Confessions of an obsessive seamstress - a coat in the making

Thank you for the comments on my winter coat post. I thought I should give you an update about it. Here is a picture of a quick 'n dirty muslin for the 'barrel'-coat. I decided to try that one first, as it would be the most practical, and I came up with a bit of a plan to use the black fabric for a coat for my boyfriend as well (I've got 4 m, but the New Look coat might just use up all of that).

The weather is unusually warm for the time of year, so I haven't had any real need for my winter coat so far.

I should confess here and now that I'm completely obsessed with making my own patterns. Someone pointed out a rather wonderful vintage reproduction Vogue pattern which could be used for a coat like this, but to be honest, I was never really going to use that... The last two patterns I bought (vintage reproduction Vogue dresses) are still unused on the shelf. I have opened the envelopes and studied the pieces and the fabric lay-out in order to understand their construction. Ever since I learned to make my own patterns three years ago, when take a course with the wonderfully talented M, I have been hooked. In my opinion, nothing can beat the fit of a garment made from you very own basic sloper.

So, I made the pattern for this coat. This is actually the second muslin, I made an earlier one just for the body and sleeve shape, but thought it needed yet more room in the chest to really get the loose barrel-shape effect. I decided this would be a great opportunity to try out the square set-in sleeve which I have been looking at in my pattern-making books before. The coat is double breasted and has a large notched collar (it will be smaller than it looks now, I made only half of it in the muslin and left the seam allowances on).

I have cut the fabric, but I'm procastinating a bit at the start of construction. I really wanted to use my usual fusible interfacing for wool fabric, but my usual supplier had run out of the stuff. He said he wouldn't get any untill the new year and sold me two other types, which are, unfortunately both stiffer than the usual stuff. I'm a bit worried. This coat needs a bit of body to show of the shape and make it look neat, however it also needs a bit of drape to make all that bulk work with the body inside....

I'll let you know how I get on.