Miyake coat... Finished!

Originally posted 10/16/09


Feeling like Kathleen Turner's character at the beginning of "Romancing the Stone", I just completed such a big, long-awaited, satisfying project, that, if I were a drinker, I would pour a glass of celebratory champagne. I never meant to be sewing this coat during the winter weather, but it isn't my fault. Seriously. I am actually right on time, and it is winter that has come early. In this mid-October "coldwave", I am now peacefully transferring my long-awaited coat from the sewing table to the closet. I promised myself that I would not post this until everything about this coat was complete, and now, with buttons on, hem done, final pressing finished, and stray threads clipped... it is ready to wear.




Completion date (10/16/09) Vogue Pattern 2038, issued in 1997, which marks exactly how long I have owned it.






I put this plan into action several (make that many...) weeks ago.

Yes, I'm telling the story backwards. This post is what allows me to release the rest of the posts written earlier in the process. Why? Because it is painful to try to live up to my own timeframe of how long I think each project should take, and trying to resist the urge to work hastily just to proudly post results on the blog. With a finished project, I can confidently and peacefully share the process, with complete knowledge of how things turned out, with a bigger picture appreciation of how it all came together, rather than dwelling on any obstacles I encountered, or minor changes I made... you get the idea. (Written 9/23, with a half-constructed coat)


Okay, so I can't throw it on to go to the supermarket or to run my daughter to dance class, although the shape and fit are casual. Why not? Because, worn with sweatpants or similar garb, this coat can easily go in the "Bag Lady" direction, despite the quality of the expensive fabric used to make it.

This coat took me 3 months to complete. Not because it was so time consuming, but that's how much time it took me to find the free moments where I had enough energy, attention and passion to sew it. I made use of every little inch of creative personal time I could squeeze, and now I'm glad I started in the hottest blast of summer.

What I love about it most, though, is that during this process, I must have put this coat on at least 20 times, and now, with it completed, it really feels like a coat! I have full confidence that this coat will be as warm as any store-bought coat I own, and the weight of the fabric is just right for me.

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Button dilemma

Just in case you couldn't get enough of my Miyake-drama...

This is what typically happens. I get down to the end of a personal project, and get stuck on some fiddly detail, that could literally occupy my thoughts all day long. Oddly enough, this doesn't happen with client projects, about which I find it infinitely easier to be decisive.



Well, not a real dilemma, to tell the truth. I love the boomerang buttons, but will the coat still look okay with only 3 buttons? Can I pull off having one larger button, if I place it correctly? Gotta think here...

You can see I eventually resolved all of this.

I thought about covered buttons, but they look to "cutesy" somehow.



If I cold dream here, I would get glass buttons with jade inside, or a pressed green flower or leaf inside. The buttons I need might be waiting to be found. Hey, this is New York City... forget the stash and go button shopping, right?


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Miyake progress - bias binding, gusset sleeve

Originally written 9/29, but telling this story backwards...

Far more interesting this way, no?



So I've loved this pattern for a long time. Like 9 years... Yes, that long. I have always wanted to make this coat, but thought that maybe the model's body type and pose were influencing my love of this pattern, and that if I wasted the time making it for myself, only to discover that it looked like a garbage bag, I would be VERY upset.

But then, one day, the ideal fabric jumped off of the shelf at me in one of my favorite fabric stores...

The price happened to be right at the moment, and even though this is a fairly expensive project, it is very personal, and uniquely all mine.




My first fear was this sleeve/side gusset part of the construction. I worried that the photo was some sort of trick, and that I would have enormous, saggy fabric lumps in the armpit area of my coat. But I trusted the pattern, and the skill of the geat Miyake...



And this gusset works so well, that it forms a neat fabric dimple at the underarm, creating a classy, oversized sleeve that folds into itself when I put my arms down.



My next worry was this daunting pile of bias binding (above) I had to cut. Where would it all go? Well, it is used to create these bound seams that are visible when the coat flutters open. This is a really special, handamde touch that makes the coat seem... special-er...





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Welt pockets and bound buttonholes

Why is she telling this story backwards? Click here.



Now is when I get to worry that my welt pockets and bound buttonholes will ruin all of my careful work thus far. The pattern instructions, while accurate, are very broad, and you would need to know for yourself how to make welt pockets and bound buttonholes before attempting this pattern, I'm afraid.



The bound pocket, before pressing, pictured above. All told, it must have taken three hours (no lie) to get these pockets sewn. The sewing needed to be quite precise to look well in this fluffy fabric, and if I screwed it up, I seriously wouldn't be able to afford the fabric for new front pieces. This is when I also started to question the wisdom of sewing with fabric I really can't reasonably afford to replace... or at least doing so would make for an astronomically expensive garment! Hmmm... Guess I'll think about this after I sew my next few projects, for which this fact is also true...

So this part of the process also prompted some deep soul searching, as I questioned the value of spending a whole three hours on my own coat pockets, when that time could have been spent on a client's project, or doing something, ANYTHING else. Oddly enough, I don't feel the same guilt over watching a movie, or going for a walk, yet I lament three hours of time spent on something that is just a detail, for myself only, since, if I were pricing this particular project out for a client, this would be a darn expensive coat! I also question why I didn't take the easier road; flatlining the entire thing, making slit pockets, using the same flaps, closing the coat with a center front zipper with a front placket and/or buttons with loops, frogs or toggles, to spare the pain of bound buttonholes. (In the end, I didn't do bound buttonholes because of my unusual button decision.)

Oddly enough, I don't fret nearly as much over my now FIVE year quilt, or nearly TWO year scarf, which I have comitted to completing while away on our brief summer vacation, which has come and gone... and during which I probably had a total of 20 minutes of actual downtime.

I'm loving it anyway, and whether you, my dear readers, love it or hate it, the fact remains that this is not a garment that could ever be mass produced. These fiddly details, bias bindings, smal changes to suit my personal preferences wouldn't be done by anyone's hands but my own. So yes, I'm glad I did it. But then again, I'm not done yet...

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