A coat.

After last week's cold snap I knew the twins needed another jacket.  And after Izzy fitting last year's Secret Agent Trench I knew I wanted to make another one to be sort of matchy, plus I love that coat. 

 

 

So I started thinking about how I wanted to go about it,  I had seen an adorable coat on a friend's girl (hi Chiemi!) that had a beautiful bow on the back and was dyyyying to try it.  But the girl's coat was a tighter fit with princess seams, so that wouldn't really work for the Secret Agent.  Then while searching pinterest I found this coat.  LOVE.  I only wish I could have found a color that gorgeous.  (though I am happy with the color I used). 

 

 

Nicole had just made a gorgeous dress with the same bow I wanted to use, and she was sweet enough to help me in the construction. 

 

Then, while chatting (in the pinterest comments) with Susanne about that gorgeous collar, Lotta chimed in that she knew of a tutorial that could help me figure out what I needed to do. 

 

 

And finally, Collette and Mcholley suggested gray buttons when I was stuck on which color to use. 

 

 

This coat was a team effort, ha! 

 

 

 

I am so happy with it! 

I didn't want to take the time to alter the front pieces and the facings, so I ended up with a collar in the middle rather than the side like my inspiration coat. 

She wouldn't hold still long enough to get a good collar shot.  Oh well. 

I made an 18 month, because that is what the one that still fits from last year, plus I still had all the traced pieces saved, ha!  I probably should have added  some length to the sleeve, oops. 

This makes me so happy!

I also added ruffles to the back, I nearly didn't, but so glad I did.  P.S. here is my tutorial to add ruffles to the pattern. 

Now Abby wants one, but first, Halloween costumes must be made!  I can't procrastinate until the last minute like always, ha!

Modeled finally.

So last year when the Oliver + S patterns came out for the fall, I of course bought them all;) ((Curse you Liesl for making an irresistible product, ha!))  Well, I made this Secret Agent Trench Coat immediately.  Within a day or two of receiving my pattern immediately.  I had a plan and was so excited to have it all come together like it did, you see, I added ruffles on the back to make it like a coat I had seen RTW.  

 

 

I LOVE it. Love it.

She wore it to the park today and I was secretly proud to see some of the other moms pointing and over hearing them talk about the "adorable jacket". 

Abby really wants one now, and I am trying to decide if I should make another for George or go with the Sunday Brunch (or both!).  Hopefully soon I will get some sewing time!

(If you are interested, here is the tutorial I wrote for modifying the pattern)

Ruffliscious trench.

I know you have all been waiting on pins and needles since my last post (only joking).  But I finally got the time to sit down and blog how I made it! I made a 12 month this go around (p.s. if you forgot it is the Secret Agent Trench pattern we are working with:) so you will likely need to adjust my measurements if you are making a larger size.  Using view B I started by subtracting 1 1/2" from the bottom of pattern pieces 10 & 3 and added 1 1/2" to pieces 11 & 12.  I did this to eliminate the drop waist.  I just guessed at the amount to take off since the twins are wiggly and for some reason didn't want to hold still while I figured it out. 

*No further changes will be made to piece 10, the following explains how to alter piece 12 to make 2 pieces*  Then I lined up pieces 10 and 12 and drew a vertical line from the edge of 10 and added 1" to the left side for seam allowance.  Then from the edge of 12 I traced to the edge of 10 and added 1/2"  to the right side for seam allowance. 

And you now have two pieces for 12 instead of one.  Oh, and don't do like I did and forget to mark to cut your larger piece on the fold.  You will end up having to cut a new piece and doing the happy dance  you just happened to buy a little extra.  Cut two of the narrow panels and one of the wider panel on the fold.

I wanted 4 layers of ruffles so I cut out 3 1/2" strips, serged, hemmed and gathered.  Attach the ruffles to your wide panel, lining up the first ruffle with the top of your panel.  I spaced mine 2" apart.

Make sure you leave 1 1/2" free on the bottom of the panel for hemming later on.

Then sew the two narrow panels on either side of the ruffle panel.  This should now measure the same as the original pattern piece 12.

I pleated the narrow piece of 12 to match the back of piece 10 (the back bodice), then pleated the front of the skirt.  You could also gather instead.

Then I followed the Oliver and S instructions from there!

See? Pretty pleats!

Be very careful when hemming so you don't catch the ruffle in the hem.  I went from the 1 1/2" hem as instructed and narrowed it down as I reached the ruffle panel.  I sewed right up to the ruffles, lifted the foot and sewed on the other side.  Then hand stitched a few stitches on the bit that I skipped.

The hem isn't as neat as I would like, but it works.  The grey thread I used is a near perfect match so you can't really see it in real life:)

See the corner?  That is what happens if you catch the ruffle in the hem.  I will be unpicking this... eventually, it is 18 month so too big for now.

Then try it on your little cutie.

And smile as she accessorizes herself.

And gives you cheesy faces. 

Tada! You have yourself a super cute ruffle trench! Now if only it were coat weather...


If I wasn't clear enough or you have any questions, leave a comment and I will get back to you!! Oh, and make sure to add yours to the O+S flickr group!

P.S. When I took these photos I still needed to add belt loops and buttons... they are now on! :)

Super secret agent.

Sometimes a secret agent wants to stand out just a bit, ya know, be not so secret....

So I hate the changes on facebook, the ones that cause pictures and statuses that your friends comment on to pop up in your feed, but in this case it was a good thing!! So I saw this coat pop up in my feed and immediately thought of the new Oliver + s secret agent trench coat.  My pattern arrived on Monday and so I went out to buy fabric that night after the kiddies all went to sleep, washed it that night, altered my pattern pieces Tuesday morning, cut the fabric before nap time, and had most of it sewn up by the time naps were over.  Then I finished it up during the first bit of their nap today.  (p.s. I was so humbled and greatful for the amazing response to my WIP shot, thank you all for your support!!) 

Ah, the buttons... I misplaced a bunch of them... I ripped my house apart this morning with no luck. Sigh.  I used 3/4" on the front of the coat and 5/8" on the sleeves, so slightly smaller.  The coat is off white, btw.

Here is a full shot of the back.  I really love my inspiration coat, but I wanted to make it my own, so I went with 4 layers of ruffles.

Sorry, this color didn't photograph the details well.  Here is a close up of the ruffles (duh).  A friend pointed out the O+S was a drop waist coat while my inspiration was not, so I raised that a bit.  Not quite sure if it was enough as I don't have anyone in the house in this size. 

I promise my buttons were on straight!! Apparently the coat was crooked on the back of my chair and I was too lazy to go take another picture, ha!  I also pleated rather than gathered, again to compliment my inspiration trench. 


Never fear my fellow O+S junkies, I am straightening out a few kinks I had with this one and will take pictures and do a tutorial for my next one.  (Kinks in my alterations, not the original pattern!)  I make no promises that you will understand my not-technical terms or my jumbled way of explaining things, but I will try my hardest! ;)  So, until we meet again, farewell!


***Update, here is the tutorial for how I modified the coat!***

(Update #2, here are modeled shots)