With Autumn approaching fast, I made a Winter coat for Norah this week. And as I’m giving a Moiano workshop this Saturday (at De Soldeur), I thought I’d use my Moiano pattern as preparation.

But how do you make a Winter coat with a Spring/Summer coat pattern? Below are some tips.

 

1. Sizing

Spring/Summer coat patterns like Moiano do not include room for batting (‘wattine’). So it’s best to size up. I used a size 5 instead of a size 4 for Norah. Make sure to check the sleeve length before cutting. A bigger size also means longer sleeves, so compare the length of the sleeves (see table in instructions) with those of a jacket which fits your girl well.

As for the sleeves, I used the free regular sleeve pattern (which you can download here). I like the gathered sleeve which is included in the pattern for a Spring/Summer coat, but for  a Winter version, the ungathered free sleeve seemed more suitable.

2. Adding batting

Adding batting is easy! First, cut the batting pieces with the following patterns:
– sleeve lining
– front and back yoke lining
– front and back panel lining but see tip below!
– main hood

Tip: the front and panel both have a box pleat. Having box pleats in the batting would, however, create quite a bit of bulk. So instead of using a box pleat in the batting, I did this:
– I cut out the linings of the front and back panels (so from the lining fabric)
– then I stitched the box pleats in the lining (step 15)
– then I used these pleated lining pieces as ‘patterns’ for the batting:

Adding the batting to the coat is simple. Just pin each batting piece to the wrong side of its corresponding lining piece, and from then on, regard them as one. Exception is the hood: here, the batting pieces have the same dimensions as the main hood (see above) so here you keep batting pieces to the wrong side of the main pieces.

3. Working with roughly woven fabrics

Roughly woven fabrics (like the one I used) fray easily, which can get you into trouble. Keep these tips in mind:
– keep a close eye on your (3/8″ or 1 cm) seam allowances. Always check whether you didn’t wander off and stitched too close to the edge of the fabric.
– Be careful when notching/reducing seam allowances, rounding off corners, etc. Don’t cut too close to the stitches.
– I ran into a bit of fraying trouble at the corner of the neckline (where the hood and zipper and zip guard all come together). It had to do with some imprecise sewing on my part, but in retrospect, I wish I had reinforced the two neck line corners with some thin interfacing, just too prevent fraying.

4. Small pieces

For the back and sleeve tabs, I cut my rectangles a bit more generously, to make them easier to turn right side out (and also because the buttons I used were a bit too big to fit on the original sleeve tabs).

So here’s some more info on the coat I made. The main fabric is a €5/meter fabric from Moens. For the lining, I used a stunning Summer sweat from Eva Mouton for Bambiblauw.

I couldn’t find a neon yellow zipper, so I used a pink one.

As batting, I used 100% Wool from Quilter’s Dream. Synthetic batting would also work, of course.

For the hanging loop, I used the super cute selvage of the fabric (an idea inspired on Petrol and Mint‘s Moiano from a while back). I stitched it to a thin woven fabric with right sides together, and turned it inside out.

Norah said that the hanging loop was her favorite part of the dress, “because it makes the coat look like a store bought one”. Note to self: just buy a coat next Winter, instead of spending countless hours on making one.

I also wanted the line the hood with the unicorns fabric, but I was just a few centimeters short of it. Luckily, I had some striped Lillestoff fabric in my stash (bought at Babarum).

I used the welt pockets because they are fast and easy. Yet, I still get a real kick out of seeing the result 🙂

The Moiano pattern is available in a printed version and an electronic version, in English and Dutch (Nederlands).

Would you like to make a Moiano with some help? I’m giving a Moiano workshop:
– in Kortrijk, komende zaterdag 21 september, 10-17u30 bij De Soldeur (info)
– in Mortsel, 23 oktober, 10-17u bij Bobby Sewing (info)