Planning a coat

I'm currently at the 'thinking about it a lot' stage of planning on sewing a coat for myself.

It all started with inspiration.  I saw Jenny's gorgeous purple blanket coat and was just gob smacked at how cleverly beautiful it was.  No need to buy expensive coating aye?  It kind of takes all the risk out doesn't it?

So suitably inspired I got myself a woollen blanket from the op shop.  Hmm not exactly my colour, but $5!  It's about 2m x 1.7m.  I'm also excited about the prospects of traipsing around town with my lovely yellow coat among the black and grey.

So now I'm on the hunt for a pattern.  It has to be simple with as few pieces as possible and appropriate for the thick woollen fabric of the blanket.  And I don't want something fitted - big and boxy is totally ok in a coat.  How much fun is pattern browsing?  SO MUCH.  I've wasted spent a LOT of time looking for a pattern that hits the right notes, so why not share my efforts here?

So, here's my list of jackets that might work.

I started with burdastyle because I love that website, I find it very easy to navigate, and they do fantastic outerwear.  Here are some that stand out for me.

Rounded jacket 09/2013.  I quite like the 3/4 sleeves and the double breasted look.  It also reminds me of Jenny's version.  However, the patterns calls for lightweight fabrics.  It also has princess seams which would be hellish to deal with with my checked fabric.  But cute eh?

Short jacket 08/2011.  So an initial question is if I need to make a cropped coat, or if I have enough blanket to go with something longer.  I really like the 50s vibe of this with the pleated back, but the sleeves look a bit narrow for the thick fabric.  Looks quite versatile though.

Dress Coat 09/2012.  Now I'm thinking I might get a longer coat out of my blanket.  Not really sure with this one, it might be pushing it.  I really don't want to deal with princess seams, but I love the neckline.

Wool Long Coat 08/2012.  Is this daggy?  I think it might be a bit daggy.  I was just excited to find a pattern that seemed appropriate for the blanket. But it seems easy though, that's good.

Long A-Line Coat 10/2011.  This is very nice!  But I am quite sure I do not have enough fabric.  I love the collar (or lack thereof) and the shape.  But that's a lot of fabric, likely to feel quite overwhelming I'd wager.

Duffle Coat 09/2011.  A totally different way to go.  I love the hood, the pockets and the double breasted closures.  I could see myself wearing this a lot and I think it would work really well with my blanket.  Not too many seams, fantastic pockets and subtle bust darts. The way the sleeves are inset worries me slightly.  Even so, this is definitely a front runner.

Here's another, Duffle Coat 11/2011.  The normal sleeves make me feel better about life, but it's missing the cute rounded pockets and double breasted look of 09/2011.  Do I dare attempt to combine my favourite elements of the two?

Ombre Coat 11/2010.  Still looking for simple.  I do like the mandarin collar and the few pieces.  Seems to be slightly A-Line too.  Might have to stretch to fit it on the blanket, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of the length.

Long Coat 10/2010.  Similar to the last one, but I'm quite attracted to the simplicity.  I really like the concealed buttons and the slight A-line shape.  I'd have to sacrifice length, which is OK because long coats are a bit restrictive.

I like some of the variations in Burda 7700, although the picture is so small it's hard to tell what's going on.  I suspect these are prob a bit too baggy for my liking.

Burda have a lot of these 'ample' fitting coat patterns. 7711 and 7732 also caught my eye.

So the more I look for patterns the more same sameness I am seeing.  Vogue 8960 is a case in point.  It's ok, but a bit meh?

McCalls 6657.  I quite like this, though they have chosen some crazy fabric for the sample.  The duffle-ish variant has normal sleeves, which I find more appealing than the Burdastyle crazy sleeve version.  

Butterick have some nice easy looking designs.  I quite like 5685, but collar seems a bit unnecessary.  Also prob a bit too fitted for what I'm looking for. 

Colette have a duffle coat pattern - Albion, though it's just not pushing the same buttons for me as the Burdastyle one.

Another Burda pattern, 8017 is quite cute.  I like the overlapped front and the cute collar. I do like that teapot pose too.  lol

I quite like the look of this nice casual hoodie too.  Butterick 5931.  I might just make this for fun with some polar fleece I've got hanging around. 

So this is pretty cute, New Look 6760.  I like that there is no collar, I like the cuffs and the pockets.  (cute dress too!)  6736 is similar and also cute. 

New Look 6619 is a cute little cropped jacket with a lot of variations.

I don't know about you but that was exhausting!  But I feel that it was a very useful exercise, because I'm now dreaming of a hooded duffle coat.  I'm sure I'll do another post about the pros and cons of all the duffle patterns I can find before I work up the courage to chop up the blanket!  I am acutely aware that a coat is about a million sewing difficulty levels to where I am now, but I also am of the view that big challenges are how we learn the most.  So why not throw myself into the deep end??

Did I bore you to tears?  Do you love looking at all the gorgeous things you'll never get time to make too?

~Tan