16 December, 2012

Incognito: trench fedora à la Vogue 8844

This weekend I visited Montreal for a day.  Fortunately, my hostess is an avid fabric artiste and was happy to give me the full run of her workshop, not to mention her two very capable hands. 

Before I went, I prepared myself, cutting out the trench coat's facing and full lining, and checking that the remainder would indeed suffice for a hat.  I selected the pattern (V8844, view A), stuffed the fashion and lining fabric along with some fusible hair canvas in my oversized purse, and hopped on the bus! 

Making a hat isn't that difficult. Fusing interfacing to all the bits (top, crown, and rim), and ensuring that the hat's top is smoothly basted and then stitched to the crown were probably the biggest challenges:  one psychological (boredom!), the other technical (stiff, unyielding fabric).  The first was greatly lessened by the fact that I had a cheerful like-minded conversationalist in the room, who became more & more enthused as construction proceeded, and eventually traced a version for herself as well:  yay!

The real treat, though?  You'll never guess.  It was getting the opportunity to use her 30 year old Bernina 830.   Wow:  whisper quiet and smooth as silk.  Apart from a couple of dropped stitches, which were probably my fault as I didn't bring an appropriately heavy, sharp new needle appropriate for my project, it worked tirelessly and fabulously.   I loved using this delicately responsive piece of equipment, especially when applying reams and reams of topstitching to the rim. Coming back to my noisy, clackety, equally old Kenmore:  meh!

I brought the hat home just in time to hand sew the lining into it model it over dinner.   And?

1.  Magenta doesn't quite do it: I'll add a ribbon made out of the coat's lining to the hat;
2.  I predict there's a new sewing machine in my future;
3.  my young boy wants a fedora just like mine!


Inside view:  topstitching and lining.


Without the silly magenta ribbon:  much better!






The coat's nearly finished: shhhhhh!

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