Sewaholic Robson Coat

My second coat this winter.  This time the Sewholic Robson Coat.  I have to admit that yet again I got sucked in by a sew-along, rather than this being a garment I either love or need, and I have to say that I feel pretty ambivalent about the finished item. 

The sewalong was held by Rhonda, but it turned out to be more a number of tutorials rather than a sewalong which took you logically through all the construction.  This meant there were still bits which puzzled me about the construction.  I think this ended up to be the most challenging garment I've made, and I'm not really sure it was worth it!  The sewalong ended in December.  I spent most of my Christmas 2 week holiday sewing it and the fact that I've only just finished indicates how much work there is in this coat.  I did take a break because I actually got fed-up of it.  This all sounds a bit negative I know.

 
I cut a size 12, grading to a 10 at the waist.  I followed Rhona's suggestion to make the sleeve cap bigger, because my upper arms often need the space, however, I think this was a mistake.  You can see there is too much fabric in the upper arm, and as for the sleeve length ......

 
I reduced the sleeve length by 1.5" and they are still far too long.

 
 I'll have to keep my hands in my pockets.

 
One of the reasons it takes so long is that every seam is bound by bias binding (pretty insides though).  Because the sleeves are wool, I lined them.

 

 

 
This meant there were lots and lots of layers to fit in the bias binding!  You can get the idea below.

 

 
You can probably tell from the photos that the yoke pieces would have been much better if I had interfaced them as they stick out a little floppily.

 
There are bit I am very pleased about.  There was lots of top-stitching and generally I was very pleased with the result.

 
The collar fitted well and the epaulettes are cute.  The wool looks lovely with the gabardine. 

 
The coat was only time rich. it cost very little.  The light sage gabardine was only £5.99 per metre and I used 3 metres.  The wool was cheap from Abakan and was in my stash.  The bias binding was probably the most expensive part, you need 12 metres!  It's wearable, but I'm not excited!

So have I learnt not to get pulled in by the lastest sewalong!  Not at all, I'm afraid I've already bought my fabric for Grainline's Cascade duffle coat.  Yes, another coat, I must be a glutton for punishment, but I've always wanted a duffle coat, and it's a lovely pattern (not that the pattern is available in the UK yet!).    So is it just me or do you get distracted too!!