Coat Structure… and waiting
Some shipping times are extended because of COVID-19, so although everything has shipped, some items are taking longer to arrive and there were 2 mixups with the hair canvas. I ordered sew-in and they shipped fusible. I do not want to use fusible on the major sections of this coat, so I ordered from another company and I again received fusible (come to find out they drop-shipped from the same warehouse). I returned both bolts and ordered a different brand from elsewhere and it arrived in a couple of days. I cut the full canvas and the shoulder reinforcement, marked the pad stitching and basting lines, placed the shoulder reinforcement, and basted it to the main canvas working in a bit of ease to add dimension to the chest. More fullness will be worked in with the domette… if it ever arrives.
Before marking the canvas, I took some time to determine exactly where to cut the canvas once all the basting and padding was complete. I did not want to end up cutting through all the hard work to keep the canvas out of the seam allowance. I am working with a 5/8” seam allowance, so I marked the canvas at ¾” to remind me to not stitch past the edge of where the canvas will be cut. The main canvas will be cut at the ¾” mark and a bias strip will be tacked over the edge to prevent the prickly bits from poking through the garment. The shoulder reinforcement will be left longer to enter the shoulder seam, the armscye (arm hole), and just beneath the armscye. This will provide a clean and stable seam throughout the shoulder and front of the coat.
When marking, I marked the roll line, then I marked a line 1/8” away on both sides of the roll line. From there, I marked every ¼” and when I got to about 1-1/2” from the lapel point, I reduced the spacing to 3/16”. This will help in making sure the lapel lays flat against the coat’s chest once pad stitched.
I’m not going to go into pad stitching in detail, there are plenty of knowledgeable people out there who do this for a living. For now, more waiting, or I could start on the collar since the thread arrived…