Finishing with a sleeve...

Ok, so I did actually add this sleeve to the toile last weekend (not even the one just gone!) but I've finally managed to upload the photos so I thought I'd best put it up to complete 'the tale of the toile'!

I think adding the sleeves is one of the most exciting bits of making a toile. Not the easiest, as sleeves need to be inserting with a bit of care to avoid accidentally adding creases or even pleats, but very satisfying nonetheless.

The sleeves this coat is going to have are a relatively plain two part sleeve, and in the final garment will have a button detail at the wrist:

It still needs to be tried on, but we're waiting for the final fabric samples to come in so we can do the fitting and choosing of fabrics at the same time.

Moving on from paper...

After drafting and cutting the pattern pieces yesterday, today was the day to move on to cutting and sewing a calico mock-up of the coat to test both the pattern and the fit.

First task: lay out all the pattern pieces on the calico, and work out the most economical way to fit them on to the fabric. This is one of the things that a commercial pattern does for you as they usually provide a plan of where to lay the pieces, but it's a task I quite enjoy as a bit of a challenge. Once laid out all pieces are laid out it's time to pin and cut. 

Second task: the 'simple' matter of working out what order to sew the pieces together in, and doing said sewing. I'm pretty pleased with the result so far, although exactly how well it fits remains to be seen - I still need to draft and sew the sleeves before it can be tried on by the customer!