Pantone Color Contest 60s Coat~ Rough Draft

I love this coat pattern and it takes less yardage than any of my other 60s coat patterns—only 2 5/8
yards of 54 inch fabric. Ironically my muslin fabric for the Pantone Color Contest is the color of mud. It is, however, the proper weight and only cost $1.50 a yard.

The jacket went together easily. The only problem is that the princess seams are made for a larger busted princess than myself.

I solved this by pinching out the excess and marking it with chalk on the side panel. 

Then I took took the seams out of that part of the muslin and matched the chalk line on the side panel to the regular stitching line on the front panel. 

The result was a much better fit. There's a tiny pinch, but that's because I didn't release the sleeve seam.

Since I was happy with the new fit, I took apart the muslin, ironed the side panel and adjusted the pattern piece.

The sleeves were 1 ½ inches too short. My husband, a child of the 60s, quickly explained this to me—women wore gloves in the 60s. Sure enough. I decided to lengthen the sleeves by 1 ½ inches.

The only other issue is the belt. The smaller coat pattern I bought came from a university home ec department. It had a penciled note on the front saying to add length to the belt so that it would lie nicely. I made the belt without lengthening it, and this is the result. 

I'd rather not have the coat cinched in, so I lengthened the pattern piece. I can always take it back in if necessary.

After spending two days with my mud colored fabric, I'm very, very excited to finally tackle some color! 

60s Coat ~ Prologue

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.