Self-Designed DIY Red Coat With Statement Collar

What could be more cheerful, uplifting and perfect for winter than a brightly coloured coat? My DIY red coat really is a do-it-yourself project because I designed it myself using a coat that I saw some time ago on the Karen Millen website as inspiration. I should say at this point that my coat isn’t a recent make, no siree. I made it over 2 years ago but have never blogged about it I have no idea why….?? But hey, better late than never is what I say.

DIY Red Coat…all the details:

So let’s dive into the gory details of my make. The luscious warm-toned red fabric is a heavyweight boiled wool jersey that I bought from Truro Fabrics. It’s not cheap but the quality is oh, so, fab. I know that many people sew boiled wool just on its own as a single layer for lightweight garments and that’s great… you don’t have to hem it or neaten seams because it doesn’t fray. However, I wanted a really warm winter coat with all the bells and whistles that that entails. My coat has proper hems, two-piece, sleeves, zip closure, double thickness collar and a quilted lining. Oh yeah!

My starting point for the body shape was a very plain, basic shape, roomy coat pattern. I extended the fronts beyond the centre lines that so that they overlapped asymmetrically and there are bust darts. The back has a centre seam and short darts on the shoulders for a nice fit. The side seams and back seam curve in towards the hemline for a slight cocoon shape.

For the sleeves which are two-piece ones, I also used the pattern pieces from another coat pattern. Generally, this tends to be how I work…I always combine pattern pieces from more than one pattern and then adapt and change them to how I want them. I find it so freeing!

I did quite a bit of hand sewing for greater precision and to avoid stretching the fabric. In some parts, I just left raw edges to keep bulk down to a minimum. You can see this on the pockets, the edges of the facings on the inside edge, the strip of material that hides the zipper tape and the underside of the collar. Here are a few detail shots for you to pour over and scrutinise :).

• 

• 

• 

• 

Statement Collar anyone?

Talking of collars…I knew exactly how the collar should drape and how I wanted it to look, so I ended up draping the collar on Celia (my dress form) and playing with scale until it looked like my vision.  The collar’s made from two layers and as you saw in the photo above, the top layer simply wraps over the underlayer and is handstitched in place.  I haven’t used any interfacing anywhere on the coat so that it keeps the soft feel to the fabric. I feel like the heavy fabric is enough weight on its own

The lining is a standard dress lining that I quilted onto lightweight polyester batting. It adds a real feeling of luxury and makes the coat incredibly feel warm and cosy. 

Whenever I put my red coat on I feel wonderful. It instantly lifts my mood and feels like a big hug. Don’t you just love it when clothes make you feel like that? Tell me about something from your wardrobe that makes you feel fabulous in the comments. I’d love to know.

Thanks for stopping by and showing my blog some love. I’ll be back next week with something a little unusual, so stay tuned!

Pin For Later