Still a Learning Blog

This blog entry continues the coat story from my last entry. This coat has been an exercise in patience. But hopefully I've learned something that will benefit me.

Many people say they don't have the patience for sewing. My mother taught me how to use a seam ripper almost immediately. A seam ripper makes it possible to remove stitches without ripping the whole seam--usually. A good seamstress must be willing to remove stitches and start again. A good seamstress should try to make something out of a big mess when necessary.

I decided to line the red velvet coat pictured in the previous blog. Lining a doll coat is on the silly side; who cares if the coat is lined? Certainly the doll doesn't. Certainly my five-year-old granddaughter doesn't. My idea was to have Christmas outfits for all my 18-inch dolls, and I could eventually sell the coat on eBay if I wanted to trade the time I spent for a few dollars.

Once I found a shade of red or maroon that slightly matched the red velvet, I put together the lining rather quickly. I used the coat pattern, and whileI began to tack the lining into the inside of the coat, I trimmed the lining to fit the inside. I thought this was a full proof method that would allow me to make adjustments if needed. Unfortunately, the lining didn't improve the way the velvet hung; it made it worse. See the following photo:

I don't like the way the velvet puckers down the front, and I didn't want to tack the facings to the velvet itself. I'd hoped that the lining would somehow make the inside smoother. But it did not. In addition, the ripple of the side seams might be an odd feature of the velvet, but I think my lining is a bit too long. As I contemplated shortening the lining--after spending way too much time on this coat--I discovered a hole under the arm in the sleeve seam where the fabric had unraveled.

If I do post another photo of this coat, I will have found a safe way to set it on fire without burning down my house.

My doll clothes pattern business is off to a slow start. I hope I've learned something from this time-consuming experiment:

1. Don't work with velvet unless the pattern is very simple;
2. Keep set-in sleeves--when working with small armholes--to a minimum.
3. Keep patterns simple in general--at least until I develop some kind of rhythm in my sewing and work habits.

I promise to feature some doll clothes worth sharing very soon.