pink coat::day 7

Now that we've adjusted our basic pattern to coat measurements, we'll just go through the seven step checklist to draft up our pattern.  Those steps again:

1) Waist

2) Armhole/Sleeve

3) Neckline

4) Closure

5) Style Lines

6) Skirt

7) Seam and Hem Allowance

Waist

Now, with a princess style, the checklist item "waist" tells us to get the princess lines completely done.  First we'll need to transfer the dart from the basic pattern to the coat pattern.  Because we've decided to move the side front seams over closer to the side seam, I'm going to match the patterns up at the side seam and the waist seam, like so:

And draw the dart on the coat pattern. 

 Now, how we go from basic coat pattern to princess-lines pattern is described in detail in the "Princess Styles" lesson on the lessons page.  Here I added 7" in length from the waist, because I want the final length of the coat to be 24", 6" of which will be ruffle, and the bodice was already 11" long.  I'm measuring from the shoulder/neckline point. 

I also added 1/2" width at each side of the side front and side back seams, and the side seams.  We don't want a bunch of flare, and we have 6 seams that we've added 1/2" width to each side of, so we've added 6" in width. 

 Sleeve

We went back and forth on adding puff at the top of the sleeve, but since we need the extra width because of our non-slippery lining, I think we'll go ahead and add a little.  I cut the sleeve pattern down the middle from top to hem and added 1" at the sleeve cap.  It tapers out to nothing at the hem. 

See how the hem now has a sharpish angle?  I'll either redraw that curve to smooth it out, or just smooth it out with my scissors as I cut. 

Usually, if we're adding a ruffle, we'd want to shorten the sleeve by the length of the ruffle.  I think I'll leave the sleeve wrist length, and allow the ruffle to extend over the hand a bit.  It's only going to be a 1" ruffle or so. 

 Neckline/Collar

There are many types of coat collars.  You can read about quite a few of them at this fascinating site.  We're going to go with a simple approach, and use a rolled Peter Pan collar for our coat. 

If you were with us when we drafted the Autumn A-line Collar, you'll remember that we made that collar completely flat.  This time we'd like it to roll quite a bit.  More about collars, of course, is available in the collars lesson on the lessons page.  I've overlapped the shoulder 2" to make the collar roll, then drafted a very wide collar in the shape I want. 

Next time we'll talk about the collar lining, and then we'll move on to the closure.  Questions?

~Erin~

pink coat::day 6

Now that we've got our design hammered out, we'll start drafting.

In case you missed this part of the Autumn A-line dress, here's a quick recap:

We're going to make our coat out of the basic bodice pattern, altered a little bit.  So first we'll need to choose which size of bodice pattern we need.  Measure around the chest, choose a basic pattern size, and print it out:

I suppose you could really use any pattern you wanted, if you were reasonably convinced that it was "basic".  By which I mean, it fits the child in question, with a minimal amount of ease (ours have 10% ease around the chest) and is free of any style lines that are going to confuse you.  Basic.  Bodice.  Pattern.  That's what we want to start with. 

If you do use the CFW basic pattern, you'll have to print it and slap it into shape:

That's better!  Now we can start to make a coat pattern. 

Bodice Adjustments

In order to make our basic bodice pattern into a coat pattern, we'll need to make a few adjustments.  We make these adjustments 1) because a coat has to be big enough to go over other (sometimes bulky) clothing, and 2) a coat is usually made out of a bulky fabric.

Now, the adjustments we're making today are average adjustments, which means if you're using thinner fabric, or want a more fitted coat, you can go less, and if you're using bulkier fabric, you'd use slightly larger measurements.  Ours is a heavyweight fleece, but still a more-or-less medium weight coating fabric, so we'll use these measurements.  These adjustments come almost straight from the book Childrenswear Design by Hilde Jaffe and Rosa Rosa.  (I'd hate for you to think I came up with all this.)

First we'll lay down our basic pattern and trace around it.  Then we'll make the adjustments shown in red. 

a) Lower the neckline 1/8"

b)  Draw a line from the new neckline extending out over the shoulder.  At the armhole edge of the shoulder, it should be 1/4" above the original shoulder. 

c)  The new shoulder line should extend 3/4" beyond the original armhole.

d)  Drop the bottom of the armhole 1".

e)  Add 1" in width at the side seam.

Now grab the bodice back and make the same adjustments. 

Sleeve Adjustments

After that, we'll need to adjust the sleeve pattern a bit.  I've shown a short sleeve here, just to save space, but you'd of course be using a long sleeve.

a) Cut the sleeve down the middle and add 1" in width. 

b)  Add 1" in height at the top of the sleeve cap.  Now redraw your sleeve cap curve from the underarm, up over the top, and down to the underarm again. 

After this, it's just a matter of going through our seven pattern-designing steps one by one until we're sure we've got the pattern we want.  Something we will, of course, do together.  Next time. 

Any questions?  Anything unclear?  Don't be afraid! Raise your hand and ask!

~Erin~

pink coat::day 5

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend.  Now let's get back to work!

Here are our final design drawings:

 I think that, in order to get that pocket in there without interfering with the buttons, we'll just move the princess seam a little closer to the side seam, and have it come from the armhole instead of the shoulder.  Also, we'll place most of the buttons higher than the pocket.  We'll fiddle with this more as we make the coat up and get it right in the end. 

I think that we'll use our lining fabric to trim the sleeves, buttons, and capelet ruffle.  We could also use it for the pocket stand.  Or not.  What do you think?  Also, although we won't see it, we'll use the lining fabric to line the underside of the collar and the capelet. 

Now, if there are no further objections, we'll go to drafting our pattern tomorrow.

Objections?

~Erin~

pink coat::day 4

So what I hear us saying about the pink coat project is this:

We seem to like the simple coat with minimal flare, deep ruffle at the bottom, double breasted, straight sleeve with a ruffle, and round collar.

We seem to be divided, still, on the capelet.  No problem.  We'll do a capelet, but we'll make it completely detachable. 

 

I haven't been drawing the princess lines, because they'd be confusing when we're only trying to look at the shape of our coat.  But now we need to think about adding pockets.  We can either add pockets there in the princess seam, or we can add horizontal (or diagonal, I suppose) pockets right over the hips. 

 

 This drawing sort of gives us an idea of what contrast trim would look like.  We can use the gingham lining for any/all/none of the following:  collar, capelet ruffle, sleeve ruffles, buttons, pocket stands.  I have buttons to cover with the lining fabric, so I guess that at least those will have to be gingham.  I don't think we ought to make that deep ruffle in gingham.  That, I think, would be too much.  Everything else is up for grabs. 

As for the lining, I chose the cotton gingham for several reasons.  The fleece is a stretch fabric, and I suppose we have the option of lining it with a stretch or a woven fabric.  If I were concerned about keeping the stretch factor, I'd certainly line it with a nice soft knit.  I'm thinking, however, that we want our fleece to mimic sturdier fabrics, and lining it with a good strong cotton will help it to be a more upright citizen, so to speak.  Lining fabrics are usually whisper-thin because we don't want added bulk.  This time, I think, we'd like just a little. 

We do give up, however, the slippery quality of traditional linings that makes them slide on over clothes so nicely.  I think we can cut the sleeves a little more loosely and compensate somewhat. 

I also heard a couple of requests for inverted pleats, but I don't believe this chunky fleece would cooperate.  A tab in the back we may be able to do.

So, to move on, we'll need answers the the following issues:

-Where do we want our pockets?

-What parts of our coat, besides the lining and buttons, do we want to do in contrast/gingham?

Let me know what you think.  And have a lovely weekend, won't you?

~Erin~

pink coat::day 3

Just joining us?  Please read pink coat::day 1.  Then jump in and have your say!

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When I decide to design something, the very first thing I do is research.  When I have a finished product that looks unique because of my personal preferences, the fabric and trims I used, and design issues I solved in my own way, people often tell me that they wish they could come up with ideas like that.  They assume, I suppose, that I woke up from a dream with an image of the finished outfit blazing in my mind.  Or that when I designed it, I was in an empty cell, just me and a blank piece of paper, a bare light bulb hanging...

Maybe you're that good.  I'm not.

Before I can form an idea of what I want, I have to do research.  So I go to Google Image Search, or ShopStyle.com and I type in "coat".  Then "princess coat".  Then "double-breasted coat".  And so on.  (Typing "breasted" into any search engine is touchy.  That could go bad in a hurry.) 

I look through the tons of images quickly.  If I'm going to love something, it'll leap out at me immediately.  I save several images as I go along, until I have a good handful.  Then I open them all up in Photoshop at the same time, squint, tap my teeth with my fingernail, and the primordial ooze begins to evolve. 

All of that is to say, I would show you my design board, but since I've grabbed pictures from anywhere and everywhere, I can't just throw them up here, because they belong to other folks.  So we'll have to make do with my drawings (sorry, I know my creative talent lies elsewhere) and I'll show you what I found.  As we discuss this, please do go do your own searches and see some actual coats with the design features we're talking about. 

Now, when I think "really girly", I immediatly think ruffles.  I'm a sucker for ruffles.  After reading your comments over the last couple of days, I have several ideas kicking around in my head.   

I'm considering using this for the lining:

It's a 1/8" Kaufman cotton gingham in pink and brown from Fabric.com.

We can, of course, mix and match any of the parts from the coats I'm thinking up, or do something different entirely.  

 This coat has just a little flare, and a deep ruffle on the bottom.  The sleeve on the left is cuffed with the lining fabric, the one on the right is finished with a ruffle. 

This one is technically only "princess" to the waist, then a skirt is added below that.  It's also double-breasted, round-collared, and has the same choice of sleeves as above.  We can put a belt on it or not.  Is a belt a good idea on a children's coat?

This one has princess lines all the way down, but a lot more flare is added than the first coat up there.  It's single breasted, has ruffles on either side of the placket, and has a belt.  It also has two sleeves we haven't considered yet, a Juliet-type on the left, and a plain straight sleeve on the right.  We could also add more puff in the top of the sleeve for a different look.  Didn't think of that while I was drawing. 

As far as a capelet, if we decide we want one, we can add it to any of the styles above.  It might be better, if we do decide to do a capelet, to do a simpler style so fancy details aren't wasted hiding out under there. 

I don't believe that a capelet would actually make a child look as much like a football player as this drawing would have you believe.

Now we have some inspiration to chew on.  I only drew round collars because that's what we seemed to agree on. We can only make one coat this time around, so we need to narrow down our options.  We need to choose:

-a sleeve
-an amount of flare
-whether we want a belt
-whether we want a capelet

Those are my thoughts.  Yours?

~Erin~