I made myself a plaid winter coat! Photos first, more details at the bottom.
Front and Back:
Collar can be worn up or down (intent was up, but I was pleasantly surprised when I filled it down)
Buttons. I love buttons. I thought I liked bound buttonholes until I decided it was a good idea to stick this many onto one project. Total bound buttonholes on this guy = 15
Cuffs and welt pocket:
Back tab detail:
Whew! I am sorry for all the photos, but this was a big project and I wanted to share. OK! Details:
I started with Simplicity 2508 but obviously made quite a few changes to the pattern. I have this habit of, when I make coats, I make them super tight and fitted in the waist and flair out in the skirt. Fun, but I wanted something different, and something that I could actually wear in the winter like over a sweater or something. I also really wanted the long A-line silhouette when the coat is worn open, which I think I succeeded in (third photo down!). It's not crazy loose but it's totally functional, and I love the way it hangs when unbuttoned.
Fabric used:
Plaid is this fabric I found at JoAnns, as part of their "Plaiditudes" collection. I was drawn to it because it looked like wool plaid coating, but it is actually just thick brushed cotton. Basically it's glorified flannel. Anyway, it looks nice and is decently thick, but I wanted more body (back to the A-line thing) and more warm. So I interlined it with one ply of heavyweight fusible interlining (probably more for crafts that apparel, but I wanted it stiff) plus 1 ply of fusible weft interlining. I sandwiched one ply of wool suiting between the two, using the 2nd ply of interlining to secure it (random note, I always buy the wool suiting when it is on sale and in the remnant pile for this purpose!).
A note about the plaid fabric. I was super excited that I was able to find a plaid in a fabric that at least LOOKED like outer wear, and didn't have to order online or anything like that. However, it was really tough to work with because it was SOOO SKEWED. You can see the full length photos above, it looks like it's almost twisting. It made it very difficult to plaid match, and a big chunk of it on one side of the selvage that was particularly bad was almost unusable. SOOOO if anyone is eyeballing this fabric, that's just a warning to you. Be prepared and buy a LOT more than you think you need, even more than normal for plaid matching purposes.
Lining was brushed back satan. It's black; I didn't take any photos. I added a back pleat and bubbled the bottom hem, both of which I think are necessities for semi fitted coat project.
The cuff and neck have separate pieces made from waffle fabric. They both have one ply of fusible fleece inside them for extra warmth. I added a grommet to the corners of the interior collar for some extra interest.
OH and I didn't take photos of this, but the pocket bags are lined with the same fabric so if I ever forget my gloves, my hands will be toasty warm inside the pockets.
If you notice, some of the buttons have this weird white coating on it. I gave the coat a spray of Scotch Guard, and it caused the white stuff. So odd....
I think that's it! Just in time for the cold weather, I was really starting to sweat while taking the photos (which is probably why I wasn't smiling... haha!) Let me know what you think!
