PR&P week 4: little red

oh wow, i am so grateful that i’m still alive and kickin’ in project run and play!  you guys are really the best.  i’m having a fun time thinking as creatively as possible and gaining experience in actually designing out of my own brain rather than following patterns.  this is all so new to me, and it’s changing how i will sew from here on out.  it was really uncomfortable and hard at first, but is becoming normal now and that’s pretty cool.  thank you for giving me the opportunity to continue on!

this week’s challenge is “Outerwear” and i was glad for my outerwear experience lately (here and here) but also stumped on what to make!  i sketched so many different designs for this one – it gave me the most trouble because i had lots of ideas, but none of them really sang to me.  i sketched capes, trench coats, jackets, but everything felt like something i’d seen before.  i tentatively decided on a simple raincoat that i’d make in a cool laminated cotton, and headed to bolt on my lunch break with a friend to look for fabric.  what i found actually surprised me – a bright red canvas that was actually very soft, and i had a lightning bolt inspiration – what about a red riding hood COAT?  hmmmm, i’ve never seen that before!  my friend suggested an oversized “guillermo del toro hood,” whatever that means, and i agreed that a giant pointy hood would be a definite must (thanks buddy!).

i looked for mushroom or some other woodsy japanese import fabric for lining but none was to be found, so i grabbed a great amy butler lark print instead.  on my drive back to work, i had a brainstorm – i’ll print my own fabric on linen!  back to bolt for this lovely natural cotton-linen blend, and then i started printing in a three-phase stamp process.  perfect.

the ticking stripe binding is what i had picked to join in this sewalong which i never got around to, but it got poached for this because i had another brainstorm to add 1/4″ flat piping around the whole coat and it was the perfect fabric!  it was a fun, easy way to add a whole lot of style and break up all that red.  i also added a little “e” label to the back – mine is machine-stitched, but i would have loved to embroider it like this beauty.

the coat pattern is actually based on the oliver + s sunday brunch jacket, which i altered heavily (those are the rules!).  i took the top bodice pieces and extended them out at a diagonal from the armpits to create the swing coat shape.  i shortened the sleeves and flared them out a bit, too.  those are the only pattern pieces i used!  i drew the hood pattern freehand and the canvas is so sturdy, it didn’t even need interfacing.  the sunday brunch pattern isn’t lined, but i lined mine except for the facings under the buttonholes, where i used the canvas for stability.  i piped the whole coat, sleeves, and pockets with the flat piping, and hand-stitched in the sleeve lining and opening that i used to turn the coat closed.  the only visible topstitching is on the pockets, so it has a very clean and finished look.

the dress that i made to go underneath is the leila and bed sweet little dress in a 3T, which i lengthened and slanted out at the side seams to create fullness.  i made it in the amy butler lark print that i’d originally pegged for the coat lining.

the apron is a simple muslin rectangle, gathered and sewn to a waistband that ties.  it has a little toadstool patch on it which i don’t think you can really see in my PR&P post, but it makes me happy and that’s what matters (secret: all toadstools remind me of super mario bros!!).

this coat is the first garment that i’ve sewn for project run & play that really evolved as i made it – the prior three looks were fully formed in my head before i even started sewing.  the piping was a later addition.  because of that, my sketch is super boring this week!

Em really does love this coat, though, and i’m so happy with it too!  it’s already getting a lot of use, which is fantastic!

alright – once again, it’s time to vote!  won’t you please skip on over to project run and play to vote HERE?  voting closes on sunday evening.  i thank you, the ducks thank you, and my little red riding hood girl thanks you!  🙂

**Voting is now closed**