Money

♫ ♪ The Drums - Money

After months of talking about sewing coats, and not making any, Mokosha and I needed to think of a way to make it happen before this winter passes.. We set a deadline, to finish coats until February the 15^th.. Which pattern and fabrics Mokosha will use was a mystery to me.. She knew only my fabric choice, since the orange wool and satin with print of ancient Greek coins were the birthday gift from her..  Before my birthday I had some other plans for the coat, but after receiving this solid color wool I switched to the vintage Burda pattern.. I found this pattern a year or two ago, while arranging some of my mom’s books and immediately fell in love with it.. Sometimes it's good to have a home full of surprises.. It is a single pattern #45024 and comes in two sizes 36 and 38/40.. Instructions are in German, and by the hairstyle and pointy collar I date it into early ‘70s.. Maybe it’s even from late ‘60s, I couldn’t find any info about its release.. Soon after finding the pattern I even made a muslin to see if size 36 fits me.. The project was on hold, because I wanted to make the coat in bright solid color, even pink would be an option (as on the pattern photo), but finding the right fabric was a lot harder.. Mokosha really knows which fabrics are best for me :) thanks again :D 

As I have mentioned, the pattern instructions are all in German.. There are some steps in pictures on how to make the coat as you can see on photo above.. I ignored all that (as usual) and made the coat using logic and my experience.. There’s nothing complicated with this pattern or something I haven’t sewn before.. I made a few changes to the pattern.. First, I redrafted the collar, making it slightly smaller, and instead of pointy it’s curved.. Somehow, it looked better to me that way, with all other softer and round shapes the coat has.. My second modification is changing the construction of welt pockets.. Mine are in shape of normal rectangle.. Third and last modification was omitting the cuffs on sleeves.. For them I needed more fabric.. Sewing went without any problems.. For lining of the coat I used satin with print of ancient Greek coins.. Very fun detail for an archaeologist.. The buttons are covered with the fabric I used for coat.. I find it the cheapest and easiest way to have good matching buttons for garments..

You cannot imagine how much I love this coat.. It’s even better in real life than on pattern photo and so much fun to wear.. Since the coat is like a half circle at the back, it’s not practical to wear it with skirts.. The coat won’t keep them in place if the wind blows.. A reason more to make some new shorts :) Also, the coat is not for very cold and windy winter days..

Since I’m showing you my birthday presents, I want to mention these cute earrings made by my sisters friend Tanja.. I have always loved jewelry with beads, and these earrings are perfect :)

Mokosha and I had a deal to photograph each other, and it’s on that day that I finally saw her coat! Whatever she says about the coat in her post, it looks great in person :) We had too much fun, or better said, we had some ridiculous situations after which I just couldn’t make a normal face again.. The last photo is done by Mokosha, when I wanted to show how I can look like a superhero in my orange coat.. That’s why I had to redo photo shoot with my sister who’s used on keeping me normal..

Behind the camera - my favorite sister Dina :)