For my last sewing project of 2020, I really wanted to challenge myself (as if just surviving 2020 hasn’t been challenging enough). If you listened to my interview on the Between These Stitches podcast, you already know, but I decided to make my first coat. I went through several ideas, looking through patterns I already have, deciding what elements I want in the coat, finalizing the shape. In the end, I decided I wanted a plaid wool coat dress, fully-lined, with pockets and a hood. The easy part was choosing fabric. I received 4.5 meters of this gorgeous Wool Blend Coating deadstock fabric from Minerva. I hand washed and air dried it – my living room was quite a sight! For the liner, I purchased gold taffeta fabric from Fabric.com and picked up some adorable buttons from a seller on Etsy.
*December 2022 Update – My beloved Fabric.com is no more, but you can still pick up this beautiful Vogue Fabrics, Inc. gold taffeta from their preferred vendor, Fabric Wholesale Direct.*
Even though working with this pattern was a bit of a nightmare, the final result is a dream! This wool coating is so lovely and warm, but unlike other wool fabrics, it’s not itchy or scratchy. It held up well to my stitching, removing said stitches, and then re-stitching. Since it’s a coating fabric, it’s a bit heavy, of course, but it doesn’t make me feel like I’m drowning in fabric. In fact, it’s the kind of heavy that feels more like a warm hug. The plaid is so lovely and looks so luxurious that I hardly want to take the coat off. I’ve been spinning and twirling around in this coat so much that I’ve gotten slightly dizzy! The beauty of this fabric really pulled me through a project that I might’ve otherwise abandoned (seriously, it was a rough go for a while). If you’ve wanted to make your own coat, I can’t think of a better fabric to use than this coating.
