Return to Toggle Land

Friends, we're getting close to finished on this toggle coat but we're not there yet.

Yesterday I attached the sleeves without too many headaches.  I still have to hem, shorten the sleeves, add the toggle closures, and finish the armhole seam bindings.  As I think I said earlier, this coat isn't so much difficult as it is labor intensive -- there's always something else to do.  Closer to the finish line the coat is going to require major pet hair removal with one of those sticky lint rollers.  Gray wool and white dogs are a bad mix!

And speaking of dogs, what fun I had reading yesterday's comments about doggy fashion.  I do try to keep this blog as frou-frou free as possible and I appreciate your support.

As you know, I've been making my own bias tape with cotton sateen (I think it's sateen; it has a dull side and a shinier side), cut at roughly 1 1/2", and then folded over seam allowances that are roughly 1/4 to 1/3".  Some of it looks great, some not so great.  I get lazy.
 







Sometimes I'd stitch the binding along the primary seam (the one holding the fashion fabric together), which means that when the binding is folded over and stitched on the other side, there's no stitch line visible.  But sometimes either the seam allowance was a teensy bit wider or the binding stitch line a little narrow so you see the binding stitch and the primary seam stitch.  Does that make sense?

Here's an example of what I mean, from the inside of the sleeve.  (Who's going to see it?)





I finger press the binding as I'm working; I never used an iron since the bias is stretchy and the seam of varying width depending on how many layers of wool I am binding.  In the hood area, for example, there are places where I'm binding six or eight layers (since every layer is underlined).  Sometimes I used pins but usually not; I just folded as I moved along.

Either way the seam is bound and that's the point, after all.  I try not to obsess about these things.  The next time I will do it better.

Readers, I must take the dogs to the vet for their annual checkup so I'm a little pressed for time.  I think I'll have this done by tomorrow.  I hope so: it's cold here (and it snowed a bit last night) and I could sure use a nice toggle coat to keep me warm -- and fashionable!

Have a great day everybody!

Seam bindings: love 'em or hate 'em?