Turkish Coat Progress!

The coat is coming along nicely!  Last night I did the fitting and everything fit, which was a relief.  Not that I don't trust my measuring and patterning skills, but it's always a bit scary when there is so little time to fix major problems.  The sleeve looked great, I am very glad I went with the more fitted shoulder and sleeve shape.  I think it will make a huge difference in the overall look of the finished coat, especially in the fabric, which is rather on the stiff side.

So, today I put the rest of the coat together, got the button holes made (by machine, I really think they should be button loops but I don't have time to make them that way), and tonight I will be doing the hand sewing.  I have to sew on the trim, finish sewing on the buttons, and sew the hem.  Not so bad really.

I am sort of debating about the trim.  There is not enough the gold and pearl trim to do the fronts, but I can use it for the sleeves.  I have plenty of the gold giump style braid, but it's a bit plain for the brocade.  Either way, the fabric is rich enough (the pictures don't show it off too well) that the trim will just finish off the edges and add a bit of depth to the whole thing.  I can't decide if I should just use the braid, or go ahead and use the pearl trim on the sleeves and the braid on the coat neck and down the front.  I think using both might look a little funny, especially with the richer trim on the sleeve where it won't be as noticeable.

Any ideas?