Five Days to Coatmas!

Readers, you know I'm not big on the holidays, but this coming Thursday, December 19, I will be celebrating Coatmas.  And I do hope you'll join me.

Actually, my peacoat must be completed the day before Coatmas (Wednesday), when I'll need to photograph it so that it can go live on the Mood site on Coatmas itself.  It's kind of like how Santa has to have all his gifts ready before Christmas so they can be opened on Christmas, only Coatmas is real and Santa is just make-believe.

You might think I took today off since I've been coat-making for weeks now, but no.  I did make sure I visited the Chelsea flea market, however, just as the snow was starting to fall.  (Could we actually have a white Coatmas?)





I came home with all sorts of little things -- CD's, vintage deadstock wrapping paper -- but here's the best of the lot: you know I have a weakness for 1940's women's hats, right?  How's two for $16?















Aren't they peachy?

In peacoat news, I got a fair amount accomplished.  I reinforced my armhole seams with cotton twill stay tape, and measured and pinned my sleeve and coat hems so that tomorrow I can start stitching them (after reinforcing the edges with bias-cut hair canvas).

I also experimented with sleeve heads, which I think I'm going to make using the insides of an old tie (the one I made that belt out of during the summer).   I actually found an old sleeve head from a suit jacket I took apart a few years ago.  It looks like this:





I also made another pair of sleeve tabs as I wasn't happy with my first pair.  This time I used leftover coated cotton on the inside and interfaced the tweed with a lightweight knit fusible.





If I get the hem done tomorrow, I can concentrate on the lining on Monday.  Coatmas waits for no man, as they say.

Have a great day, everybody!