The Coat by The Avid Seamstress

I originally bought this pattern at The Knitting and Stitching Show a couple of years ago. At the time, I needed a new coat and was optimistic that I would make one soon - but then got distracted with making Persephone Pants, travelling and everything else that I used to do pre-covid. Last year, I took part in the New Craft House Sew Yourself Sustainable Challenge and after posting about the one unused pattern in my stash, I became inspired to give it a go. The Coat by The Avid Seamstress is a relatively easy coat pattern so if you’re just starting to branch out into coats, this is a good place to start.

I bought this lovely boiled grey block wool from The New Craft House last year and it’s as beautiful and soft as it looks. The coat fits perfectly into my wardrobe as a nice neutral and the slouchy shoulders fit well over chunky jumpers. I do think the shoulders could fit slightly better. Despite trimming down the seam allowances, the thick boiled wool does make the shoulders a bit bulky. I made the size 2 (UK 10) but I could have graded the shoulders down a size. I own a ready to wear coat with a similar shape but the sleeves and top half of the back are all one piece, negating the need for bulky shoulder seams. I do wonder if I could hack this pattern to be the same.

The Coat doesn’t need to be lined (and doesn’t provide instructions for lining) so I decided not to line mine and instead sew bias binding onto some of the seams. I made my own bias binding from Lady McElroy Sign of the Times cotton lawn (the same fabric I used for the back facing, which I bought from Fabric Godmother. The binding was quite fiddly and took a while to not only make but also sew onto the seams. If I made this coat again, I would consider fully lining it as I think it would take a similar amount of time as the binding.

Aside from the fiddly bias binding, I really didn’t run into any issues making this pattern, which was a nice change. The one big learning for me was that trying to pattern match when you buy almost the exact amount of fabric required can be difficult. I managed to perfectly pattern match the centre back and thought I had matched the sides, but couldn’t quite stretch the pattern matching to the facing on the front sides. The biggest mistake I made was cutting the pieces on folded fabric. After spending a very long time meticulously planning how I would place all of the pattern pieces on the fabric to achieve pattern matching perfection, I failed to consider the fact that the other half of the fabric underneath may not be so perfectly aligned. This resulted in the side seams not matching up as perfectly as I’d hoped, but they’re mostly hidden under my arms so it’s not a big deal.

All in all this is a great coat to sew and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxed fit coat pattern. There aren’t any tricky bits and I’m sure an experienced beginner could sew this coat.