Plaid wool suit, finished and starting the navy wool

I'll start where I left off, which was on my way to Darrell's to look for buttons. I wanted the buttons for the beige plaid to be subtle yet distinctive, a possibly difficult combination as, if they are too subtle, then they aren't distinctive, and vice versa.

I was totally successful! First, although we were having another huge snow dump, I got downtown by bus and back again with no issues. I even spent a short enough time at Darrell's that I was able to use my original transfer to get home. Cheap I know but sometimes, every penny counts. Second, I had bought some lovely horn buttons ages ago from Darrell and they turned out to be just too large for me so I took them back, just wanting him to have them for someone else, and he gave me a credit for them! [Thank you so much Darrell, I didn't expect that.] Third, he still had some of that wonderful printed lining that I had coveted for the Chanel style raw silk I want to make (one day, I hope soon) and so I bought some of it. And finally, I found just the right buttons for the plaid.

Here is the jacket, completed. It will still require some judicious pressing to train those curly bottoms into line but I also think it will help to wear it a lot, which I plan to do, starting tomorrow.

Here is the button in close-up. That red glow is my range-finder, I think. To me, they are perfect. They stand out but they aren't shiny or sparkly. They contrast with the plaid but not too much. Even the slightly green tone is a little contrast to the pink tone of the beige. I like the fact that they are matte in finish and yet have a metal rim.

Then it was time to cut the navy wool. I cut each piece out of a single layer of fabric, to make sure everything was all straight.

The front panel of the skirt has to be cut on the fold so I ran a line of pins down the fold to make sure the fabric had folded exactly along one of the warp lines.

And with each pattern piece, I also put pins in the stright-of-grain lines and then turned the pattern to make sure I was straight.

This extreme close-up doesn't do a lot more for you but here it is anyway.

After I had cut everything, I still wondered which side I should use for the right and the wrong side. I don't know how much you can see in this photo, but I chose the left side in the photo as the correct/right side because it is ever so slightly less fluffy than the other side.

Finally, I settled on sew-on interfacing because the fabric is so nice, I didn't want to take chances with issues associated with iron-on interfacing - bubbles, scorching (not that I've ever had that). I think I will also zigzag stitch around the raw edges of most of the pieces because it is a fairly loose weave and I don't want to risk any unravelling later. I plan to press all seams open and only trim the ones that need it, like shoulders and facings but I plan to wear this suit a lot and for a long time so I want it to be sturdy.