Made by Toya | fliegfederfrei

For me it`s the second round in the Battle of the Stitches. See my first Battle here. It`s a nice competition without any fight factor. It`s just about pushing each other, to sew something special, within the same theme. My fellow competitors are:

Olu of Needle and Ted

Toya of Made with Toya

and Sara of Made by Sara

It`s a pleasure ladies! I can`t wait to see what they all did! Be sure to check it out!

We all love vintage patterns and designs. So this battle is all about the bygone times. A stitch back in time we call it.

I was searching for a 60`s style sailor coat pattern, I saw once on Etsy. Sadly, I wasn’t able to find it anymore. Nowhere. I had already fallen in love with the design, I couldn’t think of sewing anything else. I just had to be this kind of coat. My only choice was to draft my own version, in keeping with the 60`s flair.

So I did, I drafted it myself. I sewed a muslin and had to buy some nice wool for it to be just like I imagined.

My Little Bean and I went to the local fabric shop, and found the last meter of a gorgeous wool and a little fabric scrap, just enough for the collar and a bonnet (a vintage coat needs a matching bonnet doesn’t it?). Lucky days!

And here it is…

Fliegfederfreis 60`s inspired Sailor Coat

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The pattern is an A-line style coat with a sailor collar, ranglan sleeves, welt pockets, a box pleat in the back, a button closure with fabric bound buttonholes and a full lining.

The wonderful vintage buttons where a gift from Marte. I hope I won’t loose any, I only have 5 of them. Thank you Marte, I love your buttons!

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The first snowy winter day in Switzerland, a dream to take pictures of a coat.

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The bonnet is reversible, I used the left-overs of the coat. So it`s warm and cosy and thanks to the wool, a bit weatherproof. The pattern and tutorial is from Toya. I hope she doesn’t mind but this is a friendly contest. Thank you Toya your bonnets are just too cute!

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My girl loves her new coat as much as I do. That’s unusual when it comes to handmade stuff those days. She thinks it’s nice and she looks pretty in it. Jackpot!

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I’m thinking about turing my pattern into a pdf for you. Would you be interested? Let me know!

The Battle of the Stitches goes into a second round. This time i`m going to take part! Olu of Needle and Ted and Toya of Made by Toya, it`s a pleasure to sew with you!

This round is all about the color grey. We`re all grey lovers and if you think grey isn`t a real color, has something staid and sad about it, I hope that we can change your mind. The subtle charm of grey is like a perfect stage for every other color. Plain and simple as I like it.

Toya and Olu having their first appearance on their own blog today, so hop over and give them some love for their bravery!

Let`s talk about my dress. The Pattern is out of drape drape. My favorite sewing book. Maybe, you can remember this dress. Most of the designs arise out of a single pattern piece. The fabric is laid in gathers and tucks until it wraps nicely around the body. A real art, but easy to sew!

Fabric is Chalk from atelier Brunette. It`s a woven fabric and doesn`t stretch, so I had to pair it with a plain grey knit. The slackness of the fabric creates those beautiful loose drapes.

I do not fear anything while sewing but this dress reminded me that I definitely don`t like to insert an invisible zipper. I had to take it out about 5 times (seam ripper you`re such a good friend!), until… I could call it okay. It still isn`t as easy to close as it should be.

The design has a little train on the back skirt. While wearing it, I just wasn`t sure about it, and mostly if I`m not sure about something on a dress it makes me feel uncomfortable. So I just cut it off. I like it more this way!

I left the hem unfinished, my old problem of running short of fabric. I had to save those precious cm, to prevent me from wearing a skirt that would make me a little self-conscious.