American Beauty - Coat - Part IX

Here's the promised update!

There's still quite a bit to be done on the outer shell of the coat. There are lots of small jobs before I can do the big jobs, which in turn affect one another. So, it's quite a laundry list. As long as I do a little bit each day, it will get done.

I have done the strap seam between the yoke and body and it looks good, so let's get to the pics and details.

Strap seams aren't hard to do - just a little time consuming. For the style of seam I am using, the entre-deux, there is a little more prep and handstitching. First, all seam allowances are finished with a strip of bias. In this case, I used the red silk. At the left, you can see the strip sewn on and turned back to the inside, and pinned, ready for to be catchstitched to the underlining. The underlining is white cotton, for less show through for the white lining and for support for the crushed velvet. The crushed velvet seems thinner and just needs the extra support.

Once the edges are finished with the bias strips, the two edges are abutted and basted together loosely. The beads are put on next, using Silamide thread. My bead shop was low on Silamide, Donna told me that she's got a lot on back order but the company is still suffering from Hurricane Katrina. She did have the red I needed! I am using size 8/0 seed beads for this project - red with a silver lining. I tried out about 8 or so different bead shapes and color combos with some swatches and I liked these the best. They are a little bigger than what I usually use in my projects, which is the 11/0 size. The beads are the main link between the two pieces, so getting the right color and size is important. In the picture on the left, you can see the pins marking where the beads will go, 1/2" apart. Two passes of the silamide through each bead, and it's on to the next one, all the way across the seam.

In the third picture, you can just detect the basting thread still in place between the beads.

Once all the beads are in place, the basting comes out - it can stay in or come out after the next step - but I like to remove it at this point. Next, a bias strip is placed on the inside, behind the beads, and attached with a row of running stitches at the top and bottom of the strip. I'm part way across on the bottom row of running stitches - you can see the back of the trapunto here. You can place a contrasting colored strip in there for a really neat effect, but I chose not to on this project.


Now, for the finished product! I will give you a full length shot once I get the bottom band in place, but here's some details from the back yoke.



The bottom band is almost ready to be basted to the body of the coat. I have to take out some of the bias that finished the seam and fix it. The curve at the top of the band does not match the curve on the bottom of the coat and is causing some grief. I want to make sure it matches exactly, as if it doesn't, it will be a bit wonky and won't hang straight. I will get the basting done and try to get a section of beadwork done. Not sure, though - I've got two doctors apointments, a portrait appointment and ladies ensemble pratice today. There's always tomorrow! No wait, I teach tomorrow!