A Victorian-ish Coat for Ice Skating

Our local group had a Victorian Ice Skating event last weekend, and while my daughter had a perfectly good dress from last year that still fit, I wanted to make sure she kept warm in period fashion. Which means she needed a coat.

I used a heavily modified modern sewing pattern for this. I suppose I could have drafted something from scratch based on period diagrams, but I went the shortcut route, mostly because drafting collars is a pain. I eliminated the pattern's waist seam, added a lot of width and flare to the coat's lower section, and fiddled with the sleeves a bit. The collar is pretty much the only thing left un-altered from the original pattern. 

I call it "Victorian-ish" because it's not strictly period, but it has a historic enough look. I wanted something that wasn't too costumey and would work as her modern good coat for a couple years. Coats haven't changed much and Victorian ones aren't that different from dressy modern ones anyway.

We had a lovely time skating!

The fabric is brown wool Harris tweed (yup, the real Harris tweed from Scotland, yum) that I bought at Treadle. She chose this from a group of swatches I brought home. I underlined the bodice portion only with cotton flannel for extra warmth, and lined the coat with a remnant of cream-color silk shantung I found in the stash. I sewed it all on the machine, except the hem. I used horsehair canvas in the collar and linen to interface the front facing.

The fabric was dreamy to sew with; soft and very lightweight. The finished coat was very light, but she reported that it felt very warm. The wool was also super easy to ease at the sleeve cap. 

Every coat I make is a learning experience, this one included! There are always a few little things I have to learn over again. The lining could definitely have used more ease in the length; it is perilously close to hanging up the coat fabric in a couple places. And the collar does this flippy thing on one side I haven't figured out. But overall, I was very pleased with it. So was she!

To go with her coat, I made a super quick faux fur muff. I just ran a length of ribbon through it to wear around the neck.

She also had a hood from last year, made of white wool with an attached scarf and tassels.