My new winter coat!

This coat has been YEARS in the making. It's not that it was difficult, it's just that there's SO MUCH of it. Plus, it's kinda hard to stay motivated on seasonal sewing out-of-season. This wasn't exactly the first project I wanted to reach for in the hot days of summer!

Anyway it's done now and I am so glad! 

It's a very fit-and-flare shape with a nicely defined waist and huge skirt, made in dark teal wool Melton from Treadle. The weather was absolutely dismal today so these photos are very grey, but I did not want to wait a moment longer! 

The hemline is huge. It's practically a full circle. It's swishy and cute and took a TON of fabric.

It also took forever to hem! Worth it, though.

Did I mention the hemline is HA-UGE? So much fullness in back!

I would have loved the look of more buttons, but I know it would have made me crazy to have to do them all up all the time. Besides I only had 4 of this style in my stash.

The pattern is McCall's 6800. I snapped it up as soon as I saw it because a fitted, classic coat pattern is a find. Thar was like 4 years ago and I think it's still current!

I made the bottom of view D and the top of A. I made the break much higher to keep the cold out, and I made the collar and lapels a little narrower, but didn't change much else. I cut the size 12 and made a full bust adjustment, then sewed a mockup and tweaked the fit.

Ok, my lining is boring, but I learned my lesson on my last coat about needing some slip in the sleeves! I interlined the coat with cotton flannel for warmth; you can see through the lining where the flannel stops.

I put plenty of ease into this lining - I learned my lesson on that, too! There's a big pleat at center back and the lining moves loosely in the coat.

I had a terrible time getting that collar to lay flat! The topstitching helped, plus rolling it into shape before stitching. Also I just love these buttons! Dug them out of the stash.

Cute pocket fabric, because why not? It's 18th c repro cotton print. I don't like slippery pockets. The pockets are in-seam on the side front.

This pattern called for a lot of fabric, and I was short by almost a full yard. So I ignored the nap layout.

Then I realized I forgot to cut out the front facings. So I got creative with piecing. Definitely made good use of my cabbage!

The piecing is all in the lower inside front. It's pretty discreet.

I also had to piece a small strip into the lower sleeve. Again, I tried to choose a less-noticeable area.

One more inside detail: I clipped the heck out of my princess seams, especially at the waist. With so much curve I did not want to risk puckering. 

 

There are small shoulder pads sewn in for structure, I think about 3/8" thick. 

I could nitpick many, many things, but overall it's pretty dang good. The fit is not perfect, but oh well. It is definitely the best coat I've ever made! And now I really want to start another one. Maybe green?