Fabric Friday – Sewing a new Winter Coat

This really is the season and the year of the coat. There are so many gorgeous fabrics, cool patterns and high street inspirations available in the market place.

Here to help you is a round up of all the best buys, fabrics and shapes for you to really get excited and ready to sew your very own winter coat.

Firstly, research what kind of coat you would like to sew, what kind of shapes you like and what would suit you.  Next think about what skill set sewing level you are at: if you are a beginner, go for a clean simple shaped pattern with minimal detail. Here are some great modern patterns out there all found through The Fold Line website.

This is a great simple shaped coat available from Tessuti Fabrics  for approx £8. Pattern Berlin Jacket

This gorgeous check coat is from McCalls £15. Pattern number Vogue V1479

If you are looking for something more modern and transitional this is the coat for you! From Orageuse for approx £7.99. Pattern Trench & Paletot Londres

If you are looking for a free pattern to try here are a couple of great ones:

This one is from a great blog, sew your tv.com

Or why not try a cocoon jacket. We found this on Sew Different

Now that you’ve picked your pattern, it’s time to choose the fabric! There are so many great fabric suppliers out there, but if this is your first coat project it would be advisable to go for a solid colour so you don’t need to worry about matching plaids or patterns. Look for fabrics that specifically say ‘coating’ if you are buying online, so that you know the fabric is the correct weight to sew with. Go for a fabric that has wool in it so that you have a great, long lasting winter coat.

Here are some favourites

These fabrics are from Sherwood Fabrics.

They have a great selection of coat fabrics from checks, tweeds, plains and dogtooths.

Another supplier is Remnant Kings, there is also Croft Mill and Truro Fabrics.

If you do decide to make your coat project in a check or plaid fabric, you will need to match up the pattern. To help, here are a couple of tutorials and guides from respected bloggers

This is a great tutorial by Sewaholic –  a great website based in Canada. They sell patterns as well as offering great tips and advise to the modern sewer.

This quick & easy plaid matching guide is available on Grainline Studios. Jen is a designer and pattern maker living in Chicago, IL. Grainline publishes a line of sewing patterns, posts tutorials, tips and tricks, along with showing her own personal projects.

I hope these tips help you get started with your first or new winter coat. Happy sewing and please feel free to leave any comments on this blog.

Please remember to follow us on Pinterest – there are more patterns and fabrics saved on our coat board!