Several years ago somebody gave me a purple boiled wool coat.  Of course I loved the fabric and the color, but never really cared for the style or the fit.  It was a bit big on me and I found the built in scarf annoying.  I tried to pull it out of the closet at least once a winter to wear to church, though.  🙂

Fast forward a few years and I’ve dropped 60 lbs.  This is how the coat fits now.

Well, that’s how it USED to fit a few weeks ago.

Until I got this pattern…

…and made it fit a little better.  Like this:

Or this, if you prefer it buttoned up.

Rather an improvement, eh?

Here’s my review of the pattern and a few details on how I did it.

Pattern Description: Princess seam women’s coat in two lengths, two piece sleeve, choose of two collar styles, patch pockets or inseam front pockets.

Pattern Sizing: Per usual, I made one size less than my measurements called for. In this case I might have gone for the actual size based on my measurements. However, I’m in the process of losing weight, so it’s all good. 🙂 Right now I can only wear a single layer underneath. When I reach my weight goal, I should be able to wear a sweater under it, too.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Everything was good except the directions for the collar seemed odd to me. I just did it the way I usually put in a collar.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I like the princess seams and the simple lines. I wouldn’t have minded if the pattern was a little more fitted in the waist and less boxy.

Also, the pockets are rather skimpy.  I realize there’s only so much room between the princess seam and the front facing, but another inch or so would have been great.  In the photo you can see that’s as deep as my hands would go into the pockets.

I haven’t worked with a Burda pattern before and found their markings a little confusing. I’m used to the diamond shapes for marking notches, not just a single line, so I missed several of those while marking.

Fabric Used: I cut this coat out of a boiled wool coat I had that was way too big.

The way I did this was to remove the two patch pockets, then take the coat apart into two fronts, a back, two sleeves and the scarf/collar thing. I tried to keep the linings, facings and other details intact. I then laid out the patterns on their corresponding pieces. This way I was able to reuse the buttonholes and front facings from the original coat.

I left all the bottom hems alone until it was all done, then trued them up to the longest length I could get. I laid out the sleeve hem (with lining attached) right on the hemline on the pattern. Voila, didn’t have to make a sleeve hem.

My original coat was not princess seamed, so I’m fortunate it was so huge to begin with. Otherwise I would not have had enough fabric.

I also had to piece in a bit of the scarf to make the ridiculously short sleeves long enough for me.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Lengthened the sleeves. Ignored all but the top buttonhole placement, and only put on three buttons to correspond with the original coat. (I never button the lower ones on a long coat anyhow.)

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I probably only need one coat like this, but liked the pattern and would recommend it to someone with some sewing experience.

Conclusion: A fairly basic coat pattern.

Happy creating!

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