Part of my mission at Fabric Depot was to research coat options. I need a new coat and I have thoughts of sewing one. Here are my criteria: at least thigh length, has a hood, hourglass-shaped (or some such shaping around the waist), easy to sew, can do autumn and winter. It seems that this is a difficult combo to come by. Let’s rank the contenders and see how things come out.
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: No information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
I’m looking at the upper right corner version.
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: Not really
Easy: No information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: Not really
Easy: No information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: No information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: No information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: no information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: no information
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: No info, but one commenter rates it difficult, but great for advanced sewers.
Autumn/Winter: No
(I love this one the best, but I can tell it isn’t going to make the cut)
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: No info, but one commenter rates it difficult, but great for advanced sewers.
Autumn/Winter: No
(I love this one the best, but I can tell it isn’t going to make the cut)
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: Sort of?
Easy: I’m guessing not as it is Burda Style
Autumn/Winter: No.
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: Sort of?
Easy: I’m guessing not as it is Burda Style
Autumn/Winter: No.
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes, if I made it out of a light fabric.
(This has the advantage of being a Pattern by Gertie. I’m a fan of Gertie.)
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes, if I made it out of a light fabric.
(This has the advantage of being a Pattern by Gertie. I’m a fan of Gertie.)
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Can’t tell
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Can’t tell
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: No
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: No
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: No
Length: Yes
Hood: No, wait, yes!
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Can’t tell
Autumn/Winter: No, more of a winter.
Hood: No, wait, yes!
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Can’t tell
Autumn/Winter: No, more of a winter.
Length: Yes (a bit long)
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Perhaps?
Autumn/Winter: More winter.
This also looks exactly like a coat I had my senior year of high school. I haven’t decided if this is a plus or minus.
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Perhaps?
Autumn/Winter: More winter.
This also looks exactly like a coat I had my senior year of high school. I haven’t decided if this is a plus or minus.
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No, but fun princess seams in contrast color
Easy: Perhaps
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No, but fun princess seams in contrast color
Easy: Perhaps
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes, though long
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: More winter.
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: More winter.
Length: No
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: No
Autumn/Winter: No
I only include this because Fabric Depot had a sample garment on display last winter. It is a fabulously weird coat–it kind of has an insect vibe going on. It’s also rated “advanced” in Vogue which means “super professionals only” in layman’s terms. I loved the strange arm/cloak aspect of it.
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: No
Autumn/Winter: No
I only include this because Fabric Depot had a sample garment on display last winter. It is a fabulously weird coat–it kind of has an insect vibe going on. It’s also rated “advanced” in Vogue which means “super professionals only” in layman’s terms. I loved the strange arm/cloak aspect of it.
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: No
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: No
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Sort of.
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
I’m including this one because it is another “unique” coat from Vogue. Its lack of closures would not hold up to the Portland rains.
Hood: No
Hourglass: Sort of.
Easy: Yes
Autumn/Winter: Yes
I’m including this one because it is another “unique” coat from Vogue. Its lack of closures would not hold up to the Portland rains.
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Maybe?
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Maybe?
Autumn/Winter: Yes
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: Yes
This is a regional pattern company and I think this would be a fun coat to make in a fun fabric. Silver Falls State Park is near Salem.
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: Yes
This is a regional pattern company and I think this would be a fun coat to make in a fun fabric. Silver Falls State Park is near Salem.
Length: Yes
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Eh.
Autumn/Winter: Possibly, depending on fabric.
I am including this because I think there could be a belt added here that might make this more palatable.
Hood: Yes
Hourglass: No
Easy: Eh.
Autumn/Winter: Possibly, depending on fabric.
I am including this because I think there could be a belt added here that might make this more palatable.
Length: A little long.
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: Yes
It’s so cute! I will never make this, though.
Hood: No
Hourglass: No
Easy: Probably not.
Autumn/Winter: Yes
It’s so cute! I will never make this, though.
Length: Yes
Hood: No
Hourglass: Yes
Easy: Nope
Autumn/Winter: Not really.
So let’s sum up.
24 total coats.
10 with hoods.
2 with hoods that are hourglass-shaped.
1 with hood that is marked “easy”
Which means we have a winner. And that winner is:
Simplicity 2208.
I was interested in what kind of polar fleece type selection might be available to me. It turns out I could make this coat in many different sports team’s logos. But Fabric Depot did have a goodly selection of material that would make this look a bit more classy than some polar fleece suggests.
As a bonus assignment, check out View B of Simplicity 2208. Is it incredibly cool, or incredibly not cool?
What do all y’all think?
Wow! That is a lot of options. The final choice is good! I liked view B, I think. Though I was not sure which one was B. The one with the weavy beads or the open grey? I liked both. But I really liked the belt on the weavy beads. Can you add that to yours without a pain?
Blogging and commenting today. Avoiding the work I need to do…
Syllabus must be fixed for new class this semester…
I f-ing love The Abbey Coat! That thing is so dang cute. I would wear it in a heartbeat. Now I want one. 🙁
That being said, since you already said you weren't going to make it, I thought that Simplicity 2208 was the second best of the lot. I think it'll be really cute on you.
Very excited to see this post. I miss sewing so much right now. I have a variety of coat patterns myself that i probably will never use, but I guess you've got your pattern already. I was planning to sew a coat myself, but then I remembered how much I love vintage 1960s era coats and immediately found a couple badass versions. I am still considering making a light jacket sometime, though. Also, one of my vintage coats needs a new lining, so I will be tackling that sometime this winter or spring.
I will be home in November, so let me know if you need help fitting. Also consider Fabric Depot's wide selection of fake fur. I never thought of myself as a fake fur person, until I obtained my vintage fake fur coat. It is rad and super warm. I feel like Bjork in a bear costume when I wear it.
Simplicity 2208 was my favorite! Very chuffed that it appeared in the great reveal at the end. The word chuffed was in a book I read this week. I think we should steal it from the British. Also, please make me a coat that lets me feel like Bjork in a bear costume. xo
I've got just the thing in my Aunt Pat's closet. It's this huge, fake fur monstrosity that can't actually be worn (too warm!) except for two days of the year. Sadly, Aunt Pat is the one who never really gets rid of anything, so you might have to wait a few decades…
Yes to chuffed. "Queue" is also a term that is perfect upon occasion and fits much better than the boringly descriptive "line up."