The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Sewing the Stella Coat 

Back a few decades ago, my wardrobe had a fairly good sprinkling of self-made clothes. In later years that has lessened to handkitted items, but I actually miss it. For  quite some years now I do want self-sewn items not only in my historical wardrobe, but into my everyday wardrobe as well. You've seen attempts of it with the bubble pants here and here, but the emphasis is still on historical clothes or stuff to make for someone else.

After the great lull of the first half of last year I tried to make up for the time lost and done quite a lot of sewing, but at the beginning of the year, now I wanted to sew something for myself. Something that is not for reenactment, not for an event, not for money, not for someone else, but something "modern" and for myself. 

I've seen the Stella coat on a friend of mine, and it was a love at first sight. That is something I absolutely adore. It mixes historical and modern wibes perfectly, it is just different enough without being totally outlandish, it is pretty, and it has a bottom, that if I need to wear a coat over some historical dress in period I do not have proper outerwear for, I would not look akward.

Originally I planned to use a different fabric, but when I bumped into this in the late fall, I knew I wanted my amazing technicolor dreamcoat. I also found lovely purple striped lining fabric, and some wool...quilted... thing, to use as a warm lining layer.

Once again, I faced the fact that there is no sewing Ravelry-like database, as I wanted to see as many finished items as I could, but, aside of the one my friend made, I could only find the one that is pictured on the pattern itself, and an orange version on the Pattern Review website. By now even less info is available on the pattern, as I cannot find even the pattern on Etsy anymore. As far as I know the designer sold her company, but I have no idea why the new owner pulled everything off the net. I am lucky that I got the pattern at all.

Anyhow...

I had the pattern printed at the printers in A0 (and it cost me an arm and a leg... having the pattern printed actually cost me more than the fabric -including the lining and the warming layer- so I am not likely to do that again- so I am going back to printing, with my laser-printer, I bought especially for this purpouse, and taping many-many pages together). I do love it enough to want to sew it again, and I am not about to pay this much, if I would need it in another size, so I copied the pieces onto another piece of paper. 

The instructions said, if you have a fabric with nap or directional pattern, you will need more, but I easily fitted the pieces onto 3,5 meter (and now I need to figure out something for the 1,5 meters I have left over).

I spent almost a whole day basting the lining and the warming layer, all the while wondering if I should overlock the edges or not. I know, the insides of the coat are completely closed with the lining, so I didn't had to, but I always have the urge to work really clean, even if nobody ever will see that, not even me. 

Anyhow, I broke the needle on the lock-machine, and though I have a few dozens of needles, the overlock needs different ones than my straight stitch machine. (I know, where I will start shopping , when I leave the flat the next time - hey there were freezing temps, and snow outside, I was not about to leave if I didn't absolutely had to.) So that solved the question. No serged/overlocked edges.

While sewing I had the feeling that while the "idea" of this coat is really great, it is pretty,  they have not given much though to the technical solutions. 

I am not sure, why do I feel that, but maybe because though I am NOT a taylor, I did train in a factory, back when it was making stuff for brands like BOSS, and I did learn a lot of stuff there.

-The first thing that was glaring at me, the pockets. You supposed to make the seam with the gathered peplum(-y kind of piece), and then make a welt poket a couple of centimeters ABOVE that seamline. For me that was totally illogical. Why not put the pocket INTO that already existing style/seamline? That is exactly what I did, though I was concentrating so much on how to do that, I forgot the flaps for the pocket, but hey, it works like this too. Maybe next time. 

Note: Since I made the coat, I wore it a few times, and the pocket is too high, even this way. Though I made a fairly big and stabil pocket - that is sewn into the seamline on both sides-, bigger than the original pattern gives you, my phone, my keys, my mittens fit into them, but they are too high to be able to put my hands in them comfortably. Next time, I will think about a pocket put into the side seam.

-I had the whole coat handstitched around the edges, partly because no matter how hard I ironed, and steamed it, the edges would roll, but also, partly because the outer and the inner layers are not fixed, and it would've pulled. I could have machine stitched, but that would've make a way to sharp of a line. That handstitch seemed like a good enough compromise, even if it took me a day.

From then I tried my best to follow the instruction, but I know that if I will do this again (actually, I do have plans to make it again), there are a few things that needs to be solved: 

- The hidden buttonband thingie. It is really cool, but there is 4 layers of fabric there, which are not fastened to each other. Out of the three finished coat I could dug up on the Internet, all three has pulling at the buttons. At the end I handtitched down the buttonband to the front of the coat with tiny stitches, that like stitches (the taylors do on the collar- pad stitching) hardly show on the right side, if at all. 

-The hemline. In tailoring, even if the piece is baglined, the hemline is finished (usually folded up, and stitched down) and then the lining is stitched to that. So the inner and outer fabric is meeting a cm or two above the hemline, and there is space to leave a bit of extra lining fabric for comfort. With the Stella, the outer layer and the lining is sewn togethere at the edge. and you are supposed to iron it down really hard (after turning it out to the right side. Now to have that lie down perfectly flat you would need the outside and the inside piece perfectly line up and exactly (to the mm) the same length. With a piece this large there is no effing way that there would not be a couple mm difference here and there. I tried to pin the lining and the outer fabric together while the coat was on my dressmaker doll, and still one side is pulling (or bubbling... or whatever). 

I know that because of the high-low, arched hemline, the traditional turning up the hem method would not work, so what could have been done? What I will do when I will make this pattern again. Finish the hemline with a (wide, like at least 5-8 cm wide) bias tape, and ten sew the lining to the upper edge of that. 

-The same goes for the sleeves. I will do normally finished sleeve edges and sew the lining to the (inner) upper edge of that. 

-Speaking of the sleeves... The sleeveheads are not long enough. First I sewn them in, I had to pull the sleeve (instead of easing it in).

- The hanging loop. There is a 15-20 cm wide lining piece of the "collar" (or more like a high neckline), and the hanging loop is sewn to the bottom of that while the outer and the inner layer is NOT ATTACHED to each other. Can you imagine how it would pull the coat out of shape if anyone would hang the coat with that loop? (According to my friend: not only that, but also the lining would tear as well. Maybe even the outer fabric). I did add the loop but then I sewn that piece down with a couple of stitches to the outer layer at the shoulders and at the middle of the back (just behind the loop), but still, I avoid having to hang up the coat by its hanging loop if I can.

I made a small shoulderpad for the coat, from warm lining's leftover bits: 

All in all, I absolutely adore this coat and I will make another one from this pattern, but changing the things listed above.

Pattern: Stella Coat

Fabric: I love Textil

Photo: Bodeszphoto

Searching for a memory

 Back, when we lived in the US, one of the summer's we came home, I fell in love with a sweater I've seen in one of the magazines. I asked my mother to knit it for me. I bought the yarn (I also rember exactly where did I buy it- the building where the store was was taken down since and there is a small park there now), and she did. When we last left Miami, we did not know, that we will not go back, and though we brought home a lot of things, we also stored and left a lot of stuff there. Including some of my crafts, cross-stitched tablecloths, my rollerskate, and this sweater. THAT SWEATER. That was the last thing my mom knitted for me, and it was goegeous. And it is lost forever. My mother died about 25 years ago, and I still want that sweater.

For many years I've tried to find, at least the pattern, so I could knit it again, and I leafed through many, many magazines to no avail.

After my mom's death, her knitting patterns were packed up, and put in storage at the summerhouse of PJ, but when a few years later, after we separated, I asked for them, he only gave me a few crumpled pages. 

I asked knitting groups on FB, if anyone has magazines from that period, and some did leafed through a few of them, but I could not find THAT one. 

I don't know why, but it still weighs on me, and from time to time, I gather up momentum, and start the search again. 

It was a "norveigian" pattern - stranded pattern, on white base color and blue contrast color. It was a summer issue of a magazine, that was available in Hungarian. It was an allover pattern, rather large scale (not like the tiny, peerie flowers of the real fair isle patterns), also rather busy, as I remember my mom saying that there were rows, where she had to change colors at every stitch. I don't know which technique she used for stranded, but I guess, not the two handed one, I knit with. 

I also remember, that it was a summer issue, a "waterfront" summer navy themed page, and most probably between 1990 and 1996, because I had that sweater with me in Miami for a while, and there were people who would not believe me it was handknitted, because the knitting was so even, and I had to show the wrong side with the floats to prove (my mom was a really good knitter). 

This time, I started to look through Ravelry's database, they have about 487 pages full of stranded patterns. I am at about through the first 100 page, but things go slowly, because whenever I find a design I like, I'll go, check the designer, so maybe I can find if not that pattern, but something similar... 

In the meanwhile, to Norbert's suggestion I went to "Arcanum" a page where they keep a ton of scanned newspaper, from the 19th century to up to date, it is actually a great resource for historical research too. When N. first said, I should check that, I was like NAH, why would they have a handcraft magazine digitized, but, actually, they do. I checked THE hungarian craft magazine. It was a comprehensive magazine, they had knitting patterns, embroidery, sewing, even bobbin lace, etc. So I checked the issues from 1990-1996, and there is only one that is missing from the scans : June 1994 (which is just about the time I might have asked my mom... though I am not sure that was when the pattern was printed). 

Going through those magazines were a real Nostalgia-trip, as I do remember so many of those pictures/patterns, and every time I turned the page, I expected to find "my" sweater on the nect page... and it was such a dissapointment that I did not.

There were a couple of other magazines available around that time, like the Burda-Verena, the Sabrina/Sandra magazines. So I looked through their Ravelry pages too, but there is not everything uploaded there either. From sabrina mostly patterns after 1996-1998 that are available. 

Nem tudom hol, és mit próbálhatnék még, azon kívül, hogy tovább böngészem a közel 500 Rav oldalt a 23480 találatával (női, pulóver, stranded keresőszavakra).

Mindesetre itt van pár Rav kép, ami arra a pulcsira emlékeztet, bár ezek határozottan nem *azok*

Ezeknél nyáriasabb, fehérebb volt, kevésbé geometrikus, sokkal inkább lágyabb, organikusabb, virágosabb vonú minta, a fejemben még a francia liliom motívuma van a csillagok helyén, de lehet, hogy ezt már csak beképzelem. 

Talán ez a fenti még a legközelebbi, de sima kerek nyaka volt és ejtett, szügletes válla. És nyéri, pamutpulcsi volt.

A jó oldala, hogy, ahogy a Rav ilyen mintáit lapozom, egy csomó olyat találtam, ami nagyon tetszik, és a tervezők egyébb munkáiba is belepillantva... azt hiszem évtizedekig el vagyok látva munícióval a hétfői mintamustrához. 

U.i: Ha van ilyen 1990-1995 közötti magazinotok és átlapoznátok- megköszönném. Ha valaki megtalálja *azt* a mintát jutalmat kap. Ha valakinek van még ötlete hol, hogyan keressem, ne tartsa magában. Köszönöm.

Weekly SO

 Well this is not going to say too much to non-Hungarians...

But the arboretum in Alcsút can go and F itself. 

I mean it is famous for its snowflowers, which are in flower now, and it was saturday and Valentine day, and they are closing their gates at 3:50 PM, and stop selling tickets and letting people in at 3 PM, while the sun goes down after 5.08, which means, there are some daylight until about 5:30. 

N, was working his night shift (until 6 AM), and got up early to go and walk around a bit and stare at flowers for V-day (also the weather-forecast promised nasty wheater from Sunday), and we got there a couple minutes after 3 PM, thinking, we'll have like two hours to walk around. No, we did not even get in. Okay, we did not check beforehand (though there is no info on the website about not letting in people an hour before closing) but I would not thought, they would close so effing early. 

It is not a private park, but one sustained on taxpayers money... 

Weekly Patternmuster (Sewing)

The Ella dress

I don't think I showed you the white dress I bought in germany in the summer.

It happened, that because of the weightloss, I needed new jeans, bu i am not that big of a fan of the big brands (like Levis, mustang, etc), I rather look for fun styles, I am okay with cheaper ones too, so, when we were in Germany, we stopped at a Primark, where I took ten different pairs into the dressing room, but only the wite dress I picked up fitted me, and I kinda fell in love with it, so it came home with me. 

Well, the style of that dress strongly reminds me of this Elle dress, so if someone would like to sew it... one can do so.

BTW, it would be smart to keep an eye on Silvesaga, I am sure, I will bring other patterns from them to this column.

HA steampunk (pt3- the jacket- TV496-modified)

I had a shirtwaist, I had skirt and peticoats, and then I needed a jacket to complete the ensemble. 

I wanted those typical mid-1890-ies one, that one with the really big, poufy sleeves, so I started out with the Truly Victorian 496 Ripple Jacket. However, I did not like that its front does not close properly, there are only three strips, with buttons. Those are not that bad, it is much easier to adjust its size, if someone loose or gains weight, but... But I wanted properly closing fronts. 

I also did not like the very wide, almost flapping lapel, but no collarpiece. 

So I drew the front line in, narrowed down the lapel, and added a collar piece. 

Between the fashion fabric and the lining, I used a hard canvas-like linen, and after such a long time I did pad-stitching (honestly? I only used pad-stitching back, when I went to that technical school to learn to sew- right after high-shcool).

 Since I grown to love to wear my little pocketwatch (it is a mechanical piece I got in Prague at one of those times we stopped there coming or going to the Netherlands for an event), so I also added a watch-pocket.

Added an extra piece of the interlining (and pad-stitching) to the shoulder, and right above the breast, to smooth out the curve.

Yes, it took me a lot of basting to keep the fashion-fabric and the lining together.

Unfortunately, there are no more pictures of the construction, I kind of got lost in sewing and forgot to take more (but then again, this is more than I usually do). There was a collar, also padstitched, and a lining sewn in... I got some really cute red-striped acetate lining.  I guess, by now, you know, that I love those fun details, that are not necessarily visible from the outside.

... sleeve head puffed up and a little piece of ruffled hard tulle sewn in, to hold the sleeve's shape. 

I was thinking about the closure, as I originally planned buttonholes and buttons, but those are so fixed, and cannot adapt to the weight changes (even if it is only a kg up and down) of a female body. Besides, I wanted to add something steam-punkish and was researching some spider themed buttons when I bumped into these hook and eye solution. 

And now, the whole ensemble is done, and ready to wear.

The skirt had POCKETS!!!

Pattern: TV 496

Fabric: I Love Textil

Photos: Norbert Varga @Bodeszphoto

I wrote about the shirtwaist HERE, about the petticoat and the skirt HERE.

Marie Antoinette (and her clothes)

 There is this huge exhibition in London, about Marie Antoinett and fashion, but for those, in Eastern Europe, for whom London is way to far and expensive (not to mention that there are no more tickets available to the exhibition, even though it is still open for a few more weeks), there is a smaller, but really enjoyable onw available in Pozsony (Bratislava), that is still open, until the end of February. 

Pozsony is only a couple hours drive from Budapest, but this exhibition is well worth the trip.

I've seen it, back in last fall, when we were there for the Bitka o Bratislavu (a reenactment of an 1619/21 event), and I came out with such a wide smile. 

Of course, there are paintings, like this one from Maria Theresa (and more from the family).

There are clothers that are reconstruction works. 

Like this one, based on this painting.

Or this one, based on another (from the style, later) portrait.

I found the italian gown's extremely long point on the back interesting. 

There are some original pieces, like this earlier Francaise gown:

In which I found the mising robing and the use of buttons interesting (but what gorgeous buttons!).

The clothes of men were not missing either:

Do you see all that gorgeous embroidery? 

More men's stuff:

More replicas:

Outerwear:

Just a taste from fashionable hairstyles, and their changes:

(I totally love this "hedgehog" style):

And a taste of the somewhat later (1875-1885), somewhat less formal styles:

In paintings:

Replicas:

And original pieces:

There are still a couple of weeks to see it. Go, if you can. 

Photos: Bodeszphoto