It’s OVER!!! I sent in the BurdaStyle book coat yesterday after too many late nights of tearful sewing, too many fun outings missed on account of grudging, miserable sewing, too many other things I could have been making and didn’t, and far, FAR too much whining about it all! Haha, you think I’m done whining? I’m not.
In the end I would have to say that the coat is neither beautiful nor well made. It is passable. But as the deadline grew tight, the quality of the workmanship on this decidedly work-intensive project became increasingly more “brute force” and with rapidly diminishing finesse. My general high-and-mighty philosophy of, “If you’re not going to sew it well, don’t bother sewing it at all” disintegrated quickly under the weight of a deadline and the drudgery of a project I did not enjoy. There are known puckers. There are corners cut. And after spending waaaaay too much time on this coat in the last two weeks and dropping quite a bit of my own money and digging into my personal stash for materials, I have taught myself my own lesson about S.W.A.G. sewing once again. BurdaStyle unfortunately did not cover the cost of linings, trims, and notions, which I imagine wasn’t much of a big deal except for the people working on the coat project, but it did end up being a little more than I wanted to put into it. Plus due to the necessity of a last-minute redesign because of a supplies miscommunication, I made an executive decision to ditch the fashion fabric that BurdaStyle picked out (sorry, BS! Thanks for sending it though! You can have it back if you want!) and sent to me because it wasn’t going to work and ended up using my own fabric instead. So suffice it to say, by the end I couldn’t bring myself to invest any more time or resources in dainty details or hand finishing. It’s okay though. Not gorgeous, but hellz, it’s still a handmade freakin’ coat.
I can’t show you pictures of the final product, but I’ll show you something I bought from the thrift shop so I could cut it up to make part of the coat:
It’s a big ol’ fake fur coat! And the best part of it (because the fur itself feels kind of heinous in the way that fake fur does after it’s been around the block a couple of times) is the label!
Oh yes this is a genuine Tissavel from France. Originally purchased at Sears, which some of you may know better as “The Fashion Place” or “Place de la Mode.” I think from now on I’m going to refer to Sears as Place de la Mode (with my best French accent, bien sûr!) as in, “Darling, I think this weekend we’ll need to make a little jaunt over to Place de la Mode. I am just aching for some snow tires and a new Tissavel.”
Back on subject- I’m sort of excited for the book to come out, but if I never see the coat again, so much the better! It’s not my style anyway so I probably won’t wear it even if it does get sent back to me eventually. But I’m hoping that the good folks at BurdaStyle pull out all of their art and styling big guns for the photoshoot. They do have fantastic stylists. Under the right conditions and on the appropriately gamine-like model, I think the coat could be made to look chic. Those conditions, however are not “on the Selfish Seamstress, walking around on the street.” But whatever, done! Done, done, done! Out of sight, out of mind, which means I can stop sewing it and stop whining about it, and finally get back to sewing other things and whining about other things!
Permit me to get started right now with me me me me ME ME ME me me me ME! Me me me leopard pencil skirt me me ME TWEED SKIRT SUIT me me ME ME me me new sleeves on blouses me ME me ME me ME flowy pants me me me me me me me me me me black wool trench coat me me ME ME me finish leopard jacket me ME me ME me ME me ME me ME tux dress in plum and gray me me ME me me ME plaid wool jacket me me ME ME ME me me me ME ME ME me me me mod stewardess dress ME me ME ME me me me me me me me me houndstooth sheath dress me ME ME me clown costume just kidding ME ME me me ME me ME me ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME
The Selfish Seamstress 
36 comments
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July 28, 2010 at 9:36 am
Jan
Darn, I really wanted to see the SS clown costume!
July 28, 2010 at 9:48 am
inkstain
Sewing for me, are you? Why thanks!
Congrats on finishing the coat.
July 28, 2010 at 9:50 am
sewsister
Freedom is right Sistah! Congratulations on finishing your Burdon, er Burda coat (excuse the typo)!!
Can’t wait to see the black wool trench and mod stewardess dress! Oh yeah, and the clown costume!
July 28, 2010 at 10:05 am
amber
Wheeee! Now you can get back to sewing the good stuff!
July 28, 2010 at 10:06 am
Elizabeth
Congrats!!! Yeah it’s over. Now back to regularly scheduled bouts of selfishness. Phew!
July 28, 2010 at 10:28 am
Katie
Oh come on, you know you really want to sew that clown costume!
I’m glad you can get back to your usual game. So no fun to sew when it’s no fun. Or something like that.
July 28, 2010 at 10:53 am
Angela
Yay! Congrats!! FREEEEDOM!
July 28, 2010 at 10:55 am
Ellen
Yeah! Congrats on finishing! I have to say, I can’t wait to see some selfish sewing!
July 28, 2010 at 11:04 am
Darci
Well thank GOD that’s over! I’m sure it’ll be fab. And now I (selfishly) can’t wait for that book to come out so I can see it!
Back to our regularly scheduled programming of you! You! YOU! (whew!)
July 28, 2010 at 11:07 am
Susan - KnittersDelight
Kudos on getting it out the door! Now onto the good stuff – self-gratification sewing.
July 28, 2010 at 11:24 am
Gaylene
Well done – now back to proper selfishness. What has the poor but lovely Dan been doing all this time – hopefully feeding you?
July 28, 2010 at 2:55 pm
selfishseamstress
Oh crap. I totally forgot about that guy. I think he’s ok. He’s been doing the dishes, reading himself to sleep at night, and trying not to step on anything important since I pretty much converted our living room into a sweatshop.
July 28, 2010 at 11:38 am
Venus de Hilo
Congratulations on getting the coat done, now go have fun sewing for yourself! As for me: now that I know there’s a Place de la Mode here in town I may never sew again.
July 28, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Victoria Baylor
Happy you made it to the finish line! Can’t wait to see it!!!!
~Victoria
tenthousandsewinghours.blogspot.com
July 28, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Debbie Cook
Funniest last paragraph ever, especially that you snuck in the clown costume.
July 28, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Sherry
You sure sound relieved!
July 28, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Renita
Yea, now back to sewing things WE can see NOW. Now to decide which of those ME’s are next!!! Have FUN again!!!!!
Renita
July 28, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Susannah
Congratulations to YOU, YOU, YOU! Can’t wait to see the book and everything else you choose to sew for YOURSELF, SELF SELF…
July 28, 2010 at 2:42 pm
SEARS Customer Service Representative
It seems you are unhappy with your genuine Tissavel coat. Please return it to your nearest Sears store and will happily issue a full refund.
Thank you for shopping at Sears “Place de la Mode” and have a nice day, be-atch.
July 28, 2010 at 2:53 pm
selfishseamstress
Mwahaha. Because if there’s one business I associate with you, it’s SEARS, p.lapp.
July 28, 2010 at 2:53 pm
Jessie
Woah, reading all those me’s made my head spin so badly that I actually felt motion sick, but I’m looking forward to seeing the results!
July 28, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Mary in FL
Oh, dear, I think you need a little more emphasis on the ME part …
July 28, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Steph
If there’s a deeper level of hell to SWAG, certainly is a SWAG coat. I have one on right now. And people ask me why I don’t sew for other people as a job. I’m just not that freakin professional to be able to work well on something when I’m sick of it and a deadline looms. You enjoy your selfish sewing.
July 28, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Becky
Haha…I’m feeling kind of the same as your last paragraph now that my coat is done and shipped! Minus the tweed. I don’t do tweed.
July 28, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Lina O.
Just had to smile at how well your blog pic fits seen across from today’s headline (my journalism background peeking out). Congrats and onto better sewing experiences!
July 29, 2010 at 1:06 am
Alice
Congratulation on getting that coat done ! I can’t wait to see what it looks like in that book !
July 29, 2010 at 1:43 am
Marie-Christine
And if you’d finished it and adored it and wanted to wear it all the time, you’d now be stuck for who knows how long not being able to even see it… There’s no winning with this SWAG, none at all.
But you’re right, Burda can style a garbage bag with a hole for the head into a fabulous poncho, so let them at it. If this is about sewing for real people, surely a few puckers just add homemade charm. And perfectionism for yourself is one thing, but perfectionism for photography is a total waste. Just take a closer look at the magazine.
The only things I’d say in retrospect is that you should have used their fabric, since you have now used some perfectly good fabric of your own for something that you won’t wear. And that all thought of perfection should not even have crossed your mind for this project. I find that I’m actually a -better- seamstress since I’ve learned to adjust my techniques to both the fabric quality and the uses of a project, it’s really inappropriately wasteful to put in great technique into pajamas..
Now quick, a leopard jacket! I can’t think of a better thing to rinse your palate with.
July 29, 2010 at 5:48 am
selfishseamstress
um, no, i definitely SHOULD NOT have used the fabric that they sent me, and even having used my own stuff and ending up with some 3 yards of fabric i will never use, i have ZERO regrets about that. i find that *I* am a better seamstress when i adhere to the policy “you have to draw the line SOMEWHERE.” you’d have to see it to know that i am right on this one. trust me, the selfish seamstress is right sometimes :) no question on this one!
July 29, 2010 at 6:55 am
Anonymous
OK, definitely trust you :-). See, that’s what I meant about sewing for photography.. Never mind those Burda colors, which are often out of this world, litterally.
July 29, 2010 at 4:22 am
Kate
Hooray, it’s finished! Now can you get back to sewing for you so the rest of us can enjoy your creations (HA! your sewing DOES have a benefit for other people, despite all your best efforts.)
We keep meaning to make a day trip to the Tissavel factory shop in Northern France – being located in the south of England, it’s only a couple of hours’ drive for us, including time spent in the tunnel and stopping off for obligatory pain au chocolat scoffing en route… Haven’t made it yet, but I just looked at their website in anticipation, yet again, of this happy event, and noticed they’re opening a webshop – faussefourrureboutique.com.
Obviously, with them being French and this being (almost) August, they and the rest of France have packed up and gone south for a fortnight, so the shop is currently closed. But still.. I have some samples of their fur and it is quite astonishing. I’m dying to make a fur-one-side-silk-the-other bedspread.
July 29, 2010 at 5:51 am
selfishseamstress
That’s so funny! When I wrote that line, I was completely joking about Tissavel because I figured it was just some random Sears brand from the 80s, but then I looked it up and found out it was a real thing! Who knew?
I hope you get to visit them and make something with it. I think the technology and techniques for manufacturing faux fur has improved greatly since the time of the manufacture of my (now sliced up) Tissavel coat. This stuff feels kind of gross, but I have felt some amazingly soft faux fur in recent years, and after poking around online, I now know that Tissavel is top of the line :D
July 29, 2010 at 9:36 am
Tasia
Congrats! What a weight off your back. Can’t wait to see what it looks like! (Do we really have to wait till 2011? Sigh…)
July 29, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Karin
I’ done too. I’m equally relieved, and sacrificed my life equally much (I think. I spent three out of four and a half days spent in our summerhouse – beeing there is the fuel I need to live through winter – sewing instead of socialising with my family, who I meet much too seldom, and instead of taking long walks by the sea).
But now it’s done, I don’t regret it, I’m half happy, half unhappy about it, it’s waaaay too small for me (but) and (!) although I bought the lining for it myself I actually have some quite nice wool left (they sent me two different kinds, and I only used a little of the thinner kind since there wasn’t enough of the thicker kind for all of it).
Well. I hope we’ll all be happy about the way they look in the book! I think we all probably did our best, and considering the tight schedule our best couldn’t actually be our very best (but then we might all have hated it if we had had a month to work on it).
I love the thought of the fake-fur on the coat. It looks good actually, not old and used at all. In pictures at least.
July 29, 2010 at 4:54 pm
nettie
I have to say, the relief I felt when my dress was finished was akin to be released from prison (I imagine). I really could have wept when I dropped it into the fed ex drop box. Well, I was relieved until I couldn’t find my copy of the mailing label to see if they had gotten it. After having a mini panic attack and then finding it by accident AND confirming that they got it, I am at peace again. And also pretty sure that I won’t be jumping on any more bandwagons anytime soon. The happiness I felt at not being forced to sew today was enough to confirm that for certain.
August 1, 2010 at 4:46 pm
wan-nabe
i cannot decide which is funnier: the sears tag or your last paragraph. either way, the whole post is full of win.
August 11, 2010 at 7:57 am
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