Celtic Braid Coat, 1st muslin

The pattern for the coat turns out to be quite simple – two front panels, the back, the cape (four panels), and the collar.  So I cut it out last night and sewed it up this morning:

And here is the artist’s conception of what the finished piece will look like:

The “buttons” aren’t going to be made of the fabric, but I wanted something red to show off the concept, so I cut little circles from the fabric.  They’ll probably be replaced by black and red buttons.

I’m still toying with the idea of having a thin Celtic braid running around the collar, but preliminary experiments suggest that it’s a little too much.

Meanwhile, today’s mail brought a lovely little shuttle, the result of a trade with Nancie in North Carolina:

I swapped out my full size Bluster Bay end-feed shuttle for a Bluster Bay mini.  This one is  gorgeous – thanks Nancie!