Today I worked on the coat for about six hours, completing the hem and starting the understitching for the facing. The understitching consists of prick-stitching the facing to the seam allowances 1/8″ away from the edge. After that is complete, I’ll trim/grade the seam allowances inside the facing seam, and start putting in the lining. However, I’m feeling pretty tired, so I’ve set it aside for now. I may go back to it after dinner, and I may not.
But I am content: I got a lot done sewing-wise, I helped Mike plant our container gardens, and I went out for a one-hour bike ride in glorious spring sunshine. I’m currently stewing up a range hen from the farmer’s market – it’s an older bird, so too tough to roast, but oh! does it ever have FLAVOR! And I’m making “tea eggs” – a Chinese dish which consists of hardboiled eggs with the shells cracked all over, steeped in a combination of soy sauce, tea, and star anise. The liquid’s flavor penetrates the eggs, and after a few days, they’re delicious.
So, a busy and productive day.
For the next few days I plan to focus on the coat: understitching the facing, grading the seams, putting in the lining, and catch-stitching the seam allowance of the facing to the body of the coat. That will get the coat as “done” as I can get it without going back to talk to Sharon. After that, I’ll make hem samples for the lining, and cut out the second lining for the dress. And then I’ll work on secondary things like pinning up the coat and dress lining, putting the lace on the back of the dress, and redoing the pearls on the dress. Those have to be done, but probably won’t be finished before I go see Sharon next weekend.
