The Ready-To-Wear Tailoring Sew-Along

This April I’m sewing along with Sherry at Pattern~Scissors~Cloth. A bunch of other talented seamsters and I are all making coats following the construction methods used in ready-to-wear tailoring. Mine is a Burberry-inspired trench coat, and this post marks the beginning of the saga.

Earlier in the week when I was reading the Pattern~Scissors~Cloth blog for guidance on making bound buttonholes, I noticed that Sherry, the author, was getting ready to host a Sew-Along on ready-to-wear tailoring. As you can probably guess by my recent impulses, I signed up. Ever since my husband and I bought a bolt of Burberry wool rainwear, I’d wanted to make a Burberry-style rain coat. Inspired by the Burberry advertisement in the following photo, I picked up a vintage pattern that looked similar and some camel-colored wool gabardine awhile ago.

This coat was definitely getting made some time during the year of the coat, so I figured I should take lessons from more experienced sewers when I can get them.

So far Sherry’s discussed…

• her pattern: Simplicity 6967 (the same as mine!);
• fabric choices: good quality, medium-weight natural fibers like 100% wool, silk, or linen (she recommends against gabardine or synthetics);
• other essentials: lining (she likes Bemberg 100% viscose), fusible interfacing (both medium weight and light-weight knit), fusetape (which she suggests to make from light-weight knit fusing), shoulder pads, sleeve head wadding, 6 mm cotton tape;
• pattern tracing;
• cloth allowance;
• making facing patterns from front and back pattern pieces;
• necessary pieces to block fuse (including the under collar stand);

…and, we’re only two days in to the actual Sew-Along!

Since I’d planned on making the coat prior to this Sew-Along, I wasn’t aware of all of her advice when I bought my fabrics. My outer wool is gabardine, and I just have to hope that care on my part will make up for any difficulty from this fabric. Also, I was planning to make the entire lining out of the Burberry striped wool rainwear, but Sherry recommends a slippery lining like that found in most ready-to-wear jackets. The wool rainwear is definitely not slippery. But, it will add to the rain protection of the coat and complete the Burberry look that I’m going for.

Right now my (naïve?) plan is to use the camel-colored gabardine for the outer jacket and the front facings and to use the striped Burberry fabric for the lining and under collar. Sherry is going to interface the under collar stand, as noted above, but I plan to add a collar stand using a previous post of hers to guide me through the process.

Wish me luck as I put my spring pants on hold once again and tackle this fun and challenging rain coat!