New Coat

Well this was an epic sew and definitely the most technical of garments I have ever made but I am so pleased with it.

This coat has been all about quality not quantity; I have really taken my time from choosing the right fabrics to sewing a stage or two at a time. The thought process started in September when I decided that my ready to wear parka was in need of replacing; it’s been a much loved coat for several years and is looking a bit worn so I decided to try and make something similar.

After lots of research and scrolling through Instagram – my go to place for inspiration – I settled on the TN31 Parka by Merchant and Mills. Then it was onto finding the right fabric.

The outer fabric is a dry waxed cotton from Arkdefo; I wasn’t familiar with this company until I saw them mentioned on Instagram. They’re well worth checking out and sell dead stock waxed cottons in a variety of colours. It’s always a bit of a gamble buying online because the colours often look different through a screen but my gamble paid off and I wasn’t disappointed; when it arrived it was just the colour I had envisaged . The quilted lining fabric came from EU Fabrics in Birmingham and I was able to send for a couple of samples from here to ensure the colour and thickness was what I was looking for. Finally I splashed out on some Atelier Brunette fabric for the hood lining and pockets; not the cheapest of fabric but it is good quality and I didn’t need very much. Then I used a standard slippery lining fabric for the sleeves.

https://arkdefo.com/collections/vendors?q=arkdefo

The pattern has a lot of pieces all of which I traced off so this took quite some time; I also took the time to adjust the lining pattern pieces because I wanted to use the facings from the unlined version as part of the lining so that I would have a nice deeper edge on the inside using the outer fabric.

It was quite an involved make but overall the instructions are clear enough to follow. I did however come unstuck at stage 14 and 15 which involves adding the placket; maybe it was just me but I puzzled over this stage for ages and even ended up messaging a lady called Judith over on Instagram who I knew had made it; she kindly took the trouble of sending some photos and video over of her coat so I could see how it was supposed to look but I did end up having to walk away for the day because I just couldn’t get my head round it; then in the evening I had a bit of a light bulb moment of what I was supposed to do. Sometimes it pays to have a break from things; I think I had spent so much time reading and re-reading the instructions that I wasn’t concentrating on just looking at the pieces and logically fitting them together. Anyway I finally conquered that puzzle and then it was onwards and upwards. I’ve actually added some video clips to my highlights on Instagram explaining what I did should anyone else find this stage a stumbling block:

https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17876606564173640/

The only other really challenging section was the casing for the drawstring because you have to topstitch from the right side and you can’t see the edge of the casing. I actually taped the casing down to the inside using some masking tape and then took it slowly sewing along the edge and making sure I wasn’t missing it.

I recently upgraded my sewing machine to a Brother Innovis 1300 and it has handled the bulk of the padded lining combined with the waxed cotton superbly; it’s also proved really handy because it has a wider throat than my previous machine and when you are trying to handle a big item like this it’s proved really useful.

I am so pleased I took this challenge on; I won’t lie it’s a complex sew and I think I need a couple of quick and easy makes now to rest my brain, but it’s been well worth the effort and even the frustration and head scratching as I now have a very warm and cosy replacement for my previous coat which I know will be getting lots of wear and should last for years.