My first reaction to this coat was a bit melodramatic. Whoa, this coat is a balloon!
I knew what I was getting into, the pattern’s line drawing makes it clear that this is a cocoon-like coat. (I love that Burda calls it a “hinted boule silhouette”.) Within minutes I was pinning it in all over the place to reduce some of its volume. Although I finished this peach version of the shell a week ago, it took a couple of days of stepping back, taking a bunch of pictures, letting it have some quality time on the dressform to change my perception. I’m not going to be walking around with my arms splayed out like I do when I’m examining fit, thereby exaggerating the shape.
Of course, my “muslin” fabric is also exaggerating the shape by the way it floats a bit stiffly. The “suede” was a bit of a mystery buy dug out of Joann’s mega-clearance pile in the home dec section, but it was perfect to try out sewing on a nappy fabric. This stuff is so groovy that I might even transform it into a coat of its own. (Perhaps it’s something like polyester microsuede? It’s a woven with a satin-y reverse.) It has the softest feel, and in one of those peachy coral colors that can never do wrong by me.
An interesting thing about this pattern is the fact that the armholes are quite low, landing almost an inch above the bust dart. I should probably check and see if that is typical for one of Burda’s raglan-sleeved coats. Normally that’d make for some immobilizing sleeves, but there’s a lot of room to move around: the ease right above the bustline is something like 13 inches!
The smallest size on the pattern sheet was a 38 so I graded down to a 36 and I’m glad I did since this style has so much room. (Are you curious how to grade down a multi-sized pattern? I figured it out from this PR tip about grading up a size–I just did the reverse.)
My actual coat fabric is very soft and drapey and so I think the whole shape will relax into gentle folds. I’ve been lusting after Persian lamb fabric since last winter; something about it reminds me of my grandmother’s couches. I’d describe it more as a velvet than a faux fur, with rippled curly pile. (And no, it’s not real lamb fur, although apparently there is a real.)
There are a few little changes I need to do before cutting into my “fur”. The original pattern has an exposed zipper closing up the front. Since I’m replacing the ribbon trim with a leather binding I’ll have to sew the zipper into the binding somehow. That’s this week’s puzzle! The sleeves were shorter than I expected, but now that I’m looking at them in pictures, I might even shorten them more. It helps balance out the proportions and a wrist-length sleeve would probably just look overwhelming. I really don’t want to turn into Blueberry Girl. I’m okay with “boule”. French just makes everything sound better, no?
Interesting! It definitely stands out more in your stiff muslin fabric than in the Burda photo (I do quite like that “muslin” fabric, too.) It’s an interesting shape and the shoulders fit very well, so I think you’re probably good to go…
Selfish Seamstress did tutorial somewhere on the Burdastyle site about grading down… probably the exact same technique you used
Oh, I didn’t know she did a tutorial–I’ll go check. It seemed to work pretty well and thankfully there were only four simple pieces. Thanks for the cheering; I’m happy enough to plunge!
I might be a crazy drama queen, but I kind of love this “muslin”! The color is just so gorgeous and the shape is voluminous, but not theatrically so. I especially think in the third picture down it looks lovely.
it does look like a balloon!! it must be very comfortable though – and I’m glad you’re not using real lamb fur because the process of making it is gross and can be considered as torture!
ooooooooooh i hope you take this coat out of muslin status! it’s so dramatic!
and that UFO purse above needs desperately to see the light of day. you make the best stuff.
awww, thanks. It’s going out of muslin status and near cutting status! And I should definitely finish the purse. Oh it’s so hard to get to these things… I hope your move is going well!!
Well, it might look a bit “whoa!!!”, but I’m liking the silhouette! It’s dramatic and different, which are things that I like to have in my me-mades! I can’t wait to see your persian lamb version. I have a very old length of faux persian lamb – I think it’s actually rayon – that I use for hats, collars, betls and various other kinds of trimming on coats for my kids. It sews up beautifully, although I always have to vacuum AND dust after cutting the stuff!
I think I kind of LOVE this! The shape is on trend. I will admit the muslin color may be influencing me. But, for reals. I like it.
I can sure fit a lot under it! It was time for me to try something crazy. With the muslin, I seriously love this color peach. It was a total mystery fabric but I want to keep touching it!
I love cocoon coats—looking forward to seeing your finished coat!
And thanks for posting the link on Persian lamb, real vs. faux. I never knew there was a synthetic Persian lamb! I have a coat of my grandmother’s that has what must be a fake Persian lamb collar. I plan to refashion it, someday..