Momoko Workshop at BlytheCon Brooklyn

The Duffle Coat constructed at the Workshop

 














With the next BlytheCon fast approaching, this review is rather late in coming.  But it is still useful information about constructing the Duffle Coat for Blythe pattern project and other details of Momoko's general techniques.



First, I had a great time in New York!  The shows!  The premeet dinner!  The Con!  The workshop!

The premeet dinner

Some of the dolls at our table for dinner

This is the Matryoshka Doll carry bag that I made for us to carry our doll to Dinner and the other BlytheCon Brooklyn events.

My costume entry

For the Costume / Photo contest, I made a replica of Madonna's iconic "Like a Virgin" outfit.  They displayed photos of our entries on site during the Convention.

Ready to go! In our 1980s style outfits!

Leo / Poupée mécanique

Romina / I Have Wings

Bridgette with Gina Garan

A big thank you to the BlytheCon organizers.  This was a great event!  Every detail was perfect.  I had so much fun; it was absolutely a whirlwind of activity and then it was over before I knew it.  It was great to see old friends and meet new people.  Bridgette won a doll!  And I won a reroot from Piparrot!

The doll and reroot certificate that we won!

Momoko was very busy with a demo on her sailor dress pattern and a socks make and take event.  We sure will miss her and the demos at BlytheCon Los Angeles!

And a big highlight for me was of course the workshop.  This BlytheCon featured two workshop sections, one before and one after the main event.

BlytheCon Brooklyn Momoko Workshop: Winter is Coming!

Project: Duffle Coat

You can download the pattern from Momoko's Etsy shop here.

At the workshop, we had the choice of two colors, black or dark pink.  I chose pink.

Here are my tips:
1.  Momoko works in exact stitching.  She often sews or shapes to the millimeter.  Her classes always remind me to get back into the practice of exacting detail sewing.
2.  The seam on the hood: trim away the extra fabric AFTER topstitching.
3.  When shaping the pockets and tabs, fold the ends just slightly more so that they are not hanging out and visible in the final topstitch.
4.  Topstitching the tabs is difficult.  Glue them down firmly first, and not just a dot in the middle or they will twist and go off the straight mark.  Use tiny stitches to get a better look and have more control.
5.  I love the Dolly threads that Momoko sold us! So delicate.
6.  The underarm and back seam:  don't sew over them.Sew from the joint down and repeat, to keep the seam allowance free.
7.  When sewing the shoulder seam and the underarm seam, do not sew all the way to the edge of the fabric, leave the seam allowance open.  Then you don't have to clip there for ease.
8.  On the jacket yoke, make sure the yoke front edge is exactly parallel to the jacket front edge.  It will be very noticeable when you finish the coat.
9.  Sew the strings down by hand to get them in the exact spot.
10.  When sewing the sleeve: first adjust the stitches just slightly larger and ease stitch the top of the sleeve.  Pull the top thread to shape the sleeve into the nice curve that you are looking for in the sleeve shape. Now pin and sew the sleeve to the jacket.

This event was super fun! The venue was awesome. 

Thank you to Kathleen Stevens for organizing this wonderful event! 

You are so sweet, as well as accommodating of my advancing disability.

A huge thank you to Momoko Komori for sharing all of your knowledge 

and for being such a kind and patient teacher.  
 

 I love my Pink Duffle Coat!