Pattern used: Vogue 8268 This is a duster pattern, so it fits much looser than the original. I made it deliberately loose, as I wear bulky sweaters in winter. I had to re-draw the back, which wasn't terribly difficult.
Fabric: I bought 3 1/2 yards of yellow flannel to interline, 3 1/2 yards of beige lining material, and had bought 3 yards of goldish jacquard upholstery fabric last spring at Joanns off their flat-fold section. Too bad I wasn't more on the ball, or I would have gotten it when I first saw it and had more than 3 yards, but, you know, hindsight and all. Also 1 yard of dark brown furry fleece (Padme ROTS Dressing Gown!) to imitate fake fur -- I couldn't find any fake fur I liked, so until I do, this will suffice. I had just enough of the fabrics and far more than I needed of the furry fleece. No dye was used and while the jacquard isn't the same shade as the original, I loved the goldish color and couldn't bear to dye it.
Notions: 3 packages of La Mode 1/2" pearl with gold button, style #46487 and 1 package of mocha color piping
Total cost was around $38 for materials. Not bad for a new winter coat!
Okay, I had problem after problem with this coat and most of it was due to the person doing the sewing (me). My mind must have been on vacation the entire time. I used Koshka-the-Cat's terrific page on this coat as a guideline for the construction and while it was a heck of a lot of handwork, it turned out nice, I think. Don't know if I'll do the handwork the next time around, but it was nice to learn something new. (FYI -- her site has lots of neat info on it)
I ended up making the sleeves only a slight bell because 3 yards is not a lot of fabric even for a short person. As mentioned above, I did forget to flip the pattern and had the extra annoyance of having to make yet another muslin to figure out if I could somehow re-cut the front and back pieces from what I already had without it looking positively stupid. Once all of the cutting errors were finished, construction was fine. That is, until I marked one sleeve wrong and had to re-do it after having done all of the hand sewing and machine sewing both. It took me awhile to finish all of the hand sewing. The buttons and furry fleece trim were the last two parts completed.
All in all, I am pleased with the end result, though I had the amusing thought last night that my version rather resembles Chaucer's coat from A Knight's Tale! When I find the right fabric, I'll be making a more accurate version, sleeves and all.
The first picture on the left is of the original muslin. Because I forgot to flip the pattern, I had to discard the long coat idea and make a short coat instead. This muslin is put away for next time, along with the proper sleeves. The second picture is of the fabric, lining and interlining pinned onto the dressform.
These three pictures are of the coat on my dressform. I tried to take pictures on a gloomy day, which was a big mistake, but I think you get the idea.
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