project winter coat: time to fuse!

i didn't mean to have another rambling picture-less post but my dear sweet computer is having it's graphics card replaced (or some such nonsense) since the monitor went ka-poot.

---------------------------------------------

i have successfully pre treated my "fashion fabrics" (am i the only one who kind of hates that term? i feel like i am anything but fashionable--just a girl who loves to sew and can't really afford the quality i want!) and am itching to start cutting. 

whenever i start work on a project that cost more then oh, $5 i kind of have an anxiety attack and become deathly afraid of cutting out the real deal. my muslin revealed a bit of bagginess on the back kind of near the armpit area. oh arms and everything about them have become my achilles heel! i think if i just shift the entire arm scythe in about 1/4" (the shoulder was a touch wide also) then redraw the side seam i'll be good. i tweaked my sleeve and just have to lengthen it by an inch, and i've decided to go with the welt pockets in the princess seam. hopefully i'll be cutting in a few hours, i don't plan to tweak and tweak and tweak. you can drive yourself crazy with fittings!

also, i've been on the hunt for the perfect silk buttonhole twist. evidentially, the only colors carried locally are black, white, red and maybe blue. me? i want fuchsia. i have it in my head to do hand worked buttonholes and really, why do all the work if it's just going to blend in to (slightly boring) grey/black wool? i did find a tailor shop online somewhere that has the gimp and buttonhole twist i need. unfortunately, the giant spool of gimp is $18, the buttonhole twist is $1.50 and shipping is about $14. so basically, not including the buttons, these things are gonna cost me about $35. hmm... i thought, okay maybe i can find some other cording instead of the real gimp, but i was still looking at a $13 shipping cost for the thread alone! UPS is their only shipping option. i really didn't even consider it would be so difficult to find my supplies! sigh. must dig deeper into the interwebs. i do live near boston and it's rumored that there is in fact a garment district... perhaps a trip into town will be necessary! though i usually just end up in a long line in front of an italian pastry shop downing hundreds of calories in a shockingly short amount of time... ahem. 

anywho... mostly i just wanted to stop by and list all the pattern pieces i plan to fuse because that's what i be working on over the next couple days as i ponder my buttonhole situation.  here goes...

to fuse:
-entire front of coat
-entire front facing
-under collar
-a second layer only under the roll line of the under collar (after the under collar center seam has been sewn. i'll show pics of this later!)
-back neck facing (if your pattern has this pice)
-upper sleeve from the sleeve cap to the upper to mid bicep
-upper portion of the back. my pattern has a separate upper back pattern piece so i'll just fuse that section
-welts
-the sleeve and coat hemline. you will want about a 2.5-3" strip of fusible at the very bottom edge of these pieces. part of this of course will be turned to the inside of the hem. this just ensures that you get a good crisp edge.

more advise... for the large sections such as the front and front facing, fuse before cutting out your pattern piece. just in case there is any further shrinking that occurs while fusing you want to make sure your pattern pieces don't lose their shape or size. also, things are just more accurate this way! have you ever cut your fabric and fusible from the same pattern piece only to have them not completely line up? i sure have. also, on the partially fused pieces cut the edge of the fusible with pinking shears. this will help reduce any ridges showing up on the outside.

i'll address the taped roll line later when i have pictures to illustrate what i'm doing. this can be done with fusible or catch stitched with twill tape. 

okay, i think that's it for now! see you on the other side when my fabric is cut, fused and hopefully i have my laptop back!

—lisa g.