Latest Project: Color-block Coat

Luxurious Italian wool, lining and several hand sewn details. These are what make up my latest design. Introducing, the color block coat for Fall 2014. 

Project Specs

• 1.4 M of Black 100% Italian Wool
• 0.80 M of Red 100% Italian Wool
• 1.8 M of Black 100% Cotton for lining
• 2.2 M of Black 100% Cotton for inter-lining 
• 4 metal snaps

• 1 spool of black thread
• Drafted 13 pattern pieces
• Lost count of hours on this one...whoops! Design to completion took just over 2 months
• Machine sewn on a Juki DDL 8300

Fabric

Diving into my fabric bins, I found black and red Italian wool. To my excitement, enough to make a coat and some. It is hard to tell from the photo, but it is soft and buttery. 

Pattern Drafting

Ten months ago I designed a two toned waist coat in wool. I used that pattern as my base. I added set-in sleeves, front facing, lining and created an asymmetrical CF opening. 

Construction Details

A coat has several techniques and design details involved. In this section I will go through my top details that make up this coat, and some that I was frustrated with.

Color Block

This was the most important design detail and basically what inspired the coat. I have always wanted a topper coat with a color block bottom in a contrasting color. Red definitely provides a nice contrast with the black. 

Inter-lining

Not to be confused with  the lining, the inter-lining is an additional layer sewn onto the exterior pattern pieces that allow for extra warmth and structure. It is a good alternative to fusible interfacing.

Fabric Covered Snaps

Snaps in general I adore, fabric covered snaps, I really adore them. I wanted a clean look to the front of the coat so snaps where ideal. 

You can learn how to create fabric covered snaps HERE in my sewing tutorial.

Set-in Sleeves

Probably not my favorite part of sewing a coat.  Set-in sleeves can be tricky as there is extra ease in the sleeve to allow for movement in our shoulder cap. Creating a gathering stitch and using several pins controlled the sewing process for me. If you have ever sewn a set-in sleeve you know it goes like this: sew a few stitches, adjust layers, flatted everything out, evenly distribute excess and repeat. 

Lining & Hand Sewn Details

I am not a fan of exposed seams, especially raw edges, so fully lining the coat was  a priority. When you fully line a garment, you are essentially creating two coats and bringing them together near the end. I opted for a cotton lining for warmth.

With a lining comes hand sewing. You need to leave an opening somewhere to flip the garment inside out. I left the opening at the hem where the lining and exterior meet. You may also notice I thread marked the hem and CF fold lines for accuracy and to avoid chalk markings on the beautiful wool.

Complete Coat

I'll be honest, I am in a love-hate relationship with this coat at the moment. I love the design and the warmth but I am not happy with the way the side seams lay due to the wool stretching with the interlining. UGH! Next time I will take more time in steaming the wool prior to working with it. I am still going to wear this bad boy!

Created and written by Sheila Wong.
Happy Sewing!