winter woolies

Men's winter coat, wool/cashmere blend with leather trim.

The basic design for this coat came from a wool coat that Rob got in London a few years ago. The original coat didn't fit well and was made of cheap, scratchy fabric, so I made a pattern based on the old coat and made a brand-new coat out of this beautiful soft wool/cashmere coating we got in the fashion district. We also made a lot of styling changes; for example, the original had epaulettes with buttons, which we replaced with military-style patches (Rob's idea).

The topstitched darts on the sleeves were a cool detail from the original that we kept. I had some scraps of black leather, so I suggested making bound buttonholes in leather - whoa, what was I thinking?! I tested at least 3 different methods before I came up with something that worked, but they turned out pretty nicely! I brought the belt to Star Snaps to have the eyelets put in - only cost $2 and it looks incredible. Now I want to make lots of projects with eyelets and grommets and things!

I also made the inside welt pockets (one on each side) in leather. These were actually pretty easy to do - the leather was thin and my trusty Singer went through with no problem.

This was BY FAR the most complicated thing I've ever made in my life, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out! Now I want to get back to work on all the many other projects that fell by the wayside over the last month... stay tuned...