tinypliny - 12/02/10 23:39
heh, I actually had to look up what that was. LOL closet, indeedy.

uncutsaniflush - 12/02/10 22:21
I think you are a closet steam-punker fashion-wise.

heidi - 01/09/11 18:31
I happened to be near Premier Gourmet today so I stopped in to examine the cocoa selection. The ONLY cocoa they had was Scharffen-Berger! I was very disappointed.

tinypliny - 12/26/10 15:26
Yeah - totally agree. Tons of fun! You have to post a photojournal after the trip!!
Then we can compare and maybe try out new stuff from the coop, premier et. al.
Meanwhile my next target is valrhona. :::link::: (I guess all these fancy chocolatiers think flash is oh-so-fancy and bug free. Yeah right.) I am going to email them about buffalo locations... if not, I will hunt them down in brooklyn in a couple weeks anyway.

heidi - 12/25/10 17:02
Actually, I don't remember the price, so $7.x might be right. I think I'll have to go to Premier and see what other kinds of cocoa they have. Are there other places in the Buffalo area that might have supplies of amazing cocoa? This is fun!

tinypliny - 12/25/10 01:01
Maybe it was whole foods where I saw G&B... I am not sure now.

tinypliny - 12/25/10 00:49
I posted it on (e:Paul,53218) where he was looking at cocoas at the coop. Here it is: :::link:::

BTW, I did see G&B at Weggers last week but there was just one can of it. It must have sold out. Also I think I paid around $7.x for SB. They jacked the price up to $10??! Really?! I might have to get it online then. $10 is too much for such a small can! (And the company is owned by Hershey's!!)

heidi - 12/25/10 00:35
Where did the list go?

heidi - 12/25/10 00:34
Too bad it's $10 per canister... I'll prolly just buy it anyway cuz it's so freakin' good. I got ghirardelli at the coop earlier this week - now I have three different kinds. I'm sure the SB will get used first. i was hoping to get the Green & Black's again, too, but it wasn't at Wegman's or the coop.

tinypliny - 12/25/10 00:24
I know! There is something SO awesome about it. I made banana bread with this, didn't use sugar at all and YET, it turned out great! I am in AWE of this cocoa. Now I want to try the other super-rated ones on that list...

heidi - 12/25/10 00:15
I made brownies with this cocoa tonight... wonderful!!!!

tinypliny - 12/23/10 21:37
I forgot to tell you!! I also went grocery shopping last week along with my haircut and got the cocoa. It's DIVINE - about 10x better than Trader Joe's and Ghirardelli. It forms this luscious paste with water that I have seen no other cocoa forming! LOVING IT! :-)

heidi - 12/23/10 17:36
Scharffen Berger cocoa is definitely at Wegmans - just got some ;-)

paul - 12/06/10 19:19
I found some other good ones at the coop (e:paul,53218).

tinypliny - 12/02/10 23:38
Cool - thanks, I will try both places...maybe Weggers first, since it is closer.

paul - 12/02/10 21:28
I've bought there chocolate at Wegmans. Maybe they have it.

jbeatty - 12/02/10 07:40
Try premier gourmet first. If it is a must have item you'll have to bite the bullet order it online and pay for shipping.

tinypliny - 12/04/10 13:36
I totally agree with you. It's got something classically vintage about it - like warriors and artists in the 1800s.

The wool and lace coat is more modern-looking than the gored coat.

matthew - 12/04/10 12:40
I really like the first coat pictured. I'd wear that.

tinypliny - 12/01/10 20:18
Femmy??

Well, then I am hook, line and sinker deep into the femmy stuff. I LOVED everything in that vintage store that had brocade or lace. I didn't want to come away from the shop and my brother had to drag me out in the end.

heidi - 12/01/10 16:29
That coat is way too femmy for me! Good luck on figuring out how to do it.

tinypliny - 11/30/10 22:46
I am going to post what I think the pattern is... But first I have to take a primer on what patterns are and how sizing is achieved. I guess the Frogs knew what they were talking about (for a change!) when they said that thing about Rome not being build overnight... :::link:::

tinypliny - 11/30/10 22:43
Maybe we could make that 2 of that coat, one for each of us. :-)

tinypliny - 11/30/10 22:42
So interested in helping me draft ze pattern? hehehehe

heidi - 11/30/10 21:56
That second coat is really adorable. I love the zig-zag front and the lacy collar & sleeves. It is somewhat less difficult than the other but still inset sleeves, princess seaming, lining...

tinypliny - 11/30/10 20:57
I meant 1949 - not 1909.

tinypliny - 11/30/10 20:55
You have to retrieve those pics and post them!!! :-)

PS: What do you think about the difficulty level of the vintage coat I just posted (apparently, it is from 1909)?

heidi - 11/30/10 20:30
I agree, it's a wonderful skill. I make simple alterations to some stuff, but not as much as I always think I'm going to do.

It is time consuming, as is any hand art/craft, but very satisfying. Building physical objects is neat. I've tried lots of different ones but crocheting is the one that keeps sticking.

heidi - 11/30/10 20:25
I still have the outfit in my storage unit in Pa. That's where the pix are, too, unfortunately. I miss my stuff!

tinypliny - 11/30/10 20:11
Oh wow, thanks so much for sharing that story, (e:heidi)! Fascinating! I will admit I never thought about adding the cost of a sewing machine to the coat price. I guess if I total all the effort and cost, the total would be waaay above $450. The vintage coat I posted just now fit me very well but you could tell that it was very old and would not stand up to extensive wear - part of the reason why $456 seemed like a lot to pay.

I think the ability to sew and pattern is such a wonderful skill and art. People who master the art probably never have to wear stuff that doesn't fit them and look like a pelmet. It's time consuming and probably very frustrating... I sometimes wonder whether the end result is worth it to anyone who makes their own clothes. Maybe all the effort that went in makes it 100x more beautiful...

heidi - 11/30/10 20:01
The cut and shape of the coat are both difficult - if you look at the coats on that page, few of them have nipped in waists, flared bottoms, detail work, and interesting collars like this one, they're kinda boxy (although some are quite cute!). Second, the wool you need for a coat like this is pretty expensive ($15-20/yard, might need 5 yards, plus interfacing, thread, buttons, lining), and you'd want a pretty heavy wool to make the coat at all practical. Linings are always difficult and this would need a full lining. You'd need a heavy-duty sewing machine. So you're looking at over $200 in parts, depending on the quality of the machine you get.

I used to sew as part of a 4-H club when I was a teenager. My last year I made a two-piece outfit out of this slippery blue satiny stuff that was really hard to work with. The top was double-breasted, partially lined with interfacing and satiny stuff, princess seams, complicated hemline. It may have had slight shoulder pads (it was the mid-80s, i think the summer before 10th grade, 1987?) The skirt had six panels, fluted, hidden zipper. Of course it fit me amazingly well because we fit it as we went along. My sewing instructor, Peg (one of those amazing real Christians) was so mad that I didn't win first place at the county fair that she gave me the difference between the second and first cash prizes (I think it was a dollar or two.)

I haven't sewed much since other than curtains and repairs - I've tried a couple times but Peg always coached me thru things and I just don't quite have the 3-D visualization/manipulation skills that a really good tailor/seamstress has.

If I find a coat I love and fits, I think it's just worth buying it. I'll end up wearing it until it wears out. I've had a series of (usually black) wool coats since I was in my teens. They usually last 5+ years and I patch the lining as it rips and tears. My coats are a fairly standard style, so I don't usually have to pay more than $200, usually about $120. That's a very low per-year cost.

tinypliny - 11/30/10 20:00
Damn. My secret is out?

Yeah, I never thought about the overlap point... I think those flowing things are called gores (but I am very new to all this sewing jargon).

heidi - 11/30/10 20:00
The cut and shape of the coat are both difficult - if you look at the coats on that page, few of them have nipped in waists, flared bottoms, detail work, and interesting collars like this one, they're kinda boxy (although some are quite cute!). Second, the wool you need for a coat like this is pretty expensive ($15-20/yard, might need 5 yards, plus interfacing, thread, buttons, lining), and you'd want a pretty heavy wool to make the coat at all practical. Linings are always difficult and this would need a full lining. You'd need a heavy-duty sewing machine. So you're looking at over $200 in parts, depending on the quality of the machine you get.

I used to sew as part of a 4-H club when I was a teenager. My last year I made a two-piece outfit out of this slippery blue satiny stuff that was really hard to work with. The top was double-breasted, partially lined with interfacing and satiny stuff, princess seams, complicated hemline. It may have had slight shoulder pads (it was the mid-80s, i think the summer before 10th grade, 1987?) The skirt had six panels, fluted, hidden zipper. Of course it fit me amazingly well because we fit it as we went along. My sewing instructor, Peg (one of those amazing real Christians) was so mad that I didn't win first place at the county fair that she gave me the difference between the second and first cash prizes (I think it was a dollar or two.)

I haven't sewed much since other than curtains and repairs - I've tried a couple times but Peg always coached me thru things and I just don't quite have the 3-D visualization/manipulation skills that a really good tailor/seamstress has.

If I find a coat I love and fits, I think it's just worth buying it. I'll end up wearing it until it wears out. I've had a series of (usually black) wool coats since I was in my teens. They usually last 5+ years and I patch the lining as it rips and tears. My coats are a fairly standard style, so I don't usually have to pay more than $200, usually about $120. That's a very low per-year cost.

metalpeter - 11/30/10 19:55
I think you really want it cause you can hide your Samurai sword on you. It looks like an out fit a vampire hunter or naval officer (female would wear) kinda like the mall version. it looks tough to make with out knowing to much because the left side has to go under the right and the overlap then you have the neck thing. not only that but it has and hour glass shape. those rufels what ever they are called at the bottom aren't just lose or extra material I think they are shaped that way. Good luck!

tinypliny - 11/30/10 19:10
Gaaaah!! I was looking at The Great Coat Sewalong :::link::: and it looks like they ALL made a pretty coat.

(e:heidi), have you made coats before? What makes a coat difficult or easy - is it the number of pieces? I went to this vintage store in NYC and fell in love with a coat but its price gave me heartburn. It was $456. I took a ton of pictures. I will post them as soon as my brother sends them to me.

(e:metalpeter), the coat I posted above is out of stock and fashion from a few years before and when it was in stock, I think the price was around $450. It's in part, the price and in part, the sizing that is making me lean towards starting this rather intimidating project. None of the coats I saw fit me well because of my strange measurements. Apparently, my shoulders are too narrow and my bust size is below the mentionable limit - so everything sags like a dowdy rag on me.

heidi - 11/30/10 18:16
This coat would be classified as "expert" and/or "difficult" even with a premade pattern. You should check out Simplicity, Vogue and other pattern catalogs first, and examine the steps involved.

metalpeter - 11/30/10 18:06
1. Looks Like something they might wear in an animee
2. Not that i know anything about sewing any more But
3. I think there is a way that you can take pictures and from there figure out how to cut materials .
4. #3 being said I think you would need more pictures like of the coat open all the way laying front and backwards.
5. Again I would have no idea how to do it but I'm sure with the right stuff it can be done....

The Better question is since you like this coat why not just buy it.... I mean if you want to try to make it for fun or for a gift. But if you want to wear why not just spend the cash and have a nice coat....