Secret Agent Trench Coat

For quite some time I had been waiting for a trench coat pattern from Oliver + S. When it came out a year or so ago, I snapped up the pattern quickly and then promptly sat on it all this time.
Yesterday I  had some sewing time and at long last I made the trench coat!

The fabric used is called Commander.  It's 75% cotton/25%polyester and has a coating to make it water resistant which presents a problem when ironing, stitching and pinning.

The good news is Commander doesn't need to be interfaced. It's stiff enough on it's own.

In terms of ironing, it doesn't hold a crease well even though the iron is set to cotton.  Any hotter and it might scorch. Well, maybe not but I wasn't about to try it.

In terms of stitching, I used a very sharp needle in the machine; a Microtex #12 that I promptly broke due to carelessness and it being my last one, resorted to a Universal #12.

The request was for hot pink buttons as well as hot pink topstitching which worked out just fine when it came to topstitching using the Universal needle.

I didn't select the hand quilt stitch because it would have been too difficult on the Commander fabric.

In terms of pinning, it is near impossible to stick a pin through the fabric.  Cindy suggested using these nifty little clips that indeed were nifty and held the pieces together while I sewed.

Wonder Clips. $20 for pkg of 10

The pattern, like all Oliver + S patterns, was easy. There were many pieces yet the instructions were crystal clear.  Unlike today which is foggy.

It was -20 (-4 oF) at the beginning of the week and now just six days later it's +11 (52 oF) and that is very strange for January.
Plus that, it's raining.
Raining on me, raining on my new trench coat and raining on the wildlife. Therefore, they must be......

.......  here comes the bad pun ........ Rain Deer!

Coat size 4.

I agonized whether button holes should be in pink thread or green, glad I went with green. However they should have been corded buttonholes because these ones frayed.
Next time I make this coat I will set up the back-up sewing machine with topstitching thread to save time changing thread colours.