A few days ago I posted this on the Stashbusting Sewalong group on Facebook.  After posting it I realized I should probably get around to posting about the Albion coat I made for him back in February.  This was a big project that I am so pleased with.  It did also bust 13.5 yards of stash fabric that I bought last year.  Without further ado, here is the review I posted on PR.

Pattern Description:
Version 1 is a mid-thigh length coat with patch pockets, in-seam pockets, a detachable hood tab, and flannel lining. Version 2 is a hip-length unlined jacket with a combination of felled and bound seams, in-seam pockets, and interior pockets. I made version 1.
Pattern Sizing:
XS-2XL. I made a Large.
Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Almost identical, right down to my fabric choices.
Were the instructions easy to follow?
The directions were superb! This is my first Collette Patterns make and I could not be more pleased with the written instructions and illustrations. To make it even better the sewalong is still available and compliments the instruction book well!
What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I love the ease with which this pattern fits together. It is well drafted and well graded. My only dislike is the hood tab on version 1. I think it looks, for lack of a better term, “Becky-homecky”.
Fabric Used:
I used 3 yards of beige Melton wool from Mood Fabrics ($75), 4.5 yards of plaid shirting from Jo-Ann’s ($23), and 6 yards of beige flannel from Jo-Ann’s ($10.74). I also used 4 toggles from Jo-Ann’s ($28). Total cost of this coat $136.74. By far one of my most expensive projects.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
I first made a muslin for this from the flannel, which I took apart to use as the underlining. The muslin fit perfectly!! This is rare that the sleeve length and hem length work for him as he is so tall, but this did. The only change I made was to add more depth to the hood. My husband said the problem with most men’s coats and jackets is that the hoods are not deep enough. This was confirmed by a male coworker too. To add room I added 1″ to the hood opening in addition to adding .5″ to each side of the center hood panel at the front and tapered it back down to the standard. And of course, since I didn’t like the hood tab, I took it out. I took off the tabs on the sleeves too.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely!! The sewalong even has steps for adjusting the pattern to fit a woman’s body. I for sure want to make a version for myself now. My husband also wants another version. For that one he did request adding an inside chest pocket, which I think it is a great idea.
Conclusion: 
I cannot say enough great things about this pattern. My husband has received so many compliments. One of his bosses even asked where he got it and was surprised to learn I made it. His boss thought it was London Fog. Woohoo! Let’s just hope his boss doesn’t ask for one now.

Personally, we made some major strides towards being able to bring our baby home!!  I know I have been pretty quiet on this topic for the last 6 months.  I haven’t wanted to share to much until we were ready.  Well I have shared already how we got a new car for me that will be spacious and safe to drive our child around in.  We also renovated our bathroom, taking it from being a leaking mess to being a beautiful space.  We still have some other renovations that need to happen before, like replacing our floors that were damaged from a leaking dishwasher and water damage from when we first moved in.  These have to be replaced as the floor boards are so warped and damaged I would be afraid of our future baby hurting themselves.  However,  the bathroom and the car are not even the biggest step we made this year.  Eric has been working very hard at work for the last 8 months and it has finally paid off with a huge promotion for his work life and our finances.  So big in fact that we have a goal to be signed up with our adoption agency by April.  Whew!  Big goal but we can do it!

Sewing is a completely different story though!  Let’s start with a few stats.  I used 99.5yds of stash fabric.  Seriously, half yard off from 100 total yards.  Grrrr…. Tallying in new fabric used, I sewed up 122.25 yards!  That much fabric is gone and out of my stash!  Then on top of that number I also mailed out 378 yards through my Share My Stash adoption fundraiser!  That means I got rid of 500.25 yards in 2014.  Unfortunately, I did buy 181.5 yards and was gifted 17 yards.  Even with those purchases, I still put a decent dent into my stash.

I made a total of 25 items for myself.  With a 25% of those being tops, 20% pajamas, and 16% being dresses.  Those three categories account for 15 of my total garments.  I was going to post my top 5 favorites and top 5 disappointments but I don’t really have any.  I really like everything that I finished this year.  I also made 18 garments for others, mostly costumes.  That is pretty common for what I make for others though.  Eric is really the only other one who gets actual everyday garments.

So, with all that I have done last year I spent most of last week thinking about what I want to accomplish this year.  I have gone back and forth, and finally decided that I just can’t do it all!    I picked only a few things to focus on this year and they are some of the bigger projects I have been wanting to accomplish.

1.  Quality of quantity: Last year I started to look at buying better quality fabrics.  I am spending less and less on fabric from Jo-Ann’s and instead sourcing better and slightly more expensive fabrics online.  I want to continue this.  I still have way more fabric than I will probably ever get to sew up, so I definitely do not need to buy for quantity’s sake and my wallet could use that money for other things, like the baby!

This same theory will apply towards actual garment construction too.  One of the goals I considered making was sewing double the amount of garments I made last year. Like I said, I really want to accomplish some of the bigger projects this year to get them out of my mind and into reality, so quantity will have to wait.

2.  Blogging and social presence:  After finishing the Adoption Dress Project at the end of 2013, I took a step back from blogging and posting to most social media.  Mind you I said posting, I still stalked all the blogs and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, but I didn’t post regularly.  I am guessing there will be a lot more  adoption info to post this coming year.  Since I am going to focus on some bigger projects this year I want to do more work in progress posts and tutorial for different techniques.  I still need to write out a plan for this though.  I am also planning on participating in more of the sewalongs and themed months.  I have already signed on to host a month of the 2015 Stashbusting Sewalong!

3.  Big projects: So what exactly are these bigger projects that I keep talking about?  Well, for starters, I am going to be working on an Albion coat for Eric this month.  I made the muslin in December and it fit perfectly.  Then the holidays got so crazy and I just haven’t had time to sit down and make the final version.

After that I am going to make new costumes for the Renaissance Festival.  These will include a legitimate long leather tunic for Eric, which I already have the leather for, and my long thought about noble costume.  The tunic won’t be too hard as the pattern and design of it are pretty basic.  The real challenge for it will be sewing the leather.  It is going to fit in great for one of the Stashbusting themes.  I look forward to it.

Then there is my new renaissance costume.  I have been planning this thing for over 2 years now.  I have pretty much everything I need, except some trim, and it is time to finally make this happen.  I have been putting it off partially out of fear and mostly because of the time I know I need to put into it.  The last noble gown I made took me 6 months to complete and it didn’t have nearly the amount of bead work this one will have.  I will need to start this project within the next couple of months to make sure I have it ready by September/October.  This is definitely going to be a posts of the process project.

Finally, after all of the costuming craziness is done, I want to make myself another winter coat.  I have a few techniques that I use that I have not seen anyone else post about that I want to share.  They make coat construction amazingly easy and not nearly as intimidating as I used to think it would be.

In between those big four projects I do want to sew at least one garment a month that fits into the Stashbusting themes.  This is because there are some themes that I have never tried and I think it is high time to change that.

Whew!  No pictures and all talk about plans.  If you made it though this entire post, thanks for reading.  I am impressed that you stuck out all my babbling!  Now what are your plans?