A Stash Busting Coat

The September theme for the Stashbusting Sewalong was Outerwear/Seasonal Change. I actually started this coat more or less on schedule. Finishing was another story. Partly I blame the weather. We had an unusually long and hot fall. The kind of fall where I spent much of my day flopped on the couch in front of the fan, sapped of the will to live.

Burdastyle January, 2012, jacket #107

Partly the fault lay with my sewing skills. My friend, Lucy, recommended this pattern as a good prospect for my first coat. She made one herself, which is utterly adorable. Lucy made her version out of a boucle fabric, and, wouldn't you know it, I had a boucle-ish fabric in stash that would be just enough to cut this bad boy out. Well, it's not really boucle. It's more like cream colored fuzzy worms squiggling on top of a black mesh that frays madly. It looks nicer than that sounds though.

back view with seam

I really like the style of the pattern; it's shaped to the figure at the side and center back seams. It has a two piece sleeve for a nice fit at shoulder and arm, and it's lined.

That two piece sleeve was a first for me. I learned:

1. mark your notches carefully, because the sleeve seams do not match up with the side seams, and
2. it's really hard to mark your notches carefully on this fabric

I put a sleeve in wrong twice, once on the lining and once on the actual coat. I was worried I wouldn't be able to pick out the stitches on my coat fabric without making a huge mess, but it worked out OK.

Lime green lining

The lining was another challenge. This is the second time I've lined a garment. I'm generally what I like to think of as a thrifty sewist. If you line a garment, that means you're making it twice, meaning you have to shell out for twice the material. There was just no way to pretty up the seams on the innards with this fabric though, and I just happened to have some lime green cotton sateen sitting in stash that looked like it would do the trick (thanks, Jessica!). 

I trawled the internet to find something to supplement Burda's terse instructions on bagging the lining and ended up with a Threads tutorial that helped immensely. It was still a bit of a struggle but everything worked out in the end. I just hope my finish is neater on my next go.

Burdastyle wanted me to add big patch pockets and a ruffle at the neckline.

Line drawing from Burda site - you can buy the pattern there if you want

 Cute, right? I made up the pockets, but they just didn't look right when I pinned them on for placement, so I left them off. Even though I know I'll miss them.

Besides being kind of bulky and a pain to handle, my fabric had a definite wrong side, so I couldn't get the ruffle thing to happen either. I've decided I kind of like the clean look of the plain neckline though.

Plus, I'm a knitter with an extensive collection of scarves and cowls, so I can fluff up the neckline easy as pie.

In short, Lucy steered me straight. This is a great pattern and I highly recommend it for a first coat. I have some blue wool in stash that I think I'll earmark for the jacket-length version of this baby. Definitely with pockets next time.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.