For a while I've admired Nautical inspired coats like the ones Dear Creatures has, but never wanted to drop the dough for such a beautiful jacket. I ended up getting a cute toggle jacket from ModCloth, which I liked a lot, but it always seemed a bit plain. After sewing a replica of the Dear Creatures dress that didn't fit me too well, I realized that I could do the same ribbon embellishment that I did on the dress on my coat! I love this coat so much more now! It wasn't too hard to do (especially the collar + pockets– the sleeves were more difficult), and the end result is so awesome.
What you'll need:
3/8 in. Grosgrain Ribbon (or similar)
Thread in a color matching your ribbon
Sewing Machine
Pins
The first thing I did was seal up the loose end of the ribbon by singeing it. You'll want to do this with all the ends of the ribbon as you do this project, just to keep them from coming undone down the line.
I wrapped the ribbon around the sleeve, pinning it in place as I went. Once you have it all pinned in a position you like, go ahead and sew it down! I like to sew it as close to the edge of the ribbon as possible, just so the edge of the ribbon is flat to the coat. When you're done sewing down one edge, go ahead and do the other edge.
Then you can repeat the process with the second ribbon. As far as spacing between ribbons goes, you can just eyeball it but I did about a ribbon's width between the two, maybe a little less.
Now you just have to repeat the process for all the parts of the coat you want to embellish. The nice part about lining up the ribbon is that you're basically just following the edges of the coat, so it's easy to make a straight line. And then with the second ribbon, you just have to follow the edge of the first!
I think this coat has so much more character now that it's been zhuzhed up a bit. I'm pretty excited now that more and more I'm looking at things through more of a DIY-lens. Realizing that you can do something yourself is so empowering (and more wallet-friendly)!
