Making this coat was a true test of patience. Though I never considered abandoning the project, there were moments when I thought time away in Area 51 (UFO closet) would be a good thing. I stitched and un-stitched every seam - except the back and center back. This is not an exaggeration; there were errors galore. And the funny thing is the part about which I was most worried caused ZERO issues this time around. Sigh.
Let's get on with the last details.
Lining
After setting the sleeves, it was time to sew and attach the lining. For the most part, this went relatively smoothly. Attaching the facing/lining unit to the shell was a whole other story.
The issue I had with attaching the lining to the coat was with the collar. The instructions from this pattern say to:
- sew the under collar to the shell
- sew the upper collar to the lining
- work some weird Burda magic in joining these two together
I constructed the collar and stand as one unit and sewed it onto the shell. Then, I sewed the facing/lining unit on top - sandwiching the collar/stand in between. I had to be careful with sewing and measuring since I had already trimmed parts of the neckline (facing and shell) from the first attempt. This is the inside of the collar/stand unit.
For bagged jacket and coat linings, I leave the opening in the side seam for turning right side out un-sewn in case I need to access the interior. The opening is finished with a narrow hem (not shown in the picture below).
I attached the bottom hems by hand along the serged edges - leaving a generous jump pleat.
I attempted to sew the sleeve lining and shell hems the same way, but it just was NOT working. I could not get the sleeve hems to (again) lie flat without puckers or pulling. So I used the opening in the side seam to pull the sleeves to to the outside and sew by machine.
Picture on the left shows the sleeve and lining matched at the underarm seam. Picture on the right shows me preparing to orient the seams to pin right sides together. It can take some finagling to get this to work and it can be awkward to pin. As long as the under arm seams are matched, pinning the edges right sides together isn't too difficult.
Here are some more pictures of the interior:
Buttonholes & Buttons
After finally getting the lining in and pressed, the last thing to do was add buttonholes, buttons, and to make the belt.
Sewing the buttonholes went okay...except for placement. I measured twice and double-checked before starting.
Deeeeeeeeeeeep sigh.
I can try to move the button a little higher to align with the yoke. It's unlikely I'll button the coat this high anyway, so wonky button placement is here to stay for now.
Sewing the buttons was a pain in the ass and also required some stitching and unstitching. See, I closed up the bottom hem before adding the buttons because...of course I did. That makes total sense, right? *facepalm* Since I was not undoing the bottom hem (which would have made things easier), I took the scenic route and sewed the buttons maneuvering through the tiny opening in the side seam. That worked well (read: it did not).
Belt
The belt should have been easy. LOL Famous last words when everything else took multiple attempts. For some reason, I made this comically long belt that could have wrapped around my waist multiple times. I have no idea what I was thinking.
You can't see from this photo that the belt touches the floor. At this point, I just had to laugh because there was nothing else to do. I tried to shorten this belt, but I had already trimmed the seam and topstitched. My patience was razor thin and I had enough fabric to start over.
I cut another belt out of the remaining yard of fabric, but I cut it with 4 inches of width instead of 5 inches. 😬
Belt number 3 was cut to the correct width and length. This is better proportioned with the length of the coat. I do not have yet have a buckle and may not add one. I am DONE done.
Can you even see it? It's there...somewhere lost in the print.
Final Thoughts
Despite the many troubles I had with constructing the coat, I am very happy with how it turned out. I love the print and all the details. The lining is a fun bright surprise and it's very comfortable to wear.
I spent a lot money on fabric and materials because of the mistakes. The first time I made this pattern in 2015, it took three yards of cotton twill and a visit to Kenneth D. King's studio to help with the facing situation. This time, I used just short of six yards of fabric, nearly half a brand new 1093-yard spool of Gutermann thread, and multiple cuts of interfacing - all to correct multiple errors. The facing debacle from 2015 did not occur in 2025.
It's all good. I have a coat that I will enjoy wearing.
This coat completes the third item on my 2025 Make Nine grid. I'll do an update on that soon.
For now, I'm working on another button-front shirt and getting ready to cut out two dresses for spring. I've got a mini collection of orange and green going on and I want to get these pieces sewn.
I've also made another selection from the Garment Grab Bag: Butterick 6686. I'm in the process of making a muslin and already have selected the fabric.
I also have some handbags to make (two for gifts) and one to go with the collection. I'll be a busy little sewing bee for the next few weeks.
Thank you for joining me on the Floral Trench Coat journey. I wish I had taken more pictures of the sewing process. I've considered starting a YouTube channel showing actual sewing. But I also don't want to be out there like that and I don't know if folks would be interested in watching videos with no faces shown. I'll think on it some more.
As always, thank you for reading!
L
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