| 
Uncategorized

Fantastic coat & jacket sewing patterns whatever your sewing level!

 

Have you thought about sewing a coat or jacket pattern and then shy away? Yep me too. I don’t know what it is about making a coat that makes question myself. Honestly the pieces of outerwear I’ve made have been the most enjoyable and most worn items, so I thought it might be useful to made a roundup of fantastic jackets and coats from your favourite indie designers. Sometimes it’s just nice to see them all next to each other when picking.

If you’re thinking about tackling a piece of outwear then go get yourself inspired. Whether you are a beginner wanting to dip your toe into the world of jackets or someone who’s made so many things they don’t read the instruction booklets anymore, we have something for everyone. Having got pretty deep into pattern research I decided to split up the patterns by sewing level. This is not to put beginners off intermediate patterns and vice versa. If your an advanced maker and fancy something a little easier then I’m hoping whatever your level, there will be something that makes your heart flutter and your creative juices flowing.

Beginner Coat & Jacket Sewing Patterns

The reason that these patterns have made it into the beginner camp fall down to three main things.  Firstly fit, most of these patterns are roomy, so you won’t have to worry about too much fitting. In the most part the patterns are unlined, this makes the construction much easier. Lastly fabrication, most these patterns can be made in cotton or jersey, the fabric most of us started our sewing journey with. It’s nice to use, doesn’t stretch or warp like other fabrics and even if you are a beginner you can get a great finish.

Top Tip: The key to making a simple jacket look great is the top stitching. The only way to get good at this is to practice.. my tip would be to sew the side seams and hem before you do the collar. The collar and pockets are the things people notice so if you can practice on the side seams you’ll feel a lot more confident when you get there.

Intermediate Coats & Jacket Sewing Patterns

The intermediate coats and jackets, have more going on! You’ll spend more time getting the fit perfect, there are more pattern pieces and some interesting details. One of the core things that takes the jacket into intermediate territory is a lining. I personally think, a lined jacket is really easy to do. Trust me, you can hide a whole host of horrors with the lining.

To Tip: When hunting out a lining for your coat, you don’t have to go for traditional ‘lining’ fabrics, as there is often an underwhelming selection. If we’re making our own coat… we want it to be as pretty on the inside as out. You can use most fabrics to line the body of your coat, cotton will stick a little but if the jacket is loose fitting it’ll work just fine. The one place you need proper lining fabric is the sleeves. I cannot tell you how difficult it’ll be to put on if you don’t, all you clothes will bunch up in the sleeve as you pull it on, making for a very uncomfortable wear!

Advanced Coats and Jacket Sewing Patterns

Ok you’ve breezed through a few coats and jackets and you’ve ready to make your dream coat. The reason these coats have made it to the advanced department, either because there is going to be a lot to fit, or because of a complicated construction. Either way you’re going to want to dedicate some serious time to this..

Top Top: If you haven’t invested in a tailors ham or a sleeve board now is the time. Both of these are used for pressing your coat and investing time is good pressing is game changing. The other thing I love to use is a tailors clapper, I found this one on Ebay that looks good. You use it after you’ve pressed and steamed your seams, it helps to set them in place. After you’ve pressed your seams flat, place the clapper over the seam, press down and then leave it in place until the fabric has cooled. You’ll end us with pristine seams and it really makes your coat look pro!

Related posts

The Edit: New Sewing Pattern Releases 7 Jan

Read post

Top Ten Blog Posts of the Year - 2023

Read post

A day in the life..

Read post

Sew Down - July

Read post
Leave a Reply