Women's Unlined Coat in Melton
This is a coat I made for my mom’s birthday. The time constraint meant that I had to improvise a lot on this one!
The fabric is a lovely (and expensive!) Melton that I still wouldn’t have cut by now if not for the due date. I used Butterick’s B6385, except I did not include the body lining. I also replaced some of the turned edges with bias tape finishes to reduce bulk. The interior seams use a Hong Kong finish (even though Melton doesn’t fray much at all).
This is the first project where I ended up doing a lot of hand stitching. The thickness of the Melton really lets you stitch just about any way you want without it showing on the other side of the fabric.
- The binding on the collar, pocket openings, and hem were hand stitched to the wrong side
- All seams and facings were hand-felled down
- Topstitching was done by hand in a thick thread (I really liked the result of this)
- All keyhole buttonholes were done by hand
- Lining pieces had to be hand stitched as well because I didn’t do research on how half-lined garments are supposed to be constructed (actually, I still haven’t… maybe they really do just hand stitch it).
- In many seams, hand basting was needed for testing fit to compensate for a not-so-thorough toile fitting.
Needless to say I spent quite a bit of time stitching with movies playing in the background.
Overall, I’m really happy with the results, and I think I will be more willing to freestyle in the future if it means getting more projects under my belt!
