We've been on the lookout for a zero waste coat pattern for a while, and recently came across this simple pattern by Birgitta Helmersson. With the recent change of season here in the Southern Hemisphere we thought it was a perfect chance to give it a go using one of our recent wool arrivals. We used our new Japanese Twill Wool Coating - Sienna Fleck and think it looks pretty fab sewn up! Keep reading for more on this make, kindly modelled by Zosia from our Online team.
Pattern Review
Zero Waste Coat by Birgitta Helmersson
The ZW coat is an unlined unisex oversized coat with a batwing sleeve, round collar and patch pockets. There is two coat lengths to choose from, the short coat has a front button closure and the long coat has a front button closure and waist tie. The instructions also come with tips on how to cut a lining if you want to add this.
It's important to note that the PDF Pattern download is an instructional booklet that directs you how to draw your pattern pieces directly onto you fabric using a mix of instructions and templates. There is no ‘pattern’ to download. Pieces are broken up into simple blocks which can be modified easily to change lengths, add/remove different design elements and accommodate changing fabric widths. It comes with some simple hacks at the end which are intended to be a guide so you can start experimenting further using this pattern.
This pattern is one size, which fits the specified size range EU size 36-44, AUS/UK 8-16, US 4-12, due to the zero waste nature of the construction and the typical width of most coating fabrics. Even if you fall outside of these sizes, we would recommend checking out the pattern as you could definitely experiment with its shape or add extra fabric to the length if desired. For fit reference, our coat is modelled by Zosia and she measures 95cm (bust), 75cm (waist) and 120cm (hip).
Birgitta Helmersson recommends this project for Beginners for the Short Coat and Intermediate sewists for the Long Coat. We would agree and classify this project suited for an advanced beginner - some understanding of pattern making or experience adjusting patterns would be helpful especially if you plan to experiment!
Pattern Review
Japanese Twill Wool Coating - Sienna Fleck
To make the Long Coat version we used 2 metres of our Japanese Twill Wool Coating - Sienna Fleck (135cm wide) as well as 4.2 metres of our Red Clay Vintage Finish Linen Bias Binding.
The width of your fabric determines the length of your coat, and the pattern instructions call for fabric 145cm - 160cm wide for a Long Coat. Our fabric was only 135cm wide so this made the length of our coat a little bit shorter. If you're looking for a longer coat, we'd recommend making sure your fabric is as wide as the suggested widths!
We found the sewing instructions easy to follow! We made a couple adjustments by binding the body and skirt seams, instead of hand stitching or topstitching the seam down, and we also machine stitched the collar down instead of hand-tacking it down.
The instructions suggest heavyweight wool coating for this project but they do explain that a lighter weight wool or cotton drill could work for a jacket or trench vibe, just make sure to fuse your collar if using a lighter weight fabric.
We think some of our recent wool arrivals would make up well in this style, see our suggestions below:
Luxe Italian Alpaca / Wool Coating - Cashew, Japanese Knit Coating - Biscuit, Japanese Check Tweed - Brown & Japanese Boucle Wool Knit - Fudge
We love how our Red Clay bias binding we used matches the Fog Tee Zosia is wearing in our Red Clay ZQ Premium Merino, paired with her Make by TFS Cass Pant pattern made up in our Dark Blue - 8oz Cotton Chambray!
With it's cute rounded collar, slouchy cocoon silhouette and batwing sleeves, this coat will make a great addition to any me-made wardrobe! We love that it's a zero waste design, so no amount of your precious wool isn't used up.
We can't wait to see some more of the #zwcoat popping up share yours with us by tagging wearethefabricstore or using #TheFabricStore