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

Here is a video of someone sewing the albion pattern linked to above.





At first I was excited they have the same fabric as I,  but alas, it was an optical illusion.   They are using a lining and outside fabric

Loving the two piece sleeve and hood shape.  Might be worth getting the pattern for this.   I need to sleep on it.

r ranson wrote:

Loving the two piece sleeve and hood shape.

I suspect it might make more efficient use of fabric? Sleeve's take a lot of fabric, and the scraps around them are often very odd shapes.

r ranson wrote:I can't remember if I listed this here, but this looks like a nifty free duffle coat pattern: https://www.dr-cos.info/fp-dufflecoat.html

I played with the pattern a bit, but I don't feel I have enough experience with coats to fill in what's missing (aka, the instructions).  

I'm also thinking, if I'm going with a reversible coat that takes advantage of the double-face nature of the cloth - aka, no lining - I need to think about how this facing at the front opening would work.  

I seem to remember there being one on the duffle coat I owned... but maybe not?  I need to look at some photos of duffle coats to see what people do.  

I found a reversible duffle coat so now I know it is possible to sew one

https://dressedfordinner.wordpress.com/tag/reversible-duffle-coat/



last night I noticed that the Albion pattern has the instructions available for download for free.  It's over 100 pages!!! there are some awesome resources in there for general sewing too.

It impresses me when a company does something like that - give away actually useful stuff for free, but still making money on products.  And the pattern has more features that I want in my coat and the other way of making the jacket that is included in the pattern might be just right for another something I'm working on.  Going to sit on the idea for a while yet before deciding.  

For me For later



Double faced fabric seam.

The fabric says wool-nylon blend.

How to iron?

What settings?  Is wool okay?  Do I need a pressing cloth?  steam?  

I'm scared of the nylon melting and then I have to buy a new iron.

I'd use a pressing cloth and medium temp. I don't trust nylon at all, with an iron.

The fabric is too thick for my buttonhole attachment.   What is a good thread to use for hand sewing buttonholes?  When I use regular thread it wears out quickly.

I found a lovely article on hand sewing coat button holes here.


Apparently you lay a special thread called gimp around the hole, and stitch over it to reinforce it. This page shows you how to make your own with a silk thread.

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.

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.  

You're probably looking for a soviet greatcoat! The design itself honestly hasn't changed much from older ones, so I'm sure if you look for patterns or similar ones, you'll find some!