Coat Details

Today I'll tell you a bit more about my coat! The pattern is Burda 10/2012 #126, Military Jacket.



I traced the pattern from the actual magazine, but downloaded the instructions. The magazine was my teachers' and the instructions in German, and Burda lets you download instructions for free. As you can see I didn't add the fringe felted wool strips that should go around the sleeves and over the princess seams.



I'm a big fan of epaulettes. It wasn't easy to set them in neatly with the sleeve cap. I also don't get how they have set them in in the example. If you have to iron the seam towards the sleeve, how can you have them standing out like that? And you have to iron the seam towards the sleeve, because you have to set in shoulder pads, too. Of which there was no mention in the instructions btw. I'm happy with how they turned out anyway.



Ah, the lining! I found the lining at the same market stall as the wool. I had different plans initially for the fabric, but then I saw this forest green wool and I just had to have it. It is most accurately pictured in the last photo below. The colors in the cotton lining go perfectly together with the wool. I used the yellow acetate from my stash on the sleeves so it would be easier to put it on. My teacher suggested I also do the upper back, but I thought that would be too much fuss. It would have given nice lines on the inside though. The instructions say to add the facings to the outer shell first, and then sew the lining in. My teacher said it would be easier to put the entire lining plus facings together first and then sew it to the outer shell, so that's what I did. I also added a thin poly batting to the lining, and sewed these layers together as one. I'm glad I did, the coat is a bit stiffer but it's really warm. And I was so tired of being cold!



This is a little detail I added. Very simple but pretty! I only use this loop when I have to though, at home I hang my coat on a hanger because I'm scared it'll get pulled out of shape by it's own weight.



The zipper was also not in the instructions. I wanted to be sure the wind couldn't get through, and I discovered that the button flap was the same width as the facing. The perfect place to insert a zipper! The only thing is that I should have made it two inches shorter at the bottom. When I sit down it wrinkles upward. It puts more strain on that area and although it will probably hold, I couls have prevented that. So my advice: when fitting your coat, sit down in it was well :)



And last but not least: my first welt pockets ever! The instructions were indecipherable, so my teacher helped me. She had me cut the lining of the pocket flap on the bias. This prevents the corners to turn upwards. After that you iron the lining towards the inside along the edges so it doesn't show when turned down. They still show a bit though, bt I like the effect of the lining on the inside. There's a couple of other tricks she taught me, like shortening your stitches at the end of a seam when there's going to be tension, like the corners of the pocket openings. And she told me not to clip my corners all the time. Sometimes it's better to just trim the allowances really close to the seam. You'll get a much nicer corners that way, like on my pocket flaps. So, lots and lots stuff learned on this coat! I'm already thinking of making a summer coat. I've still got the Minoru waiting for me...