Cooking the Koos Coat

 

I received a lovely note from a dear gal who doesn’t like to make herself known publicly on the blogs. She is in the process of making the Koos coat with a sewing buddy (how fun to have a sewing buddy!) and offered some welcome advice.

 

In response to my inquiry regarding Koos’ method of construction, she pointed me to the book Koos Couture and Collage by Linda Chang Teufel, available for $15 on Linda’s rwebpage, Dragon Threads. Before constructing the coat, I’m going to read this book, so sewing will have to wait. I’m not convinced flat felled seams are necessary, especially at the shoulders. There has to be a better way.

 

My pattern finally arrived and I’ve given it a once over. I’m just a tad intimidated. :) I think I’ll make a one-layer, one-color coat to start. In other words, I’ll follow the example of my anonymous friend and make a coat from the lining. I have a couple of lengths in just the right weight and length.

 

That blue is a bit bright but I can imagine wearing with black jeans.

Below is a length of wool – it’s a bit meh. I’ve never loved it. The real color is a bit more bright – with yellow tone. I imagine it will be a dream to sew with.

 

The below fabrics are the ones I’m mulling over for the layered coat.

 

I found the red/grey just last week at Hancock’s on 40% off sale. It is quite ravely and will be a nightmare, I’m sure! I’m thinking of interfacing with a light weight knit interfacing to make it easier to handle.

Next in the stack is this beautiful piece of  Merino wool with a subtle tan stripe.

 

I realize I have a problem with each of the other fabrics – they are either too light weight or have stretch.

The below piece has black/white threads, forming a perfectly neutral grey. The problem is the weight. I’d have to interface with a heavy interfacing, changing the original hand a bit. I don’t know if that works or if there would be too much of a difference in heft to make it work with the red/grey.

This piece I LOVE.

But it stretches.

Bah! Would interfacing and/or underlining work?

The next one – click on it to increase the size so you can see the texture – is wonderful. But light. I could use it for the binding.

Or I could use this light weight stripe for the binding, which is the direction I’m leaning.

Once again, a lovely stack of possibilities but with issues.

Another idea is to add another bit of color.

The coral/red actually blends quite nice in real life – if I don’t use them directly next to each other. The color below is more true. I only have a yard of this Shetland wool which came to me in a Fabric Mart bundle.

Or, thinking, ditch the red/grey bulky fabric entirely and go with the lighter weights.

Meanwhile, while I await the arrival of the Koos book, I think I’ll pull out another coat project. In the blue. That blue is speaking to me today.

Vogue 2988. Perhaps.

Or Kwik Sew 3095  which I’ve chosen for my SWAP. I think this is a sleeper pattern. I have been drawn to this pattern for quite some time. I could start the fitting process today.

Do you ever feel like flipping a coin to help decide what to do????

Koos Coat: What is taking so long?

It has been a week since I ordered this pattern from BMV. The status has read “shipped” since Wednesday.

But perhaps the wait will be worth it, especially since another blogger, Jilly Be Joyful, is currently making the coat and is taking the time to blog her observations. I’m finding her details and her recommendations very helpful.

One of her recommendations about using wool of similar weight has altered my fabric choices. I’ll take photos of fabrics tomorrow and will discuss what I want to use, why I may not use some, and a question about a color choice.’

Another recommendation, mental note: lower the height of the collar.

Meanwhile, I have a few questions regarding the construction:

1. Can this coat be made without the flat felled seams?

2. Could the inner layer, which I'd probably never wear on the outside, be treated more as a lining, therefore eliminating the need to flat fell all these seams?

3. Furthermore, I've read a few blogs which report that the construction method Koos uses differs from the printed Vogue instructions. I'm wondering if anyone knows how he recommends constructing the coat. I’m thinking the sleeve construction is where the major construction differences might lie.

Thank you, Jilly Be, for forging the way!

A Learning Curve: Simplicity 2155, View D

Notes:

I chose this pattern for the shoulder princess seams.

As you can see, I did not add the collar or make the belt. I wanted to try one of Sandra Betzina’s methods for lining and opted to omit the collar in order to do that.

I added bound buttonholes.

I cut size 14 at shoulders and bust, size 16 at hips.

I made two petite adjustments of 1 inch each: mid-armholes and at a couple inches above the waist.

 

Problems:

I forgot to scoop out the armscye after the petite adjustment so they are tight. It should be easy enough to reopen the hand-sewing on the lining to fix that. I followed Betzina’s advice to remove the gaposis on the front and back armscye (staystitch the area, putting your finger behind the foot to draw up the fabric).

I did not perform a broad back adjustment and the shoulder blade area feels tight. Maybe increasing the size of the armscye will help that issue a bit.

My bound buttonholes are sloppy. I think they are sloppy because I followed a technique in Sandra Betzina’s Power Sewing which has the buttonholes bound in a double layer with the lining. That is too bulky

Now I know.

On the inside of the garment, Sandra sews 1/4 inch around the button hole (rather than in the ditch) and then cuts the remaining patch away, leaving the edge raw. I did not want the top stitching so I turned in the raw edges of the patch and slip stitched. They look awful.

But from the outside, even though they are wonky, the striped binding adds a needed pop to the bland grey.

 

I was hoping this would be a bit more loose fitting, less fitted.

Techniques:

Bound button holes.

Princess seams. I’ve made relatively few. I chose this pattern because this vest has princess seams that go to the shoulder rather than the armscye. I hope to tweak this pattern to give me a more loose fitting garment that can be used for many fabrications and embellishments, with or without a lining.

 

The lining method has you insert one lined piece into another and sew through all four layers at shoulder seam and at side seam. Conclusion: I do not like this method, at least, not on heavy garments. No matter how much I tweaked, I could not get the edge points to line up perfectly.

 

The above side edge matched fairly well, but the one below not at all.

 

So, I’m concluding that this grey wool vest is far from perfect but perfectly wearable. I didn’t intend for it to be a show-stopper so I am not bothered by the errors. It will be fine for a bit of warmth around the house or a quick trip to the store. Perhaps we’ll call this a wearable muslin.