Wool winter coat - can I sew one? Let's find out together.

Half way through sewing my fall shirt (it's the middle of December) and a thought struck me - what if, and I know this sounds crazy, but what if I started to sew the clothing BEFORE the season arrived?  Maybe I would be finished in time.

It takes so long to get the idea, the courage, the materials, the pattern, the mockup, and the time that I can't keep up with the changing weather.  I haven't even started my winter sewing.  

For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I need a new winter coat.  This is the coat I wear around town.  I like it to be at least knee-length.  Mostly if not all wool on the outside and usually lined.  Hood not needed and I don't like it to button up too high with the firm belief that the solution for cool necks is more scarves.  Wool is better for our rainy winters at keeping the rain off during long outings than raincoats.  

Other than that, I'm not really choosey about the style except that I want it to be somewhat Victorian-esk.  Sort of historybounding rather than historically accurate.

Colour - maybe brown or black.  Maybe fawn.  Not sure.  This is going to be governed more by price than anything.  But I kind of want a heathered charcoal grey.  Maybe I can make a pilgrimage to the fabric shop downtown that has massive amounts of wool on perminant sale.  

I'm tempted to try the inverness coat like in this video (although it hurts my heart to hear the vintage machine run dry - please oil your vintage sewing machines people, it should NEVER sound like that)



But getting something like this to fit and look good and ... I don't know if I have the courage to learn how to sew that.

I like the look of this coat, but although the larger size will fit most of me, I would have to add 15+ inches to the bust (sigh, I hate my body).  It's probably easier to draft my own or even take the pattern off my current coat which only needs 4 inches extra in the bust and is perfect everywhere else.  But I do like all the verticle seams as it's a lot like my current coat.



NOTE TO SELF: make sure I have at least a 1-inch seam allowance on this as my grandmother taught me as this makes it easier to adjust the coat as my body changes.


I don't know.  I'm just writing this as a way of procrastinating something else and if I don't get this down it will take up all my brains run time and I'll never get the thing I'm doing finished in time for Christmas... and there we go again, time and time limits.  UG.  

There's another style that I like... I saw one long ago in the military surplus shop.  It was a Russian (from the USSR days) winter military coat.  Double-breasted.  Pretty buttons.  Beautiful wool.  Many many years ago and the shop is long gone now.

It was a huge coat and I thought to myself back then "if I had the skills, I could take that in and make it fit really flatteringly to show off the nicer elements of my shape and hide the others.  But it was a really heavy coat and I didn't have the confidence to spend that much money on a project I felt I would never have the skills to do.  I wish I had that coat now.  

If you take a look around the charity shops and/or army surplus store you may be able to find some woolen blankets that you could use to practise sewing your coat with. It will still take time but at least you won't need to worry about the cost of the fabric.
My colleague's mother in law is a wonderful seamstress and she made hooded capes from these blankets for her grand daughters.
Each blanket cost about $20 and they are single bed sized.

Ulster coat details http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/freepatterns/w1910travelulster.html

That Folkwear coat is beautiful!   One thing about a lot of vertical seams is you don't have to add much to each to increase the size.

Have you seen Nancy Zieman's book "Fitting Finesse"?  Her pivot and slide technique is also helpful to increase the bustline without messing with the arm opening.

Good luck with this project!

If you can find "Butterick coat with princess seams and flared hemline" pattern, that looks like it could also be a possibility. See patternreview for some real sewn examples.

I used this timeless and classic Vogue Pattern to make a winter coat 30 years ago.  I wore it for years till it was thread bare. I made version a shin length version of the  A style of this pattern.

https://somethingdelightful.com/v8346


If you buy new wool for this coat I suggest getting an extra 1/3 of a yard so you can wash the wool.  It will pre shrink it and remove the sizing chemicals from the fabric. I prewash all my fabric.  I also used a heavier cotton sateen fabric for the lining which I also pre washed.  Sadly I don't have any photos of me in the coat or the coat.  

I also added interior pockets to the lining like men's coats have.  

I would also recommend making the pattern in a muslin mock up first.  That way you can use old sheets or other light weight  woven fabric to practice on.  You will want to use a larger stitch length to sew it together so it is easy to take apart.  Use this practice project to make any adjustments to the sizing and changes to the pattern.  Once you get this practice piece the exactly the way you want it take it apart and use it for the pattern pieces for the wool coat.  You will  get a much better fit and make less mistakes on the expensive fabric this way.

One of the things I've noticed is that most patterns fit me at a medium or large for most of me, but the bust is at least 10 inches too small.  Some are over 20 inches too small.

That's a lot of adjusting that needs to happen and kind of makes me grumpy that I would spend so much money on a pattern (they are expensive in Canada) that needs hours of work and extra mockups... sigh.

So I'm in a grumpy mood this morning.  What's new.  I'll feel better after coffee and start looking at all the inspiration.  

Some options.  
1. get a pattern I like and do a huge Full Bust Adjustment
2. get a pattern that fits my bust and adjust the rest of it down.
3. take a pattern off my current coat and add a couple of inches needed here and there.
4. draft a pattern to my measurements.  

What else?  

But for now, I'm still in the information-gathering stage.  So keep the ideas comming.  They are helpful (even if I'm a grumpy-pants without my coffee)

When you get a pattern you like, yuo could sell it on the internet for other well-endowed ladies who sew....You obviously aren't the only one with a larger chest who prefers not to wear a sack.

In my case:  Large bosom + narrow shoulders = fitting nightmare  :/

r ranson wrote:One of the things I've noticed is that most patterns fit me at a medium or large for most of me, but the bust is at least 10 inches too small.  Some are over 20 inches too small.

That's a lot of adjusting that needs to happen and kind of makes me grumpy that I would spend so much money on a pattern (they are expensive in Canada) that needs hours of work and extra mockups... sigh.

So I'm in a grumpy mood this morning.  What's new.  I'll feel better after coffee and start looking at all the inspiration.  

Some options.  
1. get a pattern I like and do a huge Full Bust Adjustment
2. get a pattern that fits my bust and adjust the rest of it down.
3. take a pattern off my current coat and add a couple of inches needed here and there.
4. draft a pattern to my measurements.  

What else?  



But for now, I'm still in the information-gathering stage.  So keep the ideas comming.  They are helpful (even if I'm a grumpy-pants without my coffee)

Getting a pattern that fits your bust and shoulders is  the way to go.  Adjusting the waist, hips, and length is easier.  

The other option is to find a good men's wool coat that fits your bust.  Taking in the side and back seams along with hemming the bottom and cuffs is a lot easier than making a coat frm scratch.  Adding a couple of darts under the bust will instantly make it a women's coat.  It is a tailoring trick my tall and big busted family use all the time.  

This has possibilities

https://charmpatterns.com/shop/preorder-princess-coat/

The more I look at this coat, the more I love it.  It goes all the way up to an H-cup which would mean less of a full bust adjustment (I've got a really good book for that).  The princess seams seem really easy to adjust and give a much nicer look than darts.  

Here's a two hour long tutorial by the pattern maker.



It's also nice there are so many options for changing up the style.  

That's a beautiful fit-and-flare coat. Lots of Gertie's patterns have the 50's vintage vibe with high bust tips. So be careful to take those measurements (neck cross bust to waist/ waist to bust tip/bust tip to bust tip/shoulder tip to center front waist/mid shoulder to ribcage under breast). Also you can add a vertical dart under bust for more shaping.
I heard the pattern comes with a 73-page instruction so maybe more information is covered on fitting in there.

As usual - my opinion, take it or leave it:
1. constantly wet environment - either alter the pattern or choose a pattern which does *not* have the shoulder seam across the top of the shoulder, but the fabric comes over the shoulder and the seam sits about on the big bump of your clavicle (collarbone - good name for it!) This way, there will be less of a tendency of the rain to soak in that seam.
Why do I know this? I sewed coats for my kids in elementary school and their pattern was as I just described and it worked wonderfully for them biking to school in all weather. I was jealous and sewed myself a coat, but I bought an adult pattern and didn't realize the difference until it was too late. Sigh...

2. I understand and respect the colour choice you're making, but if you do decide to go with a colour that will blend in with fog and the underbrush, please find one of those over-length scarves that can hang down the front and back in something like fluorescent orange. Actually, if you find a coat that will tone in during the day with the reflective grey material I added to the boys' coats, you might consider adding it. Yes, it's artificial, but you only need a little on the arms to help you show up better for all the drivers who would feel really bad if they schmucked you.
Why am I concerned? My friend was walking down our minimally lit country road on the edge of the road with her bundle-buggy and wearing one of those bright orange vests the traffic people wear and a cyclist ran right into her. Luckily the cyclist was going up-hill, so wasn't going that fast, but people have been killed by cyclists. There are no sidewalks on this road - it's the bike lane or the ditch! So maybe bright clothing doesn't help, but at least if the cops had to be called, they'd blame the cyclist!

Colour will depend a lot on the price of the fabric.  

When I lived downtown and did a lot of walking, it was the biggest concern.  Just about every nice colour blends in to the background so I would have a black coat for walking in the day and a beige coat for walking at night.  Lots of bright hats and scarves.  

These days, I'm a home bird and tend to go out in public at night less than once a year.  So I need to think about visibility in winter daylight conditions.  It means things that contrast well with drizzle and rain.  And the worst driving conditions of all - low-in-the-sky bright sunshine on a wet road.  

It looks like this pattern maker has some books at the library so I'll borrow them and maybe try one of her free patterns.  Her coat pattern sounds like it's going to be a bit complex so I want to make sure I can understand her instructions style before investing in it.  

And then there is the decision of PDF or buying a paper pattern.  PDF, one can usually just print out the one or two sizes they need (if the maker did it in layers) but there's the time issue of taping the bits together.  

But I can't find a local place to print patterns on the big sheet for under $50, so...

Having ever considered building yourself a pantograph?



This gives you the idea, although I think the ruler approach isn't what I would try first.  Too small for what you want.

This one's pricey, but generally the company has decent quality (at least it used to): https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/marking-and-measuring/marking-accessories/32535-pantograph-set?item=07K0601&utm_source=free_google_shopping&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIp_uwjtfZ9AIVcwnnCh2gqQGWEAQYASABEgIV1vD_BwE

Would this be any faster than taping papers together? The idea is you'd print the pattern small size and then use the pantograph to make it the size you want. If you knew a school teacher with access to an old-fashioned projector-thingy, you can trace the small size onto plastic sheets and project against a wall. That might be the fastest way, but building a pantograph would be more fun!

For my notes for later, the princess coat printed pattern came to USD$49.19

USD$25 for the PDF.  

They are both a bit of an investment in my current situation.  Possibly worth it but I'm going to keep on looking for options.
I also want to find out what the details I need to have it printed at a local print shop and see what the hole-in-the-wall in the next town charges.  Maybe less than the big box shops.

...

I've got a pantograph somewhere around.  Not sure where.  But I don't do so well with it as my motor skills are sad.  

That princess coat is gorgeous!   And it seems to have an even chance of fitting your particular curves.  I tried her free Harlow Pajamas pattern and the top fit fine without tweaking.   The bottoms seemed drafted for a tall person so that is a memo for next time.

The price is up there even for an indie pattern,  but might be worth it if you love it.  Taping pages isn't THAT horrible, and you can use a glue stick if you don't want to mess with tape.

Just checked that pattern on the Pattern Review site.   That puppy weighs in at 200 pages excluding the instructions!   I think it is because the lining pieces are cut differently from the coat pieces.

Ellen Morrow wrote:Just checked that pattern on the Pattern Review site.   That puppy weighs in at 200 pages excluding the instructions!   I think it is because the lining pieces are cut differently from the coat pieces.

Holy COW!! That's HUGE!!

Besides coat, how about a cape? That feels retro too and maybe is easier to fit. You can wear that with your wool sweater and walking skirt.

It's really nice the princess coat pattern has free sample pages of the instructions, including how to calculate yardage - WOOT!

Just going to assume the largest size and I'll narrow down everything below my bust to fit.

Since there are so many parts to put together, you get to calculate your own yardage based on which modules you choose.

(mostly I'm doing this for my own notes)

For me, I would need (45"/60" fabric) in yards

bodice 2 / 1.5 yds
shawl collar (looks easier than notched and I've always wondered what that would be like to wear) ???
tailored sleeves (full length) 3/4 yd
full skirt (but I might play around with the length in the mockup) 3.5 / 2 and 3/8ths (so let's say 2.3?) yds

hint, I always do my math in yards but buy fabric in meters that way I have a bit extra left over.  And also, they only sell it in meters here.  

That's going to be 5.5-ish yds.  

Maybe.  My brain hurts too much to do any more math right now.  

There is a lot of room in the layout and im not afraid of piecing fabric,  so i could probably get away with less.

But i think first, i should make the bulky sweater I would wear under it in very cold weather so the fit would be fine.

I don't understand all the other fabrics involved.   I have a queen duvet cover for the lining maybe and some slippery rayon for the sleeve inside.   Coats I've owned have slippery inside the sleeves.

r ranson wrote:  Coats I've owned have slippery inside the sleeves.

Yes - that's so your sleeve doesn't stick and pushed halfway up your arm. I just grab hold of my sleeve end to try to keep it in place because I hate the feeling of the cold, slippery fabric - hmmm, I might not mind if it were silk! A woman can dream...

I agree that ideally you want to feel comfortable adding extra layers under it, but it still needs to fit with less layers, as in our climate, things change pretty quickly depending on whether the sun is in or out!

I thought this would help understand the issues of why sewing patterns fit so strange go look at the height used by pattern companies. Here is a site which post a great amount of information along with many names of companies I have never heard of before       https://csews.com/sewing-2/sewing-pattern-height

I did know that some sewing patterns were based on woman size last century right after World WarII but never knew I also had to be

5 feet and 9 inches =
175.26 cm
1.7526 meters
69 inches
5.75 feet
5 feet and 9 inches to have clothes even look proper.

I also know there are several companies who are using another approach in their designs from a new source of data. I think Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina used new data for her designs.  I also know that libraries have sewing information I think one may often forget theater sewing costumes allows for many sizes to be in one place.  Ease of fit is often forgot by many designers.  

I got some of Gertie's books out of the library and they are very, very good.

They also reminded me of the big advantage of a PDF pattern - I can increase the size of the font on the instructions.  

r ranson wrote:I got some of Gertie's books out of the library and they are very, very good.

Yes, there are two listed in the library system I'm a member of. That was a bit of a surprise as I wouldn't have said I was in that sort of neighborhood. I'm wondering if the one about 1940's "vintage casual" would have any pants patterns, or only dresses. The modern stuff just doesn't fit me!

About 10 years ago there were 6 textile related books in the library system so I started requesting the ones I wanted to read (I love borrowing the book before buying it so I can know if they are worth the money).  Now there are hundreds of sewing, knitting, weaving, and other textile arts books in my library system.

It really goes to show you that if the library doesn't have the topic you want to read, it's not the library's fault.  It's yours for not telling the library that you like this topic (but tell them nicely because they are nice and let you read the books for free)

This is a cool project.I agree with you.I like to make felted items in the summer for winter and make summer items in the winter.Wool coats our amazing.I use a military wool trench coat to ride horses and herd sheep.I tye a rope around my waste like a mongolian deel to keep it from blowing open.Definitely a worthy project.Good luck.

You might want to check out some Full Bust Adjustments tutorials.  
There are several others on You Tube.
My favorite is a paid class for $40. The instructor even answers questions!
https://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/sewingclasses/class.pl?id=150
Another option is something less fitted in addition to the FBA: https://thesewingplace.com/baltimore-coat/

I hope you are feeling better this week!!

r ranson wrote:One of the things I've noticed is that most patterns fit me at a medium or large for most of me, but the bust is at least 10 inches too small.  Some are over 20 inches too small.

That's a lot of adjusting that needs to happen and kind of makes me grumpy that I would spend so much money on a pattern (they are expensive in Canada) that needs hours of work and extra mockups... sigh.

So I'm in a grumpy mood this morning.  What's new.  I'll feel better after coffee and start looking at all the inspiration.  

Some options.  
1. get a pattern I like and do a huge Full Bust Adjustment
2. get a pattern that fits my bust and adjust the rest of it down.
3. take a pattern off my current coat and add a couple of inches needed here and there.
4. draft a pattern to my measurements.  

What else?  

But for now, I'm still in the information-gathering stage.  So keep the ideas comming.  They are helpful (even if I'm a grumpy-pants without my coffee)

Jane Wilder-O'Connor - that Baltimore coat looks lovely and the panels would help for fitting. I'll swear I had a very similar coat back in the 1970's.

I'm just off to oil my vintage hand sewing machine...........

r ranson wrote:There's another style that I like... I saw one long ago in the military surplus shop.  It was a Russian (from the USSR days) winter military coat.  Double-breasted.  Pretty buttons.  Beautiful wool.  Many many years ago and the shop is long gone now.

If you are looking for more army surplus in Canada you could check https://www.herooutdoors.com/ they have a ton of coats.

I found the perfect fabric today

This vintage plaid has a tight weave and a heavy drape. It is reversible with a plaid brown twill weave on the reverse. Its heavy weight makes it perfect for coats, blankets and wraps.

Wool and synthetic blend

154cm or 60.6″ wide

467gsm or 13.83oz/yd2

I just don't have a pattern so I don't know how many yards to get.  But at $10/m, it's a great price for 100% wool.  Discontinued stock so I need to get enough.  

It could be like a duffle coat?  

R Ranson, you may be out of luck: It said

wool and synthetic blend

Which I would interpret as mixed fibres....

Nancy Reading wrote:R Ranson, you may be out of luck: It said

wool and synthetic blend

Which I would interpret as mixed fibres....

ops, I missed that one.  Reading too many things at once today.

For some reason, my mind says that's 60/40 wool blend.  

I don't like synthetics, but for that price...

Can 5m make a knee length coat?

r ranson wrote:Can 5m make a knee length coat?

1. Plaid requires "matching" the pattern - more or less depending on the style you choose - however, I'd think about extra for that.
2. The only coat pattern I have is for "crotch length" and I would expect a "duffle coat" to  be roomier than it, but it calls for 2.2 meters for the XL size.
3. You know that fabric can be pieced, so that can conserve fabric if needed.
4. Think about what you'd use the scraps for - part of a quilt?

If you can find out more about what it's made of 60/40 or 40/60 or is it really 10% wool and just trying to pull people heartstrings?

It is a lovely colour for you, and you can't beat that price - any fabric that price is worth considering. My gut feeling based on my pattern case is that you could make a coat out of 5 meters - you may have to choose the style to fit the fabric, but with 154 cm wide to play with, I really think you could do it with almost any style.