Regina's Riding Coat - Part 3

Having got the base of the costume finished, we now apply details!

First off, buttonholes. Always a bit scary, but if you have a buttonhole feature on your sewing machine and mark them out carefully, they're nothing to be afraid off. I actually didn't make them quite close enough to the edge and so had to go back and fix that with handsewing, as you'll see later.

Then covered buttons! I found it easiest to sew the buttons on first, and then cover them.

Circle of velvet, stitch around, draw it up like a drawstring bag and...

Beautiful covered button! Because velvet tends to shed, I tucked a bit of craft glue in to keep it from shedding.

Progress so far...

Adding the buttons to the sleeves.

Regina's coat has puffed sleeves, so I had to do a bit of research to figure out how to imitate the look. Turns out using shoulder pads on the armhole does the trick.

Here's that extra fixing by the buttonholes that I mentioned earlier.

Like the back waist seam, I first attach all the layers of the sleeve to the corduroy armhole seam...

...and then tack down the lining.

I had a model who was just about the same size as my customer, so I was able to get some lovely pictures of the completed coat!

All it in all it was a very challenging but extremely rewarding project. I'd do it again... but would have to raise my fee significantly!

Speaking of which, are you looking for someone to make a costume for you? Check out my commissions page to learn how you can hire me to create the ensemble of your dreams!