Where do I start? Do I start with that this my greatest sewing achievement ever? That I, in secret, is happy that this is done and my sewing will not be covered in red lint, although I’m sure I will find it around for a long time to come?
I think I’ll go with awesome. I actually made me a coat! A real coat, with lining and toggles and all that shebang. It all began with that feeling that I wanted to make something a bit more challenging. Then I noticed that my winter jacket, bought in 2011, was ripping. Now surely, being a sewer I could have fixed that. I didn’t, I chose to do a new coat instead. Then the old jacket ripped even further as I was wearing it (it’s the sleeve to bodice seam).
One of the issues I have had with coatmaking is that I’m slightly allergic to wool, it makes me itch. I don’t know if it’s all types of wool, but quite frankly I did not want to invest in a whole bunch of wool only to find out at the end of the project that the lining doesn’t do enough to keep my skin from crawling. So a polyester substitute it was. I ordered some samples from tyg.se, then I got a newsletter from them alerting a new arrival. I had wanted to make a red coat, but not too red, and now they had a perfect boucle for my project. Combined with quilted, padded lining I started out. The toggles I bought later, from Bibbis textil.
The pattern I used was Simplicity 8262, designed by Leanne Marshall, winner of Project Runway season 5. I found the pattern quite easy to work with, it all came together easily, that is until I had to turn the lining. I could not wrap my head around the instructions, how to fasten the coat to the lining along with sleeves and then turn it. In the I handstitched the “turning hole” in the back bottom as well as the sleeves. It took me around 15 minutes, much shorter than what I had spent deciphering the instructions without luck.
This coat is not perfect. There are flaws that I could have avoided. But it was my first time making a coat and it’s still so cool and I will wear it a lot as it does keep me cozy and warm. The first test run was on a particularly windy day (all days here are windy, so it’s very windy when I say particularly windy) (it also happened to be my birthday, so wearing my coat for the first time was an excellent way of celebrating myself). I made a self-belt, not sure if like it or not also I’m not sure this turquoise scarf is the best colour match. But technicalities. Bottom line: I made a freaking awesome coat!
I also remembered to add a loop for hanging, it’s not in the pattern
The title of the post? For fun I wrote down how long each session was and what I had done during that session. In the end it added up to 16 hours spent on this coat.
By Eitchy 
Congratulations on your coat! I don’t understand why coat and robe patterns don’t include instructions for adding a hook loop. It’s very handy and keeps the coat from getting misshapen if you have to hang it on a hook.
Thanks! I hang my coat on the hanger every day, so it was essential. Another reason to put it in the instructions is that if you miss the opportunity, it is really hard (impossible?) to go back and add it.
So true. Maybe not impossible, but won’t be as strong because you’d probably have to hand-sew it on.