Saturday, March 26, 2011

Rouge Lady Grey - With Guest Model

I hope you're all having a happy weekend - I am! Today my gorgeous youngest sister, Ruth, came over for afternoon tea and generously agreed to model my finished Lady Grey coat for me. I would love to be able to model my most prided project to date, but my belly is far too big now for that!
So here is my darling sister in all the Lady Grey glory:








Doesn't she look amazing? My beautifully pad-stitched lapels and lapel roll lines:



The pad-stitched collar:


The lining - I actually had to add a ribbon hem - the lining is soooo short! I was quite annoyed about this to begin (should have read reviews again), but think the ribbon looks pretty, so I've gotten over it:



To tailor the coat, I followed Gertie's Lady Grey Sew-A-Long posts. I followed them pretty much to the t., which involved:


    Interfacing by hand-stitching all coat pieces with hair canvas;
    Marking and stitching the lapel roll line;
    Pad-stitching the lapels;
    Stitching the seams down flat to the coat (I didn't topstitch them as I thought the stitching wouldn't show anyway).  
    Stitching together the coat shell pieces (not the collar or the sleeves);
    Stitching together the lining pieces (not the sleeves); and
    Hemming the lining using lace. 
    Marking and stitching the collar roll line;
    Pad-stitching the collar;
    Attaching the collar to the shell;
    Hemming the shell with lace (and also ribbon); and
     Attaching the lining to the shell by hand. 


This coat took me a long time - I had two weeks off work, and Michael was away in the USA, so I worked on it full-time during that time. I then worked on it on a more part-time basis for another two weeks. The hand-stitching is very time consuming, plus I had never pad-stitched anything before.

It was very fun to sew - and very good for me to sew something more advanced than I usually do. Definitely my most satisfying project to date, especially when Ruthy put it on and I could see how nicely it sat.

It was so fun to have Ruthy to style - she was looking stunning (no surprise there, she always does), the sun was out, the chocolate pudding was tasty, and Michael's photo taking skills were right on the money. An excellent afternoon! Hope your weekends are going as nicely as mine.

14 comments:

  1. Phew - loads of work! It looks fabulous; I love your choice of fabric. It does give a great silhouette. I really want to have a go at pad stitching something now.

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  2. Your coat looks fabulous. I can understand why you are feeling so proud of yourself. I love all the details and the fit is perfect. It's amazing that you managed to get such a good fit given that you can hardly fit yourslef right now. Bet you can't wait to give it a go yourself.

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  3. Gorgeous! Wow, that's a really ambitious amount of sewing - well done for being patient with it. Now you've just got to be careful that Ruth doesn't walk off with it...

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  4. Such a beautiful, beautiful coat! The fabric is stunning! Your sister is a great model--you two look alike! You must be getting close to your due date??

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  5. Bravo! You did an amazing job Rachel, just make sure Ruth doesn't sneak it out on her way home, i'm sure she's tempted!

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  6. A very very fine entry to the world of tailoring Rachel - your coat sits beautifully - all those little stitches really do make a difference. Congratulations.

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  7. OMG! Your sister is *so cute* and that jacket is amazing. I don't think (but I hope) I could ever make something as polished as that! I have made some rather ambitious jackets over the years but I feel sad to say they are super daggy, even though I wore them to DEATH. One did get stolen, FROM WORK, so I hope that was the nicest one I've ever made!


    (Everytime I see that you've got a new post, I think 'BABY TIME'... not too long now and hope you're feeling well!)

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  8. What a gorgeous coat! The finish has such a professional look to it! Your sister's very cute in it, but I'm sure it will look even better on its rightful owner soon enough ;o)

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  9. What a stunning coat!! You've done such a marvellous job! :) Your sister is gorgeous, too. Just like you!

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  10. Thanks everyone!

    Yes, I did have to wrench the coat back from Ruthy - it is sometimes that way with things I *lend* to her. In fact I think she has a few things of mine in her wardrobe now...

    I can't wait to wear it myself - hopefully I'll be in it alot this winter.

    My due date is 26th April - not long now at all! I'm going to post a 'bump' picture soon - you'll be able to see how much my bump has grown since the last time I posted pics - which I think was around New Years!!

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  11. Wow! Fabulous Lady Grey! I love the textured fabric you used and your lining is fun, too. You did an awesome job.

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  12. Oh my goodness, amazing! You did such a wonderful job. Thank you so much for taking part in the sew-along. I'm inspired by your results! xoxo

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  13. Thank you Liza Jane and Gertie!

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  14. Wow! That is gorgeous. You must be about ready to pop soon. I just got back from Europe on Sunday and thought I may have missed it.

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