The Sewing
I’m excited for my 60’s coat and shift. I was very young in
the 60s, but I remember the styles so well. Or maybe it's all those reruns I watch. I've had several 60s patterns call
out to me as I've perused eBay and Etsy, which means
they are now in my collection. In my world, Call out = Buy button.
I decided to make this coat, McCalls 8353 from 1966. The design reminded me of an Easter coat my mother once made me, so I bought the pattern in a size 10, which is three sizes too small. Less than a week later I found the same pattern in a size 14—much closer to my size, which means less pattern grading. I debated about buying the same
pattern twice, but eventually pushed that Buy button. Now that I'm grading, I’m glad I did.
The fabric is a silk-linen blend that I bought at Britex on
my last trip to San Francisco. It has a wonderful drape. I’d planned to buy something in green or blue to
make the coat, but this color shouted out to me. It’s so 60s and so me. I love wearing orange. Being able to wear
orange almost makes up for not being able to wear camel, a fashion staple that
turns me an odd color and has people asking me if I feel all right.
The shift fabric is chiffon and I’ve decided that it’s Lemon
Zest, another Pantone Spring 2013 color. This is good because the Pantone Color Contest calls for two pieces.
I’ve only sewn chiffon once before,
but it was low-cost chiffon and I wouldn’t have curled up in the corner sobbing
if I’d ruined the garment. Of course it went together easily. This chiffon is a
bit pricier—to the point that I only bought 1.5 yards. The fabric is
railroaded, meaning that the lines go selvage to selvage or crossways. I’m
hoping the waviness of the lines adds a vertical component so I don’t look like
a box when I wear the shift.
Now my only question is which shift to make. As you can see, I’m going with contemporary patterns and I plan to make a (hopefully wearable) muslin of each before deciding. I've started with McCalls 6123.
Nora is helping. As usual.
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