We have had a real change in the weather this week! Suddenly the wind is coming from the North and winter is snapping at our heels. Thankfully I have a nice toasty warm new coat to wear – with a hood to keep that wind out of my ears. I shared the making of the coat in a couple of Work in Progress Wednesday posts at the beginning of the month here & here. Now here’s the finished article.
The pattern is “jacket” 110 from October 2018 Burda. I traced the 44 and added a 3cm FBA. In hindsight, I didn’t need to add that much and would definitely have been ok with just half of that. The fabric is camel/beige wool melton that is rather thick, and once seamed and enclosed, is very bulky! But, it is warm! The zip came out of the stash, and is also possibly a bit wider in the teeth area than a metal zip. This means that, although I laid the front band on the placement line, it’s not quite wide enough to finish at the right point on the other side. This means the snaps had to be reduced in size and the buttons don’t line up at the top. But I’m not taking that band off!! Far too much bulk.
The buttons on the front band are vintage military brass buttons. I had hoped to use these on the back band as well, but could only find two! So the front benefits from these and I used vintage leather buttons on the back band instead. Because you’ll never see the two together, I think I’ve got away with it.
The pockets are a great size, I used lining for the underside of the pocket flaps and for one side of the pocket bag, the other side is a scrap piece of cotton poplin Liberty fabric.
I am really glad I have this new coat, a more casual offering than my “old” coat. The pattern and instructions are pretty straightforward. If I make this again, there are a couple of things I’d change. My neck is too short (& my double chin doesn’t help) for the collar, so I’ll not be buttoning that shut. However, I usually wear a nice scarf in the winter, so that will fill the gap left by not zipping to the top. I will also revisit that FBA. I don’t need all that width afterall. The hood is great, nice and roomy, but it tends to slip a little too far forward. This means you could be in trouble when crossing roads if you aren’t looking properly! It just needs a little tightening up around the edges.
But I would like to make it again, in a less bulky fabric!
THE COMPULSIVE SEAMSTRESS 