A Reversible Coat

Except for sewing on 16 buttons (two shirts' worth), the shirts are done!
Here is his shirt. Note the straight hem so he can wear it untucked.

Now I am on to my reversible coat! I just hope it works. I am using a brand new, untested pattern and I am improvising because it is not supposed to be reversible.

It's McCall's pattern 5060 and I'm going to make view A, the single-breasted shorter model on the far right but without the belt. I bought two lengths of cotton twill - one in a nice bright red and the other in a stripe (Ack! more stripes!). And sorry about the ironing board cover being so stripey too - didn't think about it much when I got the new fabric.

I plan to make two coats without the lining piece and then sew them together around the perimeter (collar and front edges). Each coat will have the opposite colour collar attached to it so that when you wear it, the same colour will be folded down on top of the collar. In other words, the underside of the collar will have the opposite colour on it. It will be clearer as I get going, I hope. I have also decided to make the sleeves a normal length instead of making them longer and having the opposite colour turned up. Because I usually have to take sleeves up, I am also going to make the bottoms of the sleeves straight so I can cut off the excess there and not worry about trying to make a hem with a slanting underarm seam. Hmm - this will also be clearer as I go.

I'm going to make the small pockets in the front princess seams as the pattern calls for. I'm going to sew the ends of the sleeves together but I'm going to leave the bottom hem hanging freely. The only thing I can't seem to properly conceptualize is the buttons. I have a reversible coat but it uses loops and buttons on both sides and I want to make buttonholes. I may have to end up buttoning the coat one way with red and the other way with the stripe.

Here are all the pattern pieces. I've ironed them now and will start the layout next.