Duffle Coat – Final

I spent most of yesterday experimenting with different ways to make the toggles (good thing I had lots of leather in my stash!). I finally decided to copy the toggles from Burda Style.

First, I made my own leather cording. I cut 1″ wide strips of leather with a rotary cutter and quilting ruler.

I folded them in half and edgestitched along the fold before trimming away the excess (oops, I forgot to photograph that step but you get the idea).

For the patch (I’m sure it has a name but I don’t know what it is), I cut a 1.75″ by 3″ piece of leather and punched a hole in the center of one side with my trusty old revolving leather punch.

Thread the toggles onto the cord and pull the cord ends through the hole of the patch. Secure the cord ends to the back of the patch and then trim off the excess.

For extra security and to make them easier to handle during sewing, I glued the patch together with Tandy leather glue (my favorite!). Lastly, I coated all of the raw edges with Edgekote. The Edgekote isn’t a must but I like the way it finishes the edges.

It’s a beautiful, crisp winter’s day here in Florida so I thought I’d photograph the coat outside. I love this coat so much that I definitely want to make another, shorter version.

Here’s the back of the lining,

and the front. This lining is very pretty (and Burberry-esque!) but it was awful to work with – soooo ravelly.

My next project is a lambskin jacket but I don’t know how much, if anything, I will get done this week. I’ll feel great if I get the pattern fitted and maybe cut out a test garment but I’m not going to stress about it.

Parting shot: Bryan insists on trying to dress up the kitties. Last year, he put a doggie Christmas dress on Ricki! Mrs. Whiskers is here to tell you she doesn’t like it. Silly man!

Merry Christmas!