Pages

My Help Cometh From the Lord!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

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)

11 comments:

  1. Wow. That is stunning. Absolutely. Stunning. Only thing is, I want more pictures. Please.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks ElleC...this post updated to include the original post.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the link, I wasn't following your blog when the you posted the first time about this. I am still blown away. Wow.

      Delete
  2. OMG, this coat is beautiful, breathtakingly gorgeous!!! GodsgirlT, you've outdone yourself. The amount of effort and time truly paid off. Looks great on you too, how about a back shot!?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brenda!...this post updated to include the original post which includes a back shot.

      Delete
  3. I know just how much work goes into tailoring a coat or in my case a jacket, especially when you're adding it to a pattern that doesn't give tailoring instructions. You certainly put a lot into that foundation - which the experts say will make your coat last and hold up for a very long time. My hats off to you Terri. Tailoring a coat makes me realize why the RTW version costs so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Faye. I certainly am planning to get my wear out of this one. This project has given me a greater appreciation of tailored RTW costs and makes me oh so thankful that I can do it myself! Thanks for the comment!

      Delete
  4. What an amazing job , you did.. Love your coat.. I would be scared to death , to try it. lol
    Know you will get much use from this beautiful coat..

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is gorgeous and your tailoring makes the coat oh, so better. Great job.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks a bunch for stopping by! BE BLESSED!