The Collar

I have sandwiched the collar between the two layers of the coat and have turned it the right way out to make sure I have to correct sides touching each other.

Next, I laid the collar on the ironing board and started pinning the striped side of the coat to it. After pinning the ends, I had to cut small clips into the neck edge of the coat to get it to stretch out to fit the collar.

After I had the striped side roughly pinned, I flipped it over and pinned the red side to the collar too.

Here I have both sides pinned to the collar and am ready to sew.

Without even trimming or pressing I turned the coat right side out and red side out to see what it will look like and hung it on the door. It looks kind of messy because I haven't sewed the fronts together and I have flipped up the collar on the left side of the photo so you can see its underside. But I think it looks great!
Now it will be on to the loops and buttons. I have a reversible winter coat that I didn't make and I wear it almost every day. I took a photo of the top of it to show that there are buttons on both sides and they are done up using loops sewn into the front edge seam.

The loops are actually elastic and you don't notice them at all really. I haven't decided whether to go with elastic or make loops out of the same fabric as the coat. If I can't get red elastic, I think I will go with fabric loops. Next it will be a matter of choosing some buttons (the last time I was at FabricLand, I didn't see any I liked) and then making sure the loops fit the buttons properly.

Since I am not sure when I am going to go to the store, I may start on that tote bag I was mentioning as an interim project - which I don't usually allow myself but may make an exception in this case. I am pleased with the coat so far and don't want to ruin it by rushing. I am glad I have allowed myself some thinking time so that I could decide on loops, for example.