First sew of 2017 Style Arc Stella Coat

A good start to 2017 sewing I think.  This is the project I worked on (amongst a few others) over my Christmas break and just finished this morning (when there was very poor light sorry).

I wanted a long-line camel wool jacket with a trench coat feel.  I found the fabric at the Harrogate Knitting and stitching show on one of the cheaper stalls.  It was £10 a metre and the stallholder had no information about its composition but he set fire to it and from the burning hair smell it definitely has a high wool content.

I feel pretty proud of this one; I think it looks almost ready-to-wear.  The pattern is Style Arc Stella.  StyleArc is an Australian company, you can buy some patterns from Amazon and some pdfs from Etsy, but not this coat, so I had to order from Australia.  It cost £20 including postage and I got a really nice blouse pattern free as well, so not a bad price.  I really love that they include an ideal fabric sample, very helpful.
 

I line it with some fabulous Jacquard lining from Clothspot (no longer available).  I just want to put a word in for this website; lovely fabric, well photographed and my order came next day (even though close to Christmas) and packaged most beautifully.  I will definitely use them again.

The lining was double sided so I used both.

The fabric was a little thick for this pattern and I was a bit worried about this, so I used lots of topstitching on all the seams, and collar etc.   I think this makes the coat and makes it look much more professional.  I love the stand up collar and the yoke detail.   The thickness also meant that turning the belt was a nightmare and literally took me hours!

You may just be able to see I struggled with the topstitching over the thickest part of the collar lapel join and ended up with one skipped stitch.

The key to success with this coat was pressing and using my clapper to do this.  When I bought my clapper I thought it was expensive, but I can honestly say it is one of my most used tools and worth every penny.  You can see below how just one press completely changes the collar edges.

 

So overall the coat is a hit and I have already cut a spring linen version.   It is also the first part of my SWAP challenge.  At first I thought the rules were a bit complicated, but I do like a challenge and really want to be part of this.  The challenge ends 30 April 2016.  So basically I will be making the following 11 garments using a maximum of 8 patterns which need to match with each other:

1 SyleArc Stella Coat

2 x burda style jackets 6901

2 Colette Selene skirts

21SewOver it Joan dresses (but adapted for knit)

2 McCall 7249 knit tops

1 Helmi tunic dress

1 named tyni cigarette trousers

1 sewoverit pussy bow blouse (or StyleArc free blouse to be decided)

If I end up not liking any of these I will replace with other ideas.

I will be using the following fabrics (at least definitely this colour palette; dusky pink (nude), mustard, brown, taupe and duck-egg

I will also be posting my 9 patterns choice for that challenge next blog.  More plans than time I'm afraid.  I'm happily reading  and watching the plans of many others, are any of you entering the SWAP?