Re-visiting (and Improving) an Old Project

Do you ever re-work old projects? I do occasionally: I'll change a shirt collar or narrow a pants leg, things like that.

Remember the wool tweed peacoat I made last year? Well, it's nearly cold enough to start wearing it again.

But either because the back was drafted badly or something was cut slightly off grain, the back flap sometimes flips open and stays open. Like this:

Instead of this:

Can you see how the vertical edges aren't completely straight, but rather curve a bit near the hem? I think that's the problem.

Last week I was walking the dogs and I passed a man in a beautiful wool overcoat and I noticed that the back flap of his coat was held closed with a little tab extension and button. Brilliant!

Today I decided to add a similar tab extension to my coat. Luckily, I had kept an extra cuff tab I'd made and hadn't used -- I thought it would make a good bookmark.

I decided I would cut it, bind the raw edge, and attach the tab to the middle of the flap, like so:

I added a buttonhole to the tab and, fortunately, I had an extra horn button in the correct size.

Then I handstitched the tab to the inside of the back flap and attached the button.

I am so happy with this little tweak, readers. Now, when I wear the coat, I don't have to constantly reach back to make sure my back flap is hanging correctly.

Any tweaks you've made lately to an old project?

Have a great day, everybody!