The Coatmaker Rides Again!

Well, after the last ordering fiasco, it took me a while to look around and decide what I wanted to do. I couldn't just lay aside this whole coat idea, because I just bought a new pair of boots for Christmas and I need something to wear with them.

Jo-Ann's continues to disappoint me with their complete lack of the boucle fabric I so desperately desire, and a bit of web scouring has convinced me that, unfortunately, Fashion Fabrics Online has the cheap fabric market cornered. So it was with some reluctance that I scanned their offerings to see if I could come up with a second-best choice to the lovely abstract plaid I'd picked out before.

I found another plaid, one which I'd actually considered before. It follows the same black/white idea of my previous boucle choice, but the pattern is a little bolder.

It's 100% wool and had the added bonus of costing only $10.75 a yard, so I've got my fingers crossed that this one goes through. I did purchase a little more fabric than I attempted to last time--5-1/4 yards versus the 4-7/8 that I technically need, so that I can match up the stripes, hopefully, when I'm cutting everything out.

For the lining, I was initially considering a light silver fabric, but I decided to go dark this time: a burgundy check by Ralph Lauren and, apparently, imported from France:

Ooh la la!

Hard to tell if it's reddish or purplish in that picture (with a name like "burgundy," you'd think reddish, but I guess that's one of those colors that is open to interpretation), but either one should go nicely with the black and white of the boucle. I also wanted a darker fabric in case if shows through the looser weave of the boucle. That's a problem I didn't have with the uber-thick melton coat I sewed last year, but I'll have to keep it in mind until I actually see the boucle in person. The price was pretty decent on this one--$3.95 a yard--so I'm hoping it turns out to be a nice sturdy lining. The skimpy polyester linings I've tried from Jo-Ann's just don't hold up to constant wear and tear.

Now that my order is all sent off, I just have to cross my fingers and hope they're able to get enough fabric. And in the meantime, I'll clear out the sewing room in anticipation.