Every Fall I choose a cold weather coat or jacket to work on. My goal is to take my time and apply various coat making techniques normally above and beyond what is mentioned in patterns. I easily get bored if I work too long on one project and will begin to cut corners. In order to avoid this I came up with a plan a few years ago. Once the coat fabric is cut and ready for construction, I cut out another project.  I work on the jacket between projects unless I’m on a roll with the jacket.

My most recent jacket is made from a wonderful wool coat fabric from Fabric Mart. I underlined the jacket with Kona cotton and lined it with a printed polyester from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I like the stability of the Kona cotton when underlining coats.

The directions were typical for Burda i.e. sparse but fine if you have made a jacket in the past. The pattern called for large snaps for the closures. I substituted the top snap for a button and bound buttonhole. The best tutorial I have found for bound buttonholes is Gertie’s. Her tutorial is the one that finally got me to successfully make a bound buttonhole a few years ago. Here is the link:

Gertie’s Bound Buttonhole Tutorial

The other changes I made were to add a back stay, shoulder pads and sleeve heads. I like to refer to Jackets For Real People from Palmer/Pletsch. The explanations and illustrations in this book are very well done and easy to follow. I also used this book to help me line the back vent. It was my first time doing this on a jacket. I had considered getting rid of the vent because I had never done one on a lined jacket. I’m glad I pushed myself to give it a try. I think it turned out well.

In conclusion, I like the simplicity of this jacket. I found the pockets interesting because they wrap from the front to the back. I’m happy with the result and I know I will get a lot of wear from my jacket. This jacket is perfect for cooler weather here on the Central Coast. I have begun the process for next year’s coat. Stay tuned…

From the magazine:

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