The Dover Car Coat

With the Creative Pattern Challenge well underway (did you enter the giveaway yet?), I decided to do my own modifications to a Blue Dot Pattern.  With inspiration from the bloggers in the challenge and Melissa's ideas for Dover, I set out to make a Dover for the cooler weather.

I've always been a fan of the car coats from the sixties, with their aline styling and 3/4 length sleeves, and Dover is the perfect starting point for a retro coat. I used a mystery boucle I found in NYC that was similar to a jacket I had pinned on my "I Wanna Make This" Pinterest board some time ago.

I modified the pattern by lengthening it 9", adding two single welt pockets and lining.  It pieced together rather quickly, so quickly in fact I hadn't yet purchased lining.  I dug around my stash and found this lightweight silk/cotton blend in a peachy pink (can you believe I forgot about this gorgeous stuff?) What girl doesn't need a coat with a pink lining?  I continued busting away at my stash by using a trim I've had for I don't know how long.  It was the perfect color. 

I made the welt pockets large enough to hold my iPhone and keys and added 1" covered buttons for a little more retro.

I showed the coat to my mom and she told me about a green coat she had received as a gift from her mom many years ago.  She said it was almost the same and she used to wear it with gloves.  I wish she had saved it!  It makes me wonder what I should save.  I, like so many other sewers, get attached to the pieces I work so hard on and the fabrics I use to make them.  For practicality sake, I can't save everything especially when I no longer wear them, but I have to admit it's silly how hard it is for me to place some things in the "giveaway" pile.

I'd love to know....what do you save?  Do you keep the things you worked the hardest on or the pieces you wore to shreds or the tiny garments you made for your little one?