows are cool and because I messed up the center back mini pleat twice and didn't want to fix it again.  I heard it is just fine to put a bow on something that doesn't work.  Right?

Edit: I took some pictures of Mina with my camera.  Sometimes it works pretty well, sometimes it doesn't.

Hello October!

October marks the official start of fall, for me at least. I think the actual official start of fall was a week or so in September but it doesn't matter. October is a wonderful month, it starts with General Conference and ends with Halloween. It gets the holiday ball rolling, the leaves continue to change, the weather cools down and I get to break out the cute fall clothes.

I have some big plans for October...

• I'm going to make Mina's Halloween costume
• We're going to have family pictures taken
• I'm going to get my butt in gear and exercise for reals and not for fakes.
• I want to make a coat for Mina

While James and I were shopping for fabric for Mina's blessing dress he had an idea for Mina's Halloween costume.  We decided then and there that we would decide every other year for costumes until she's old enough to choose her own.  James' choice?

 A dalek.

Yes, a dalek.

It's an alien from Doctor Who.

We brainstormed it out and I'm going to make it into a dress and a hat.  I'll use stuffing so it will be soft instead of rigid.  She's a baby, after all. I think I'll make the dress more of jumper so if she gets too hot (or annoyed) we can take it off without having to totally change her clothes.  I think she has some plain long sleeved onesies...

In honor of a new addition to our family and employment, we are having family pictures taken.  I am so excited but also a little nervous.  My body is different now and I'm still trying to come to terms with it.  I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to deliver a healthy baby but it would be nice if my old clothes fit again.  Maybe I just need someone to dress us for our pictures...Ugh.

I got my butt off the couch this morning and took Mina on an hour walk.  She slept through a good chunk of it and only cried once.  I thought it would be a lot colder so I wore my windbreaker.  I was so sweaty by the time we got home.  It was gross.  But, sweat is a good thing.  I should do it more often.  I figure if I document my progress I'll be more likely to stick with it. I figure I'm already off to a good start because I remembered to wear my track pants and not my scary stretchy pants.

Last up, Mina's coat.

I realize she will grow fast and won't get much use out of it but I still want to make a cute coat.  Here are some of my inspirational images:

Baby Gap

J. Crew

J. Crew

baby Dior

baby Dior

My plan is to combine all the coats into one cute, classy coat.  I'm going to follow lead of my friend Delia and use an old sweater for the coat.  She is amazing...Maybe I can finish it for our family pictures...

FYI, these coats retail for  $49.99, $188 and $845!

The lining of the baby Dior coat, I love the fabric and pleats:

Randomness

Also known as a phone dump.

I've had a few pictures on my phone that I have meant to write about.  I also recently learned how to take a picture of the screen, it only took eight months to learn how to use my iPhone.  Oh well.

First up, this gem.

What: A slightly threatening text

When: Memorial Day Weekend (refer to my recently acquired photo taking skill)

Who: It's a mystery

We were out visiting graves for Memorial Day when I received this weird text.  I opted not to respond because I didn't know the number nor do I owe anyone money.  I finally figured out how to take a picture of the screen when Lauren wanted to see what my texts looked like (phone update issues) so James showed me.  He's nice like that.

Picture #2

What: A self portrait by James

When: Last weekend? Sometime he hadn't shaved?  Basically, it wasn't Sunday, he shaves that day.

Who: James

This is what I find when I leave my phone unattended.  Nice.

Picture #3

What: Our "living" butter lettuce

When: Last week or the week before

Who: I took this because I thought it was funny in a science experiment kind of way

We get Bountiful Baskets once or twice a month, depending on when we remember to order.  I thought this was slightly disturbing for the "Absolutely Fresh Because It's Still Alive!" label.  I half expected the lettuce to scream when I cut it apart.  Despite that creepiness, it was a very good head of lettuce and it DID taste very fresh.

Picture #4

What: My quilting sampler

When: A couple of weeks ago, packing up some boxes

Who: Another picture by me

I made this sampler when I took a quilting class with my Mom and ladies from our ward.  I can't remember when exactly theses classes took place but I know it was at least 15 years ago.  I should finish it but I don't know what I would do with it once it's done.  

I plan on blogging about our 2nd anniversary.  We went to dinner at Cafe Sabor, visited the Willow Park Zoo (my first time) and we went on two walks.  I would blog about it now but I actually used my camera to take some pictures and my camera cord is at my parent's house.  I had left my phone at home.

Fun and games

In real life I'm not THAT fond of bowling but I do like Wii bowling.  It's not as difficult and my funny elbows don't mess up the trajectory of the ball.  I usually play by myself but James and I decided to play together one night last week.  I remembered why I don't usually play against him:

That is five strikes in a ROW.  He finished up the game with another strike and a spare.  It was pretty out of control.

I tried to get a picture of him bowling but it didn't work.  He's really cute when he bowls in real life too.

Yesterday I journeyed to Wal-Mart and bought an item I was surprised I haven't owned.  A hot glue gun.  I am just as a surprised as you are, Mom.  I figured it would be a good time to get some exercise in so I walked all around the store to find it.  I eventually found it near the party supplies and not in the area labeled "craft and sewing" near the fabric.  I used it to make this:

We dried oranges from our Bountiful Basket order from last month.  We had so many uneaten oranges that were starting to go soft.  I had wanted to make something with dried oranges after seeing pictures here.  It doesn't really go with the curtains in the kitchen but they came with the kitchen so I'm not going to change them.  I love how the sun shines through the slices and it smells pretty good too!

Tomorrow is our anatomy ultrasound and I am really excited!  I'm surprised how quickly the past four weeks have gone by, I was really disappointed we would have to wait until 21 weeks to learn more about our baby.  The wait is almost over!