Butterick coat 6143

I made this as a ‘light wear’ coat and opted for view D. I found this tapestry effect fabric in Woolcrest Textiles, Hackney at £5 per metre. The fabric is as limp as a wet dishcloth and frays before your very eyes. I decided to interface the entire coat, but the grade was too heavy which resulted in a coat that can stand up on it’s own. The upside is that I didn’t need to add shoulder pads. The lining is the same as used in my Vogue winter coat and goes rather better with the tapestry. I added an half belt with buttons.

I love the overall style of this coat as it suits my hourglass figure, but I think the collar is rather ugly and is thankfully somewhat disguised in the busy floral. Whilst this pattern is quick to sew up, there were a couple of problems. The first was the collar. The ‘notched collar’ instructions were incomprehensible to me as I had never done one before, and there was a lot of unpicking before I threw myself on the mercy of my sewing teacher. The second was that despite carefully tracing off the view D skirt sections when it came to stitching them together, there was a ‘stepped’ difference at the hem and I had to cut off a fair amount to get an even length.

A lot of people ask me ‘where did you get your coat?’ and I am pleased to tell them that ‘I made it’. I am sure that I will make this again and am always on the look out for possible fabrics.