Done....but will I ever wear it???

Done. Finally I can say it's done. Well except for the label. I bought this kit back in the early 90s. That's long enough for a UFO don't you think? :-) I finally got it out last year and started putting it together. Never again. I was shorted on fabric, the pattern tissue was incomplete, and the instructions were impossible.



I wish I could say more positive things about it but I can't. I suppose back when I bought the kit I would have worn it happily, but now I'm not so sure. It's pretty dreadful. I'll enter it in the NC Quilt Symposium next month but I hope no one looks at it too closely!


Being short on fabrics I had to fudge a lot of the construction. See the bottom right corner of the back of the coat? Those short strips are added to fill a gap. The long strips that go from shoulder to hem are the full width of the fabric (about 42"). There is just no way to make them reach from shoulder to hem! I could have added matching fabric to make them longer but by then all the strips were cut (per the instructions) and there were no bits left wide enough. SIGH. There's no mention of it in the pattern and the coat in the pattern photo has strips that reach the hem. All I can figure is that either they pieced them or cut them lengthwise from yardage they don't provide in their kits. *grumble* I couldn't bind the seams per the instructions either. There just wasn't enough fabric to do it their way. I kept going back to the paperwork and yes, the kit was supposed to have the complete materials to make a coat in my size. Yeeesh!

And it went on and on like that! I've also been searching and searching for fabric for the final binding of the front, hem and sleeves. There was no way I could finish it with what they provided. Let me tell you, that's a hard job when you let your kit sit around for so many years! Fabric styles change so much. After a few false starts (thank goodness I don't mind adding to my stash!), last week while shopping for something else in JoAnn's, the right fabric jumped right off the rack and into my arms. *happy dance*

It still remains to be seen if I have the nerve to model it at Symposium. ;-)