Hello! I made a new thing. It’s sort of a jacket, sort of a coat. What’s the difference between those two things anyway, I wonder? I always thought a jacket was short, like maybe no longer than hip length max, and a coat is longer, like anything past the hip. This pattern is marketed as a jacket, but also as potentially a shirt-dress, and the two variations are called duster and blazer respectively; so I guess you can take your pick! A multi-faceted design, to be sure!
Whichever, it’s unlined so a very simple and quick thing to make as far as jackets go, and the boxy unfitted shape makes for an undemanding fitting process too. Oh, maybe I should mention the name of the pattern; this is the new Blair jacket pattern by Homer and Howell, and I made the duster length.
I really enjoyed making this! you normally think of jackets/coats/dusters as being quite involved but this was really easy. Even considering that I chose to bind all the raw edges inside with HongKong binding, which is a process that when you’re about to embark on it you think; oh this is going to take FOREVER… But since I figured the seam allowances were going to show every single time the coat blew open I wanted everything to look neat and tidy inside. And whenever I do get going with HongKong seaming I invariably love it, end up thinking, oh this is FAB!! and why don’t I do this for ALL the things I make, hmmm??
My fabric is a wool-blend suiting that I’ve had in my stash for years and years; so long I cannot even remember who gave it to me. Because, yes; it was donated to me from someone else’s stash once upon a time. I think maybe my grandmother’s? It’s beautiful quality, but I’d always shied away from using it because I thought the colour was absolutely terrible for me.
However right now I’m trying to be more resourceful and use le stash, stay in my house and avoid shopping as much as possible. You know, isolation and all that … so decided what the heck. That’s why dyes were invented, right? I knew the fabric wasn’t 100%wool, but it was worth a try. Sploonch! it went, straight into a navy blue dye-bath.
This actually worked out pretty well… it’s now a lovely shade of … bruise?? ok maybe I’d describe it as smokey blue, or even light teal.. anyway it’s a richly smudge-y sort of a colour that I really like and a big improvement on the original light sky-blue. For the HongKong seaming I used an olive green poplin from my stash too.
Buttons! well obviously I had nothing that matched in size or colour AT ALL and normally I’d pop off to the shops to search for something. But see I’d made up my mind to work from my stash, and giving in on the buttons would be such a fail… so fresh on the heels of making my tea-cup for the bridal shower hat, I thought I’d try to make some from modelling clay. I think they worked out really well!
I don’t think I’ll be tossing the coat in the washing machine any time soon, just in case, although I’m sure they would probably survive fine. Maybe just a gentle hand-wash. But look at them! I LOVE them! I especially love how slightly wonky they are. Of course any and all wonkiness was completely intentional 😉
I’m just going to briefly mention the changes I made to the pattern:
I switched the orientation of the box pleat in the back to be an “innie” rather than an “outie”
I added a hanging loop inside the collar/yoke seam
I put in BIG inseam pockets into the side seams. Yes, there are now pockets in the Blair pattern, but I was a tester for this pattern and they weren’t in the original design. I NEED pockets in a coat! so I actually went in with the seam ripper and added some in after I’d finished the coat completely.
Here’s a little video on the making of this coat, now up on my YouTube channel… I’d like to say that the quality of my videos is improving, but I still haven’t worked out how to even add music. I feel like such a youtube failure! but it’s such a lot to even get this out. I’m trying to improve!
Anyway, blogging/vlogging fails aside; the final verdict is that I’m going to love wearing this… coats are not an awfully common sight here in Perth, we’re so ridiculously casual here, to a fault! But I really love coats, both the making and the wearing of them; and I really love looking at pictures of Northern hemisphere bloggers wearing coats regularly that I’m going to just do it anyway. This is one of those things that is kinda un-Perth, even though I’m deeply Perth in just about every way. This is weird, but it’s just the way it is 🙂
Details:
Coat; the blair jacket pattern byHomer and Howells, in a wool mix suiting
Dress; the Cissy dress pattern by Homer and Howells in a rust coloured lace, underlined with pink/rust dyed cotton, details here
Tights; my own design, black stretch stuff, details here
Black shoes; my own design and made by me, details here
Floral dress; based upon Simplicity 8658, floral cotton gauze, details here
White shoes; designed and made by me, details here
I love your creativity! Thank you so much for the videos. I only watched the jacket one so far, but it was very informative. I really appreciate your demonstration of the Hong Kong finish. I’d love to see the seam finish on the sleeve caps (or whatever you call them). Also, I totally appreciate that there is NO MUSIC!!! The background tv (just like mine), the sewing machine, and the lovely, satisfying crunch of scissors on fabric provide sufficient noise. Wonderful vid. Keep them coming!
Carolyn, I love your videos………so much good practice. I am picking up lots of tips and I too enjoy the fact that there’s no overwhelming music or chatter. Keep them coming…please!
I love the coat / jacket, and I love how you choose the buttons, they suit it to a tee. And just my opinion, I love the videos just the way thery are, with regards to putting music to them, I think it would change the whole feel of it.
Love your coat and your video – this the first one I have seen and I can now appreciate how precise you are when sewing (clearly what makes the difference between your sewing and mine…) Thank you
You wear this chic coat so well, Carolyn. I am sure that everyone in Perth does appreciate the view, too! Your videos are lovely to be watched, I am sure that there is something to learn for everyone!
The dove blue colour goes so well to the dress’s rusty colour, so another win. I like the clean lines of the Homer and Howell patterns. Always a joy seeing your new makes!
Love the coat and the video. I like how careful you are , and I like the quiet. I haven’t sewn in years , I started when I was 9 years old. Stopped after the birth of my second child. I tried to make a dress, the fit was awful.(postpartum and weight gain : ( )Haven’t sewn clothes since. I recently discovered your beautiful blog. I’m going to start again : ) 31 years later!
I have my pattern pick out, waiting to go shopping for fabric
Thank you for the inspiration
Love the coat, lovely on you. I enjoyed the video and the details shown and honestly, the quiet with the sound of your machine, scissors, thread through fabric was and your gentle touch as you pinned and turned the fabric as it was evolving into a garment was the feeling I have when I sew. Sometimes I can listen to ELO, or Glenn Gould and then there are other times when I just love the quiet as I create and my garment evolves, so the departure to have a utube without someone else’s music to really see the construction and have the sense of beauty being created was a real treat, I found myself holding my breath at times – your creative touches, all those button hand made and marching down the front of the coat, the ease and movement of the coat too, all beautiful.
Cool coat and process! Yes, minimizing waste makes more sense than ever. Fabric beautifully woven deserves to be used.
I don’t think I’d be as brave as you, but dye was a clever solution. Whether or not the shade was wrong, objectively speaking, one wouldn’t enjoy wearing it if one felt uneasy in the color. And buttons, your brain just never stops, does it?
Your mother’s dress is 100x nicer than anything mother-grandmother-of-bridey in stores. Fresh, modern, a nice balance of minimalist and romance.
Your daughter’s polka dot shirt makes me swoon. That’s the pattern I’ve been looking for! She’ll have work mates wanting to buy it off her back.
And masks. I think I”ll give one of these a go. Looks like we’ll be needing them for a longer time than I thought, since professional grade protective masks are still scarce here in the US. If I can hack it, I’ll make extras for neighbors and our local hospital for non emergency use.
Lovely video for a lovely coat. I especially enjoyed viewing how you made your buttons. Sensational! Plus, I have been wanting to try one of those needle threader gadgets. It looks very fun! Thank you for the sewing video!
I love this post and watched your Vlog on the coat . There are a few things I loved about your vlog . First I loved seeing that you stitch over pins like I do ( naughty arent we ?). I loved the process of dying the fabric and then the buttons . and I am in love with your needle threader . I am struggling with needles and am going to check this out . It looks like it is Japanese ?
The coat and dress are a WIN . A lovely combination of colors and style . WELL DONE . Also do you use aan old Bernina ? Your machine looks rather familiar!!