I am not ashamed to admit that I am a Burda fangirl. So when I saw this coat in the October 2020 issue, I HAD. TO. HAVE. IT.
BurdaStyle #114
It's labeled as a vintage-era trench coat. I don't care much for vintage clothing; the era wasn't particularly a good time for Black people in the States. Has there ever been? I digress.
But this coat? Let me tell you: I am all over it. Look at the line drawings:
It has dolman sleeves with integrated gun flap, hood, extra large pockets, and a very full lower half. As you can see, the back flap is also integrated with the sleeve. LOVE THIS.
Because I got strong Obi-wan vibes from the grey version, I knew I didn't want to use a neutral color. So I opted for this bright wool-cashmere blend. Fabric Mart called it "pacific blue" but it reads "smurf" to me so that's what I'm going with. =P Hence the project title: Jedi Smurf Coat.
The coat is all drama, so why not lean into it with a bright ass color?! When I showed bae the fabric, he said, "well, at least I'll see you." LOL
The pattern takes almost 6 yards of fabric and given the cost per yard of this wool, I was not going to cut blindly. I figured if the muslin wasn't looking good, I will have two or three smurf-colored coats in my closet.
So far the muslin looks promising. The top part fits reasonably well over a sweatshirt; I still have to sew on the bottom half.
I got stumped on sewing the pockets in the muslin. People who regularly sew Burda magazine patterns know that the instructions often do not make any damn sense; this is definitely one of those times. I have no idea what they are trying to say; I'll talk about it in the next post.
This is not going to be a quick project. Burda rates it with 4 dots which means it is a difficult pattern.
There are eleventy thousand pieces - many of which are huge in size. I haven't even traced the lining pieces yet. Oof.
I plan to use some light tailoring techniques: sew-in hair canvas, back stay, twill tape to support high-stress areas, and maybe bound buttonholes. I've never done bound buttonholes before; I might chicken out at the end and just use snaps. I also intend to thread-trace some of the seam lines for more accurate stitching. Yeah, this is going to take some time!
I haven't decided if I am going to shorten the coat. On the model, the coat is midi length.
At my height, the coat will probably cover my ankles. I'm always cold, so this isn't a bad thing. But I don't want the coat to be too overwhelming.
I'm going to try to blog through the construction. Foolin' with these dayum pockets created the need for me to talk to SOMEBODY about this. Hah!
Here's where I am so far:
- completed muslin of upper part with hood
- figured out a way to sew the pockets that is a vast departure from the instructions
- need to cut out the back muslin of the back lower half and stitch together
