Birthday Present for T.

It was my friend T.'s 25th birthday recently & I was really struggling to find her a gift. After a lot of to-ing & fro-ing, I thought the best thing to do was to make her something. I found some red velvet I had stored away & used it to make her a cute little red swing coat.


What pattern I used: Vogue V8146, with some minor modifications. The original pattern didn't allow for a lining & I'm of the opinion that coats should have linings, so I added one.

What I was inspired by: Colours & Textures of Alexander McQueen A/W 08/09.

What I still have left to do: Add the buttonholes. I've decided that rather than adding buttons (I couldn't find any I liked), I'd do button holes on both sides of the lapel & weave a scarf through & tie it in a bow. Because the colour of the velvet appears slightly different in different lights or even when worn with different colours, I really struggled to find a cotton with the 'right' shade of red. As a result, all the seams are invisible & I'll be sewing the buttonholes in a gold metallic thread. I think this will be a nice contrast.

I'll post some more pics once it's finished later this week.