I'm a terrible blogger! This was finished months ago but I never updated, and now I can't remember what I wanted to share about the process. I really enjoyed the collaborative process - there was a frustrating stage as I tried to understand what my customer wanted for the hood lining, but I figured it out in the end :)
​I LOVE this coat, and so did my customer!
"The coat is absolutely beautiful ! I love all the details on it, the pockets, the buttons, the color of the fabric and the hood lining and how the coat fit, it fit just perfect. I love how the sleeves fit at my wrist and how the bustle falls over my skirt. I wore the coat today, however the weather was still a little to warm for it, and I got so many compliments of my friends and family. They all think the coat looks amazing.
I am so happy with my coat, it is my favorite of my wardrobe."

Lining partly assembled - I'm liking the shape that the quilted satin gives!
​And on to the real fabric! Because I need to match the patterns across seam lines I've cut my muslin apart right along the stitching lines. First I lay everything out and figure out the best placement of the checks to get things as lined up as possible - when a curved edge is meeting a straight edge it's not going to be possible to match things perfectly but it's still gotta look good!

I drew around the pattern with chalk, then flipped it over and drew the other side. Then because I'd cut all the seam allowances off I had to draw them back on again before cutting out. Because this layer is going over a padded lining I cut a larger than usual allowance so I can adjust if required.

And then I thread traced the chalk outline with basting thread - this is an important step because the chalk will rub off with handling, and it also allows us to see the stitching lines from both sides.

And I tacked the back seam - it looks yummy!

I'm really pleased with how this pattern turned out - everything fit together first time and the sizing is spot on - in fact, I added extra seam allowance when I cut it out and made it up a little larger than drafted so I'd have room to take it in, and I think I should have gone with making it up exactly as drafted. Never mind, I can readjust :)
​The bad news is that when I tried to put it on my adjustable dressform her bottom fell off! So here it is on a slightly too big non-adjustable dressform.
​Next step: drafting the collar and a second draft of the hood.

I got my first custom order on etsy, and it's an exciting one! A grey with yellow check wool full length coat, custom drafted from a pattern in Frances Grimbles Bustle fashions 1885-1887. The lining will be black quilted satin, and there will be 35 buttons down the front. The hood is removable and lined in grey satin.

​PS. my toddler has removed several keys from my laptop so please excuse any missing letters - I can spell, honest!

And because my sewing goal is to do things more like the Victorians, and to do that I need to see how they did it, I p[aid a visit to extantgowns.com. This is a fantastic site which gathers pictures of original garments from auction sites and private collections, and quite a few of them have internal shots as well.  Everything is very neat and - well, modern looking on the insides, very different to the insides of bodices I've seen from the same period. There's even a coat with a quilted satin lining, just like the one I'll be making.