Hand Tailoring: An Ode to the Tetanus Shot!

At long last I am actually sewing my Lady Grey Coat... very slowly, by hand and sticking myself repeatedly with a needle.

Neat little rows of hand basting.

Although it is not specified in the pattern instructions, I decided to do all of the hand tailoring recommended by Gertie. Aside from a better end result, my ulterior motive is to become better at hand sewing. Lucky for me, my tetanus shot is up to date for this endeavor. And, I can pretty much do the hand sewing while sitting in front of the tv* (perhaps this is the cause of all the sticking?)

I'm nearly done with Part 1 - basting the hair canvas to the front side shell pieces. It looks so neat, doesn't it? I feel all sew-y and impressed with myself at the moment. Anyway, I also cut all the lining pieces out of my beautiful silk charmeuse over the weekend. I just love this fun black/white/turquoise zebra print. Plus, I definitely I have enough left over to make myself a cami or some other little dainty thing.

Silk Charmeuse on the right.

Tonight I plan to finish basting the side pieces and then I will move on to Part 2 of tailoring the coat front, which is where things get a bit more complicated. Moving forward, I will probably intersperse the hand sewing with fits of machine sewing the other pieces of the coat. That way, when I am done with the hand sewing, I will be basically ready for assembly. More during the week...

* BTW - if you are not watching Downton Abbey on PBS, you need to get on board with it. It has intrigue, charm and great costumes! Even Phineas (who notoriously hates period dramas) was sucked in last night. With scheming servants, an inheritance crisis among the fading aristocracy, gender politics in pre-WWI Britain, and Maggie Smith, well, what more do you need??