New Winter Coat!

Sorry for the covered face but I took this picture at 6:30 in the morning and it was not pretty.  However, the picture showcases my new winter coat really well so....

The pale blue is a wool poly blend I got from Fabric Mart in one of their many wool sales.  It was $10.50 a yard and I ended up with three yards.   The pink wool is a strip of wool I got from Tricot Cafe which is down the street from where I live.  I think I paid $10 for the entire strip but I don't remember.  I bought this all last year when I thought I'd make the new coat.

I last made a winter coat back in 2013.  I've been wanting a new one for the past couple of years but decided, this year, I would really get to work on it.  :-)

The pattern:

Simplicity 8298 from 1977.   I bought the pattern along with a bunch of others from a lady in Idaho.  My copy is a women's size 14 so I didn't have to play with the size on it much.  Going from a jacket to a winter coat that would need to accommodate bulky sweaters means that I want the jacket pattern a bit on the big side.

Some edits I did:

The original jacket is unlined so I had to create a lining pattern. Really, most of it was just cutting one of the fashion fabric and one out of the lining but the front "flap" had a facing.  So I traced the front pattern piece on to some Christmas wrapping paper that I don't like anymore and then I traced the facing on top of that.  The piece that was "left", I added a 1/2" seam allowance and cut that out as the front lining piece.

The various wrapping paper lining pieces and the sleeve lining

I also lengthened the jacket pattern by about 3" so it would be more of a winter coat.  Since I wanted a hint of pink in the coat, the side front already came in three pieces - I just added the pink wool by cutting out the middle side front from it.  I also took the rest of the wool to make a belt that ends in a big ole butt bow in the back.  Because.  

Construction:

Overall, the construction was fairly basic.  Side front to front.  Side back to back.  Ect.   I did add hem lace to the inside of the coat because I didn't want the flannel backed poly satin to unravel like the hellish material it can be.   I also didn't want to double roll it so...hem tape it is!

Close up of the hem tape

Overall lining of the coat

So far, so good.  I might add a hook or another button because the top of the coat fits slightly off.  It's not a big deal and the coat is quite warm.   Hopefully, I won't have to make another coat for a while!