Draped Coat & Renfrew Top

I've had the Draped Coat pattern from Teach Me Fashion for some time and I finally got inspired to make it up after a trip to Tessuti with the lovely Deanna I picked up 2m of grey medium weight wool/poly blend, which I knew would be perfect for the coat. How did I know this? Well, it was the same colour as the one in the pattern cover photo - aren't I creative?!

First off, let me state that it was very windy today! My sister, Nat, took these photos and, while I know I could have waited for another day, I have a growing pile of unblogged clothes and I didn't want to add this coat to that pile. In the end we embraced the wind. See below photos  of coat billowing in the wind. 

Back to the Coat. This sleeveless shawl collared coat has just three pattern pieces: Front, back, pockets. Given this, and the unfitted nature of the coat it should be no surprise that this is a very simple sew! I whipped up the coat from start to finish in just over 2 hours. This time including cutting out the fabric and watching the pattern YouTube tutorial. Teach Me Fashion Instructions are brief and don't include diagrams, so the YouTube video provides a fantastic a visual guide. 

The only techniques used in the coat are stitching & finishing the pieces, hemming all around the coat & armholes, and creating one flat fell seam where the two font pieces meet at the centre back collar. Without a doubt this will be the simplest coat you ever make! The project is perfect for beginners.

I really like the finished product of the coat. I especially love the pockets! The coat is a little different to my usual style though. I generally don't like jackets to finish around my low thighs as I think they accentuate my bottoms/hips. The coat goes so well with jeans but I hardly ever where pants, and the style really wouldn't suit my fit and flare dresses or high waisted skirts. On the other hand. It's super comfortable, looks polished (when the wind stops blowing it around) and goes well over basic long sleeves. I think it would go well with knit pencil skirts, too! I may get more wear out of it then anticipated.

  

In these photos I'm wearing the coat with an Olive Merino Sewaholic Renfrew Top. It's so satisfying being able to make your own cardy's, t-shirts and other basics. Especially in the cold months! Every winter I go shopping for new long sleeve tops and they get worn so much, and the fabric quality is normally so poor, that by the next winter they need to be replaced. So, I bought the Renfrew Top pattern while the PDF copy was on sale. 

I was shocked at how many pages it was, but with 3 neckline and 3 sleeve variations I guess I shouldn't have been. Only one suggestion for improvement - the instructions helpfully tell you what pages you should print and put together for different the variations so you don't have to do it all at once. However, unhelpfully, there are no page numbers included on the PDF pages.

I immediately made 5 versions (two black versions aren't pictured), all size 8, all version A (round neck long sleeves), except for one with 3/4 sleeves. The pattern recommends 1.6m of wide fabric to make version A. I managed to get most of these out of just 1m each. I made 2 from merino (black & olive) and 3 from various weight cottons (a sheer black, white, and a gold/brown). I followed the instructions precisely for the first Renfrew and the pieces came together perfectly. The only change I made was use the overlocker for construction rather than my sewing machine. The next four Renfrews came together in a quick afternoon.

I think the fit is spot on for comfy layered long sleeves. I love the scoop neck but I will certainly be giving the cowl neckline a go soon. I absolutely adore cuffs and hem bands on knits as it means no hemming, i.e. no use of the sewing machine! However, I've found the extra thickness of the hem band under skirts and dresses a little annoying. I might make a few extra without the hem band by lengthening the bottom and hemming with a twin needle.

I have more Renfrew's planned as well as some Deer and Doe Plantains. Sewing basics like these has allowed me to begin wearing fully me-made outfits, which  I love, and control the quality of fabric used. My yearly tradition of shopping for long sleeve tops will now be happily exchanged for fabric shopping and sewing.

*Teach Me Fashion generously gifted me the Draped Coat Pattern. Of course, all opinions are my own.*