Checked wool coat
This blog post is a cooperation with Minerva. They gifted me this amazing wool blend fabric which I used to sew an egg shaped coat.
Back in November I made my first ever coat. It was very intimidating at first, never having made outerwear before and I was a little scared. But everything ended up being fine and I had so much fun making it! I knew I needed to make another one to complete my winter wardrobe – winters are long in Austria and I like to have more than one coat to choose from. :)
This Minerva wool blend coating fabric is just perfect for a long, oversized coat! I have seen these in stores and always wanted to make my own. The fabric itself is a beautiful wool blend that will keep me super warm on cold winter days. I combined it with a black viscose-poly blend lining to make it even warmer. I like to line my coats, it gives them a more professional look and feels better when wearing it. Especially wool fabrics can be a bit itchy on bare skin so it feels better when the coat is nicely lined with a smooth lining fabric.
Pattern
The pattern I used is from Burda easy magazine issue 04/2019. Their patterns are great because they are very simple and easy to make. I chose this one because it’s THE perfect egg shaped coat pattern, and super easy to make! It’s very beginner friendly and does not take long at all. In fact, it took me less than 10 hours including the lining – the pattern did not come with a lining so I had to make one up myself (which is super easy, I showed it in my Instagram stories – you can watch it in my highlights if you are interested). If you sew it without the lining, it probably takes less than 5 hours including cutting time. Which is basically, compared to other patterns, no time at all!
Sizing/Fit
I made the smallest size, a 34, which I usually go for when it comes to outerwear or oversized patterns. I’m only 1.62m, so I usually need to shorten everything – I cut 5cm off the hem to make it a little shorter. Other than that I did not make any alteration. Due to the oversized shape of the coat I had no fit issues at all.
The wool blend was a dream to work with. I used a standard needle and it worked just fine – I went very slowly whenever I had to sew several layers to avoid breaking the needle. The lining was a little slippery, but overall it was easy to sew. I decided to add two big buttons (from my favourite local button shop) and one snap fastener on the inside to close the coat. I will wear it with a big scarf anyway, so I didn’t feel the need to add more buttons. I prefer to wear it unbuttoned anyway :)
