Men's toggle coat - cutting fabric, purchasing notions, etc.

And off we go!

Friends, the toggle coat project is moving along.  Yesterday I made my pattern adjustments (basically just taking 4" width out of the whole thing -- 1" from each front pattern piece and 2" out of the back, and shortening 2".)  I kept the armhole, neck, and hood as-is, rather than cutting it down to the Extra-small.

I folded the pattern piece over 1/2" (for a total width adjustment of 1")...



And then I redrew the shoulder line.





I went to Sil thread to buy a Clover bias tape maker, but I wasn't sure which width to buy - 1/4", 1/2", 3/4" or 1".  The pattern says to use 1/4" double fold bias tape but won't that be too narrow to finish seams from underlined wool?  I'll have to go back tomorrow because I still haven't purchased my toggles from C&C.

I bought regular black thread as well as thicker black topstitching thread for the yokes, hood and patch pockets.  I did some test samples of topstitching on the wool and they look good.  (The thread appears gray in the photograph but it's black.)  I'll most likely use my Singer Spartan to topstitch, everything else on my 15-91.





First I cut my gray wool and then I cut my plaid.  It took a few hours but went smoothly.  There aren't that many pattern pieces when you consider this is a coat.





I still have to baste the plaid underlining to the gray wool and then I can start putting this baby together.

This is going to be different from a traditional toggle (also know as a duffle) coat in a few ways.  For one thing, the wool I'm using is less coarse and pillowy than what you usually find in a traditional toggle coat.  My wool, as you may have noticed, is smooth.  I'm also making the yokes out of separate front and back pieces, as per the pattern, rather than drafting a one piece yoke -- unless I change my mind.

(The pattern doesn't call for lining the yoke and I can only see doing that for additional thickness.  I'll experiment with those yokes today.  I don't want them to look too flat; then again the topstitching will be going through four layers: the folded edge of the yoke, the coat fabric and the underlining fabric.)

This Hugo Boss coat looks more like the wool I'm using -- flat with a dull sheen.



This is the coarser, more blanket-type wool. 



Mine is going to be less of a Survive-the-harsh-Maine-winter coat and more of a Barbie-dons-the-duffle fashion garment, if that makes sense. 

There are so many toggle coat variations!

We'll just have to see which of these my finished coat resembles most.

Friends, that's it!    Please keep your fingers crossed, and if you have any tips, especially regarding width of bias tape, that would be great.

Happy Thursday everybody!