Coat sewing

[Lyn-J]

Hi Ruthie - good to see you here!

I have the pattern too - I'm up for a sew along, in the new year though, I'm up to my eyeballs in last minute sewing requests!

[SewRuthieSews]

Asked on my fashion and style forum and they thought the style was boxy and likely to be unflattering, and recommended I make a different style. Hmmm.
I still love the pockets.

[Tamnymore]

It's a boxy style so it really depends whether you like that or whether you prefer a fit and flare look. If you have a slim waist you may wish to show it off with something fitted but if you wish to draw away attention from your middle (as many of us do  ) then a looser style might be better. I think the trick with this sort of style is to get a good fit on the shoulders. Also I would be wary of using too thick a fabric or the collar might be too bulky. Having said all that I like the pattern and I'd wear it.

[Sewbee]

I bought Love Sewing magazine and really like the idea of sewing the coat pattern B6423 which is included with it.
In the magazine they show up made up in a solid single fabric, but also in multiple fabrics.
As it takes 3.4 or 3.6 metres of fabric (depending on which size I go for) I thought I could combine several teal fabrics from the resources centre (aka the stash) and have a nice coat.
I generally buy coats so this would be a departure for me, and hopefully a good use of some wool fabrics from my resources.

So you fell in love with it, too! Lillian did as well - and me, too. I think there will be a sew- along. I still have to buy fabric and lining.

Maybe we should all start a new thread for a sew-along.

[Sewbee]

It's a boxy style so it really depends whether you like that or whether you prefer a fit and flare look. If you have a slim waist you may wish to show it off with something fitted but if you wish to draw away attention from your middle (as many of us do  ) then a looser style might be better. I think the trick with this sort of style is to get a good fit on the shoulders. Also I would be wary of using too thick a fabric or the collar might be too bulky. Having said all that I like the pattern and I'd wear it.

It apparently narrows down towards the hips. I think there's a video of it on YouTube where Liesl explains the design. She did say you could add more buttons if desired.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7I-RT5WPvAs

[UttaRetch]

No good if you have hips and a prominent rear. 

[Helen M]

I'd like to make the Style Arc Stella coat in a lightweight fabric to wear a summer coat/mac. I bought some grey peach skin cotton at the Harrogate knitting and sewing show last month, it was incredibly cheap and I got lining on another stand. The fabric stand had it made up in a fabulous trench coat which gave me the idea. It will hopefully be a wearable muslin as I have tried on the same coat made by my friend in the US (we are the same size and I almost put it in my suitcase as I loved it!) in a winter wool.

I think I may make a toile and I am wondering about interfacing for the cotton fabric. Any suggestions?

[UttaRetch]

The pattern information suggests a fusible, BUT I would look at the reviews of those that have already sewn the coat to see what they did. Doubtless some of them would have gone down the full tailored route, but this is not necessary.

[Helen M]

Thanks for the suggestion! I bookmarked a couple of reviews a while ago as I've had the pattern for a while. I'll re read them and try and find some others. I'll also ask my friend what she used but hers was a lovely thick wool coat fabric that she'd bought in the New York Fabric district. I probably won't start it until spring but there's a lot of prep to be done I think.

[SewRuthieSews]

Whilst looking for something else I found a coat pattern from Prima 2015.


and wonder if this might be a better one to try as the seams and belt allow for a bit more shaping.

[Vegegrow]

I have a coat in my UFO cupboard... it just needs hemming and buttons I think...it was a victim of Howard Moon DD's hamster ( some of you may remember the adventures of Howard Moon from the old place)( I'll retell if requested) Howard was good at abseiling .. heavensknows how he got to the coat but he decided that he would like to reline his bed with a pink and grey check wool and nibbled away the side of the hem on one of the cuffs... I lost interest / got distracted and it was filed away in the cupboard... Thinking about it ..it was long perhaps I can shorten it and use the extra fabric to make false hems on the cuff

[jen]

How flattering the original style is could partly depend on what the designer has done for bust shaping. The picture of the yellow version on the Butterick illustration does show the tell tale pulling from the apex. If the coat has been cut from a block with no darting and relies on being big and baggy enough to cover all the bases, it's not looking good for flattering the usual range of women shapes. OTH if the darts were included in that seam which has a pocket inset in it it should hang pretty well. The first self drafted coat I made used the dart in seam with pocket style, and worked well, not boxy.

[Sewbee]

The pattern information suggests a fusible, BUT I would look at the reviews of those that have already sewn the coat to see what they did. Doubtless some of them would have gone down the full tailored route, but this is not necessary.

I do use fusible but only on lighter weights. Depending on what fabric I buy, I would probably use a sew-in for this.

[Tamnymore]

I've just bought the Love Sewing magazine now so there will be millions of us walking round in that coat. The original pattern came in two size ranges xs-m and l-xxl. For the version in the magazine I think there are separate sheets for the 2 size ranges so if I can easily separate them I might see about giving away the smaller sized pattern. I like the accompanying calendar. The magazine is OK but I probably wouldn't buy it regularly... unless there were some really covetable patterns included. 

[Sewbee]

I've just bought the Love Sewing magazine now so there will be millions of us walking round in that coat. The original pattern came in two size ranges xs-m and l-xxl. For the version in the magazine I think there are separate sheets for the 2 size ranges so if I can easily separate them I might see about giving away the smaller sized pattern. I like the accompanying calendar. The magazine is OK but I probably wouldn't buy it regularly... unless there were some really covetable patterns included. 

 

I was going to subscribe to it and then last night I came across another. Can't remember the name of it now but it is supposed to be the UK version of the US Vogue magazine. You get two free patterns of your choice with the subscription, too, as well as discounted patterns from the major companies throughout the year. I think perhaps it is called Sew Today, but not sure.