Ever have a project that goes great until the very end? That’s what happened here. My Bernina broke down with yet another mysterious problem literally as soon as I got it home from a servicing (to fix the last problem and my tech is a 60 minute drive both ways). So I had no choice but to make hand worked buttonholes, which I’ve always wanted to do anyway. They look okay, not couture fabulous, but the upside is they will last far longer than machine buttonholes. The buttons themselves are simple coin shaped matte black plastic that looks and feels like Bakelite. They are nice and heavy so each required a backer button. I had no silk buttonhole twist in black so I used three strands of embroidery floss. Each strand was split into single strands then placed back together in a set of three (which is a “best practice” in hand embroidery because you get better thread coverage and less knotting when you divide and reassemble strands of floss.) I ran the floss over beeswax and ironed the wax into the thread. A buttonhole stitch is the same thing as a blanket stitch but it’s worked by bringing the needle out opposite the cut edge. The hardest thing is to keep the stitches parallel to each other and to make sure the thread is not twisted when it wraps around the needle. In an perfect buttonhole stitch the thread wrap lies right along the edge of the cut slit and like all hand embroidery thread tension is key. 
The pockets were lined with an extra facing of fashion fabric, and I made the belt extra long (60 inches) so it drapes better, for some bizarre reason the belt on the pattern is so short it looks like a bow when tied into a square knot. Adding the piping around the belt was a huge pain in the butt and and I had to hand stitch the ends closed because it was just too bulky for a machine. I wore my trench to work today and this photo was literally taken within 10 minutes of walking into the house (the photo is clickable.) Overall it looks pretty good! I’ll try to do some closeups of the handworked buttonholes, I don’t have a macro lens so I need to fiddle a bit with my camera.
It looks great! Very chic!
Totally, utterly fabulous!!!
Beautiful. And I love the pink.
Oh, I loooove it. The colors and piping are beautiful. I wouldn’t mind the rain so much if my jacket were that cute!
What a great look. I never would have been brave enough to use that fabric for a coat and it looks wonderful – especially with that pink lining….hey, and if you never did anything wrong or have a foul up, it just means you ain’t doing anything!
Just in case you don’t know, when you are doing embroidery along with stripping (separating the strands and putting them back together) if you use something like a coffee stirrer (sp?) stick to keep your thread flat while you stitch, your threads will lay flat and be well aligned.
The coat looks great! My mother has always preferred to make buttonholes by hand even after she learned to make them in the machine.
Gorgeous! really! It is very inspiring. Like Claire, I would not have though of using that kind of fabric for a coat, and this is a big mistake on my side !
Love, love LOVE it! That is a great coat, pink lining and all! It’s unfortunate you had problems with your machine. How frustrating! I have Berninas also, and my dealer, like yours, is a long way.
I love it! Just fabulous and you look very chic, especially with the sunglasses. I need to learn how to do piping.
Your coat looks fantastic on you.
Très chic! Your details make it perfect, Phyllis. It’s almost too bad the rain has finally stopped falling here in the Northeast!
Phyllis- wow! Jacket looks great (and so do you, love the shades)
Wow, I think it looks fantastic on you!
Great looking coat.
beautiful! Now you will be hoping for rainy days.
Love it! The pink lining is unexpected and unique.
Oh, Phyllis, you look so chic! The pink lining is a really cool, unexpected touch.
WOW Phyllis….just wonderful !
….you look very glamorous!
I like your jacket! I also like that paint color. Do you have the color and brand handy by any chance?
So stylish and chic!! I love it!
Hi ! Your coat is gorgeous. I love the fabric and it looks very good on you.
Very chic fabulous jacket! Your sense of color is wonderful. Love the piping detail.