KCWC Day 6 + 7 – Striped Swing Coat and a Recap

KCWC is officially over!  I have one final project to share that I worked on over the weekend – it’s a the Stylish Double Breasted Coat pattern from Dear My Kids.

I totally stole the idea to make this coat from Jessica, when she mentioned it in her KCWC planning post.  And then she didn’t even make hers.  Hehe, I basically stole her project.  Thanks Jessica!  😛

The pattern was pretty simple and very easy to follow.  I made the coat in the 2T size and didn’t bother making any adjustments.  The coat came out super long on Yuki – It’s about the length of a dress and I have to fold the sleeves up.  I probably should have looked at the measurements and shortened everything, but I wasn’t thinking.  Now the coat will fit her for several years! 🙂

I made the coat in a striped knit (continuing the knit theme of my KCWC collection) and lined it with a really soft cream colored knit.  I added a layer of fleece in between and so the coat is SUPER soft, thick and warm.

Of course, with the jacket getting so thick, I did have trouble sewing some parts and in fact, I since there was no way of getting the buttonhole foot to work, I decided to hand sew the button holes.  The first tutorial I looked up was a basic blanket stitch around the buttonhole.  I kinda like it/kinda hate it.  While it’s got a cute hand stitched touch, it also looks a bit messy and frankensteiny.

I think this could be really cute on a different type of garment, if done well, in a contrasting thread for a decorative look.  I’ll try remember that for later.

Anyways, I’m done!!  I checked off the 6 main things I had on my KCWC list.  I feel a pretty huge sense of accomplishment for not only finishing 6 garments but because I tackled knits – which I’ve always been a bit scared of.  I’m by no means a knit expert now, but I feel a bit more confident about sewing with knits and won’t be scared off by them so easily.  I finally learned how to use my serger and I’m feeling more confident about using that too.  And I LOVE it!  I’ll be using it on all my garments from now on.  I don’t know why I was so afraid of it!

So here are the things I made last week.  Oh, and I should clarify – KCWC is a challenge to sew for an hour each day for a week, but since I sew that much on a weekly basis, I like to challenge myself a little differently.  Last week, I decided to make Yuki a fall wardrobe that is appropriate for her active toddler lifestyle 🙂  (click on the photo to check out the post)

Phew!  What a fun week!  If you haven’t already, you should definitely go check out the elsie marley flickr pool where everyone has been uploading their KCWC creations.  There is so much amazing inspiration there and browsing through all the pictures is my favorite part of KCWC.  If you didn’t participate this time, don’t worry, there will be another one in the spring!  Thanks so much for hosting, Meg!

Alright, back to work.  You’d think that after so much sewing in one week, I’d be burnt out, but I’m actually really pumped to tackle more projects.  This week I’ve got some custom order stuff I’m working on, pattern testing, a tote bag I want to make and maaaaybe something for me?  Plus I’m itching to make a dress after all this unisex knit stuff I’ve been working on 🙂

Happy Monday!