hey friends – i need your input!
i will be making this coat, view B (the shorter version). i am still gathering supplies, but i just got my fabric swatches the other day and y’all, i am in LUV.
isn’t it amazing? it’s a lovely deep teal blue – almost navy – with a wonderful nubby texture that should lend itself well to hand-tailoring. it is 100% wool, with light interfacing already attached to the back so it is very stable. again, LUV.
now i need help picking a lining!
i originally had(and still kinda do) my heart set on a bright celery green for lining. wouldn’t that look amaze with the teal?! unfortunately, the site where i got my swatches from sent me a pretty ugly shade of green. it is very reminiscent of some kind of avocado appliance from the 70s – which, don’t get me wrong, i’m a sucker for ugly retro, but it looks really awful with the teal coating. i stopped by my local fabric store yesterday afternoon because they have a KILLAH selection of linings, but the green was pretty sparse. here’s what i got:
i wish they had something that was in between the two shades! bummer!
another option is to just buy more of that fabulous teal lining & use that:
i love the idea of a statement coat with contrast-y lining, but maybe this coat is statement enough & can deal with matchy-matchy? what do you think?
i am also open to other color suggestions, although i don’t want anything super neutral – like black or brown or the same shade of blue. i might consider white, although i don’t like how see-through it gets on darker fabrics. i have also tossed around the idea of yellow.
FWIW, i polled all the ladies at the fabric store on the greens & their answers were pretty interesting. the older women all voted for the bright green, saying the light was too “safe” and “predictable.” the younger girls, aka the ones my age, all voted for the light green, saying the bright was too “cartoonish.”
so, now it’s your turn. what do you think?
and while we’re on the subject of picking each other’s brains, what kind of buttons would you put on this coat? self-covered buttons? giant sparkly rhinestone buttons? something understated? chime in!
LLADYBIRD 
RED!
I’d go for a shocking pink or a bright orange :-))
I agree with this – shocking pink would look amazing as a lining.
I have gone for the fabulous teal lining. It will look Soooo Cool.
I’d also toss my hat in the ring for a pink, but maybe more of a deep magenta pink or a pink with violet undertones.
A deep wine red might also be cool too, or a deep fire engine red. Not an orange-y tomato red though.
gee- no votes for appliance veggies? I can’t believe it.
If it were me I’d go for a fun print, although significantly harder to find in my part of the world, etsy & our eBay equivilant seem to see me right.
i considered a print, but the options are so limited as it is and i reeeeeeally don’t want to line it with anything that isn’t bemberg ambiance lining… which i’m pretty sure only comes in solids 😦
I would do either very large covered buttons (Casey of Elegant Musings has a good tutorial for vintage looking covered buttons) or something in a bold contrast. But big, you need big buttons. I voted team bright green, but orange or fushia might be cool…
Oohhh, don’t like yellow, unless it would be along the mustardy shades. Have you thought about a pink/peach colourings??? Keep looking though, all of a sudden you will just the the lining you just have to have…
…you will just SEE the lining… fancy leaving one word out – must be all the Christmas cheer!!!
May I suggest a deep mustard yellow?
Go for a really bright neon yellow with white polkadots! Or if you go for teal why not have teal with polkadots. Guess wot? LUV polkadots 😉 Adore the teal fabric – gorgeous.
aw i LOVE polka dots but unfortunately, they don’t make prints in the lining i want to use 😦 solids only!
I’m not really feeling the green, I’m for something like a cream with polka dots or maybe some stripes- i love a pattern in a lining, its keeping a little brilliant secret for yourself inside your clothes!
i would absolutely do a print but the type of lining i want to use only comes in solids… boohoo
If you had to choose a green, I would go with the bright green. But I like blue so I’m partial to the pretty teal. It’s really gorgeous!
I think a bright color would be fab with the dark navy. Bright green, bright purple, bright pink…
I’m thinking bright pink or pale yellow!
i second (third, fourth?!) the other ladies who said bright pink
and then i’d add self covered bright pink buttons 🙂
Oh, the celery green would’ve been great. I vote for the yellow, or perhaps a coral color if you can find it. What about a silky print?!?
ooooooh coral. i loves me some coral.
I think a mustard yellow would be kind of fab. Love that teal!
Y u no like hot pink? That would look amazing! Boom. My opinion counts one billion times because I sent you the pattern, lol!
hahah good point good point. welp i just ordered a giant swatch card of linings so maybe there will be a good pink in there! kind of like the idea of magenta…
Hello i just found your blog recently and haven’t left a comment before.
I voted for bright green, I definitely think it needs a bright colour. I also agree with the suggestions for shocking pink, or what about bright purple?
Re the buttons, definitely big and sparkly. They’d look fab! Good luck with it whatever you decide to go with, and have a lovely Christmas. Lynne
I like the idea of pink too. Otherwise the bright green.
How about Bemberg Kiwi? I think that might be the green you’re looking for. I found it for a steal at 6.00/yard 🙂
http://www.fabricdepot.com/index.php?page=ProductPage&pageid=185767
What do you think?
The bright green or teal would look great. A magenta or purple would look great. Brass or wooden buttons, large interesting ones would look nice with your fabric. Fabric covered buttons…you just cannot go wrong with those. I can’t see the rhinestones working unless you put them on the fabric and they seem just right somehow.
but yes, if it was that green in real life- that is EXACTLY the green i want! argh!
That’s a bummer! And its not your monitor, Kiwi green is very much NOT avocado green and on every site I find it, its definitely kiwi colored. Damn….well then I’d have to agree with some of the other ladies in their choice of hot pink or magenta. Although the teal is beautiful, I tend to like contasting colors. Nothing like that flashy little surprise when you pop open the cover 🙂
that’s the one that i swatched at mood! i don’t know if they have the color mixed up with another, or if my monitor colors are waaaaay off, but it is definitely very avocado in real life and clashes with the teal something fierce 😦 😦 😦
My immediate thought was sort of a medium pink– that would look rad with the teal! That wool looks like a real score– so pretty!
That wool is yummy!
I voted for the bright green and I totally hear you on the ladies at the store. It is absolutely true that as women age, they care less about what is “safe” and wear the colors they want. It’s a great thing! I also think a coral would be a very lovely and flattering color.
I think this coat would look best with either a self-covered button or other larger, but not too wild, buttons. Rhinestones don’t quite suit the vibe of the coat. It looks pretty early 70s and that type of coat button was “out” at that time. You’d have to give it some crazy Clockwork Orange treatment to get away with the super glam buttons!
Just to make you drool (and food for thought for a future project), a woman once bought a condo across the street from me, moved in and had all of her clothing delivered, which she then sifted through in the trailer and discarded at the curb what she didn’t want. One of the many things I snagged was a rain coat identical in style to the longer version, lined in mink. It was très chic!
you know, i ordered a giant swatch sheet from vogue fabrics and they have what is labeled as the same green as my swatch but it is more of a bright yellow-green (as opposed to the bright green-green of my swatch). which is exactly what i wanted. so i might go with the green 🙂
i hear ya on the buttons. i think i just want giant rhinestone buttons on something… might have to make a garment around them 🙂 big self-covered buttons would be perfect for this coat.
and that raincoat sounds absolutely delicious! so jealous!!
You know, you could have rhinestone buttons on the plackets of the crushed velvet Clovers that you will make in victory, once you conquer that pattern!