I recently took on this sentimental coat project (this feels like a good time to announce that I’m now taking local commissions in Berea, KY!). Every so often, the perfect candidate comes along for an invisible mend, and I really enjoyed bringing this old union made piece back to life. Getting good photos of this project was next to impossible, but not being able to see my mends is kind of the point of invisible mending!
The damage to the lining of this jacket was extensive. Both the cashmere as well as the lining were split way up the back, the lining had pulled away from the coat almost completely at the bottom – it had been repaired before, but the stitches were very far apart and weak. It had lost all of its buttons.
My first step was to finish deconstructing the hem so that I could get the lining onto the sewing machine (this was the only part I could get on the machine, this coat was heavy!) I stitched the split lining back together the best I could fit on the sewing machine, and then hand stitched the rest.
The seam up the back had come loose, so I stitched the two sides back together, and did a dainty little blind stitch to tack down the original seam – for cosmetic purposes. There was a slight pucker, as you can see in the third photo, but once the coat was on and hanging, it laid quite flat.
The coat originally had the hem stitched directly to the lining, but for stability, I re-hemmed (by hand!) the cashmere on its own, before blind stitching the lining back to it. A bit of length was lost this way, but it ensures that if the coat gets pulled or sat on, if any threads wear out or pop over time, future repairs will be much easier to catch before they get out of hand.
Contrary Expressions 