I need help!! ... deciding on pattern and how to finish long edges of camel coat.

I'm debating between 3 McCalls patterns: 3448, 5987, 6209 to make a drapey, floaty coat out of this camel colored fleece. I'm looking for opinions... And ideas on how to clean finish the long front edge and hem of this polar fleece. (I've not made something like this before...)


Looking on pattern review, I'm leaning toward 5987, a pattern that's been made up beautifully by several gals:

Cozy winter white by Meg

Sharon's in a camel color. On her blog sharonsews.blogspot.com she includes a great tip on how to make a mitered corner by stitching on the diagonal. And she shows various ways of wearing this versatile coat.

Chic Black Wool by Nancy

Fresh, pretty green wool by Annie

Gray polar fleece by Claire, who uses a beautiful finish she calls a "Greek stitch", which I've not seen before, but it surely looks lovely.

I'd sure appreciate help in deciding on the pattern and how to finish the edges. I assume this beautiful greek stitch requires a more modern machine than I have???

Sewing recap 2010: 28 items sewn

14 tops, 2 skirts, 1 pair of capris, 6 dresses, 2 sleepwear items, 2 men's wear, 1 cover for my dressform



  

Surf's Up Fabric Bag by Shannon at Mushywear

I fell head over heels for this darling bag made by Shannon at  mushywear. Isn't it darling! I asked her where she got the "Surfs Up" fabric, and she immediately replied. (Thank you Shannon!!) Turned out that store didn't have any more. It's an OOP pattern called "Surfs Up" designed by Heidi Dobrott for Robert Kaufman. But I found it at texassusannie.com and it's already ordered. I'm so excited to have one more little splash of fun in my ever-evolving "Surfer Chic" decor. I'm thinking of cutting out the little squares (evidentally they're vintage album covers) and appliqueing them on something.... to be decided .... stay tuned

and thanks again, Shannon for the great idea.

Project Boom Boom Room

We're living amidst the upheaval of construction... the rebuilding of the Boom Boom Room (what B calls our 3-season porch at the back of the house. He's tearing down and rebuilding two of the walls, and installing a pair of French Doors on each wall.  (There's a sewing aspect to this post... I promise)

Why the rebuild? Big reason: the roof leaked and destroyed the ceiling. In a couple weeks, a new roof is being installed. 

In the meantime, all the wicker furniture that usually sits out there is shoved in the living room, including  this wicker couch.  My part of the project will be the recovering the cushions of the wicker furniture. It'll be in white with splashes of this gorgeous barkcloth fabric.

 

Here, B is oiling the wood he'll install on the walls. 

 ... and the oiled wood dries

I'll keep you posted on the progress.
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Slipcover is finished... no "exceptfors", plus skirting details

I finally finished the final "exceptfors" on this slipcover: the two back box cushions and the piped faux pleated skirt. The photo below shows the skirt. It's 9 inches long and is attached a couple inches below the seat level.

What I mean by "faux" pleats is: The skirt is one long stretch of piping that goes all the way around the piece. Attached to it are 6 lined skirt flaps: 2 in front, 2 in back, 1 on each side. Behind the gap in front and on the corners is a little 7 inch skirt piece placed "behind" the skirt gap to make it look like it's pleated

Here's the front pleat.

 This shows the center front pleat also, showing the back of the skirt, made from a white sheet.

 Here's the corner faux pleat.

...which brings me to my next project: The wicker ottoman in this next picture is going to become a little coffee table/foot rester. In the photo, the natural bull denim (same as the slipcover) is simply draped over it. My plan is to make a new boxed, piped cushion for the ottomon. My first thought was to use the offwhite denim, but ...

 then I test draped it with this barkcloth below (white background with green leaves and red flowers) and Oooo la la, I fell in love with it.

This little wicker couch below is another "next project". I'm debating what to cover it in (it has some pretty bamboo print covers ... not shown ... that I like ... but they're a little worn). I think I'll do a mixture of off-white denim for seat cushions and somehow use that gorgeous hibiscus fabric. I just have 3/4 yard of it that I brought home from an AWESOME store "Stearns and Harris" in Tampa. (I'll write more about that store in another post). I want to go back and get the whole bolt, and either make back cushions out of it, or just throw pillows.

And one parting picture of my new little loveseat. (It feels good to finish a project that I dragged my feet for well over a year to even start.

The act of finishing something is filled with energy, a form of inertia, positive momentum. It makes me feel like I'm on a roll, ready to dive in a tackle another project. It feels good. 

What kind of dressform do you use (or wish for)... Anyone make one with duct tape?

I'm shopping for a new dressform... considering this PGM (looks like a Wolf but less expensive)??? Christine at Just Keep Sewing is also shopping for a form and received lots of good advice in the comments to her post.

Here's my vintage lady. She's not the prettiest thing, but she works well. Problem is, she stayed home in Washington, she's not here in Florida with me now, and I miss her. I've considered wrapping myself in duct tape and making a dummy that way (my bf and I saw a video and he's all enthused about doing the wrapping). Have any of you made a duct tape dummy... or have thoughts about other dress forms?

6 Beachy Dresses ... How to choose the right (non-dowdy) length.

After so much cold weather, it's finally warm enough to come out from under the layers of fleece and head to the beach in one of the 6 beach-worthy dresses I made this fall. I debate about which length looks best. What do y'all think about lengths? (The 2 black dresses seem the most dowdy???).

click to enlarge

1. Blue TShirt Dress - McCalls 2460 - link

2. Blue Print Halter Maxi - (refashioned skirt/shirt) - Butterick 5181 - link

3. Flowered Short Dress (refashioned men's Hawaiian shirt) - McCalls 5094 link

4. 18 Ways to Wear a Little Black Dress LBD - Burda Mag 09-2008-132 - link

5. Black Hawaiian Halter Dress - (refashioned wrap skirt) - McCalls 6071 - link

6. Coral Halter Dress - McCalls 3584- link