Mirroring Suzy Bee Sews - Life So Strange It Should Be Fiction

I've seen Neue Mode patterns before over on sewingpatterns.com and kinda wrote them off as being left over from the 80's. I did get an email recently though that had some new designs in it and fell in love with this coat, took me forever to find it on the website (it was listed as Non-categorized , after I'd been through a few hundred patterns looking for it......) Its a bit sketchy ordering a neue mode pattern - no line drawings on most of the patterns and none of them actually list what pattern you get - so it could potentially be the pants or the top or the coat... This one thankfully had a line drawing, though its not very accurate, it shows the collar being a separate pattern piece but its just one front piece, the hem dips lower at the front plus the pattern has sleeve cuffs which aren't on the drawing, and it also has no pockets... The cutting layout and amount of fabric is printed as part of the pattern and the pattern pieces also have basic fit adjustm...

I've been obsessed with duffle coats the last couple of months, I wanted a princess seam coat pattern and couldn't find one anywhere. In the end it came down between this pattern and Colette's Albion but I liked the details more on this one. It ended up being an expensive pattern, about $19.50AUD for the pdf. As soon as I got it I stuck it together and made a muslin in a straight sz 18....and it looked horrible on me, the shoulders were huge but the arms were way too small, the waist was huge but the bust was too tight, it was bunching all around the armscye, the sleeve cap height was too short, the upper bust length was too short, the upper back was too tight.... I nearly threw it all in after that but since I spent so much on the pattern decided to chop into it and make it work (cue Tim Gunn's voice in my head!). And to be fair, I knew I would have to make fit adjustments since I am not the body shape Grainline seems to design for. Pattern adjustments...

Every time I sew a Colette pattern I wonder why I don't sew more of them, their block fits me perfectly. Case in point - I made a sz18, petited the bodice and added 2" to upper back width (I went a little overboard actually and could have gotten away with about half that I think). I also played with the armholes a bit. I've found a lot of coats I've made have been very binding in the armholes, I used to think it was the arm and back needing more width but I don't think it is. I reckon its to do with having forward shoulders, I need the armholes shifted around a bit, more at the back and less at the front. After I had constructed the bodice muslin I put the coat on and marked where I wanted the armhole to be, and trimmed off about 3/4" at the front. It worked a treat and I have a lot of movement in this coat so it will be something I do to every jacket I make now and its stopped the bunching I normally get at the front armhole. Fabric is a wo...

I've never sewn for my husband, he's very much a jeans and t-shirts man. However he doesn't have any coats and when I saw the new Vogue patterns I scooped this one up. It's a nice simple peacoat with some cool details. The fabric is a navy coating I picked up from Spotlight on clearance. It's very soft and sewed up beautifully, the colour is true in the top 4 photos (the detail pics are a bit washed out looking). Lining is Sunsilky from Lincraft and the buttons were from there too. I followed the instructions all the way through (for once!), they are very similar to the RTW sewalong with interfacing on the front, side, back yoke, collars and facings. The lining is semi-bagged with the hems being hand sewn. I actually enjoyed the control this gave me over how well it all fit together. It has inseam pockets at the front and a welt pocket inside. I'm still disappointed in the inside welt pocket. I managed to sew the welts on the wrong way around and had already cu...

  This is the third time I've made this for my daughter, its turned into her TNT coat pattern! This version is similar to the last one , Sz 42 but I took it in at the waist and lengthened the bodice. I also took a 1/2" tuck out of the front bodice piece and pleated the skirt rather than gathering it. The hood is traced off a hoodie she has that fit well. The fabric is a stretch drill from the best garage sale ever , its a mint colour but the photos all came out slightly darker than it is in real life. The lining was a satin she picked out, there was only enough to line the body so the sleeves are a poly lining from Great Nan's stash. Since the skirt section was pleated I hid the pockets in a pleat, copying the directions from the Colette Macaron dress. The buttons are reused from the first version of this pattern. The belt was made mostly following Tilly's tutorial except I used elastic instead of interfacing and some press studs. Makes a really cute belt and I...