The Making of a Lace Trench - The Foundation

Okay, so it's been a little while since my last post,"The Muslin and the Method" describing my experience in making this Burberry inspired lace trench.  This installment describes the coat's Foundation.

Burberry gives the following description of the Kickback Lace Trench, the coat that served as my inspiration for this project;

• Layers of silk crêpe form an elegant backdrop to the lace trench coat.
• Woven in an abstract floral design, the dense pattern creates an austere effect.
• A kickback adds gentle movement and flare to the silhouette, while satin covered buttons and belt give a graphic contrast.

cotton twill layer with shoulder front and lapel stabilized with hair canvas

When I read the word "layers", I thought surely this won't apply to my project.  It sounded like a whole lot of work. 

 twill tape added to hair canvas

However, in my quest to make this a "tailored" coat, I quickly realized that adding another layer would give me a great starting point to create the innards of this garment...and so I did.  

Full length view

I wanted to use a "mid-weight" cotton twill for stability.  Not to my surprise, Virginia had a variety of twill in her stash.  It just so happened that all shades of green were remnants.   

A light shade of green was used for side front pieces

What's a girl to do?   What else?!  I combined remnants in order to create the third layer.  I used the same green for the front and back pieces, two varied shades of green for the front and back side pieces and a different color for the sleeves.

A dark shade of green was used for the side back pieces

The tailoring techniques I used were pretty straight forward.  They lined up with all of the other techniques that I'd read about in books and on various sewing blogs.  I was fascinated by the fact that machine stitches (the method that I used) are what actually shapes the hair canvas to give the garment the final look and fit.

Shades of green"Trio"

I had two pretty good resources.  One much more preferred  over the other.  I did not execute all steps exactly (...and I ask myself:  do I ever??) but got a pretty good idea, of what tailoring a garment entails.  I can hardly wait for the next opportunity to gain more experience using these techniques. 

The same shade of green was used for the front and  back.

Virginia had all of the tailoring items on hand that I needed for this project - so convenient!  The girl was at the top of her game back in the day!  The only thing I had to replace was the hair canvas since I knew I'd be using more of it in the future.  I feel a tailored jacket coming on! 

By the time I'd gotten to the sleeves all shades of green were gone so I opted for white sleeves.

 Such a great learning experience!  Loved that about it!  Until next time....PEACE and BLESSINGS!!!!

PLEASE NOTE:  THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL SUBSEQUENT POSTS.  PLEASE FIND THE ORIGINAL POST HERE:  Hunter Lace Trench - Burberry Inspired - McCalls 5525 (OOP)