Wool Winter Coat

Despite what a hefty project this is, and how busy I've been, I'm surprised this came together so quickly. And it did so mostly out of necessity. I got rid of a lot of stuff this Fall, including some old jackets and coats. Now that the temperatures have started to dip below freezing, it occurred to me that I should probably procure some kind of replacement. So this coat was born.



First of all, I should say that, with the exception of restocking my interfacing supply, I did not buy any new materials to make this. I've had the wool for a while with the intention of making a coat. But the rest of the notions, including the heavy-duty zipper were already stashed. So in that regard, I'm pretty proud of myself.



About the pattern: I heavily modified BurdaStyle's Talea coat pattern (free!). I left out a lot of the design details, like the tabs at the shoulders, sleeve hems, and back waist. I drafted my own collar for something a little less dramatic, and I completely redrafted the center front facing to accommodate a zip-closure. There were some fit issues to compensate for as well, some of which weren't resolved as well I had hoped.



This project also marks my first foray into hardcore tailoring. I took a lot of inspiration from Gertie's Lady Grey Sew-Along which was winding up as I was making my coat. The collar is fully pad-stitched, and I paid special attention to setting in the sleeves (sidenote: do NOT underestimate the power of shoulder pads. Amazing.).



Regrets: This is always an issue for me, but I probably should have given myself a little more room in the bust. I think I didn't take enough out of the waist, and I drafted out too much ease through the hips.
In all likeliness, I will probably redo the placket covering the zipper (it could use some sturdier interfacing) and I may add some loop and toggle closures to help it lay flatter across the bust.

Overall, I am incredibly happy with the final product. I probably would not use the pattern again for how much I changed it. But now I have a nice, comfy, cute coat to keep me warm, which was the objective.