Men's toggle coat + Boyz N the Hood

You saw that coming, I hope.

Friends, I'm not going to tell you how many hours I spent on this hood; let's just say a lot.  I decided to start with the hood because...well just because.  It's tricky, what with matching plaids on curved seams, clipping to dots (we all love that!), pivoting in mid-stitch line (as in a notched collar), etc.  I bound the seams with bias I cut myself out of black cotton sateen.  No commercial bias binding accessory used.









Next I attached my front yokes.



I topstitched at 1/4" with black  Gutermann topstitching thread I picked up at Sil Thread.  It doesn't make a huge difference to use real topstitching thread but it does look a little nicer upon close inspection.  The stitches sink deep into the wool either way. 



After adding the back yoke, I stitched the shoulders and draped the coat over me for the first time.  It's warmer than I thought it would be judging by the respective weight of the two layers of wool.





One challenge has been getting my two wools to line up perfectly flat and even.  Every time I run an iron over a section, the more loosely woven plaid wool stretches a bit.  I've machine basted a few times in the seam allowance and had to rip the seam out and restitch on account of this, all the while trying to keep vertical lines perfectly vertical.

It's important that the two layers hang evenly together, especially because this is an underlining, not a lining.  The plaid will not hang freely at the bottom but rather be hemmed up with my outer layer.    I'm trying to give the project time to hang so that any stretching that may occur can happen sooner rather than later.

Friends, that's it!  My life has been toggle coats.  No luggage, no vintage shaving rituals, no Craigslist sales or eBay purchases.  (I still have that Grasshopper, wouldn't you know.)

Thank you for your many informative comments and expressions of support.  Today I'll pick up my toggles, attach my hood, make my patch pockets, and maybe stitch the sides together.  The sleeves will be last, along with all that seam binding.

It's cold here and I'm looking forward to having a nice toggle coat to bundle up in.

How's the weather in your neck of the planet -- warming, cooling, ever-the-same to the point of madness?

Happy Friday, everybody!