Hey, guess what? It’s a coat-making project from the drafts vault. I have always, always, always wanted a Duffle coat, but for some reason I’ve never owned one. I’ve had this Burda pattern in my stash for ages and decided to finally take the plunge.
Of course, being me, I had to put a twist on it. Traditionally, you would make the duffle coat in wool fabric but I decided to make mine from Softshell. I’d got hold of a length from Minerva to try out and something made me think, yes, Duffle coat.
The fabric feels fairly lightweight but I knew from experience of RTW clothes that it offers excellent wind resistance and holds in heat if you are active. It has a smooth water-resistant outside and a fleece-lined inner surface so it doesn’t need lining.
I spent a bit of time doing some test stitching (who dis?) to make sure my machines could handle it. In fact, both of my machines worked perfectly well with no problems. I’d recommend a fresh Microtex needle to ensure a clean sew though.
The pattern itself is straightforward. There is a yoke front and back, wide sleeves and a simple hood. The first thing I did was upgrade the hood from the basic two-piece to a more modern three-panelled one. Apart from looking better, I find these fit my big-head-big-hair situation better, too. So I took five centimetres off each of the sides and then added it in a 10-centimetre panel for the middle of the hood. I made this in two pieces as a design tweak and to use a large chunk of fabric, but I actually like the look of the seam I created in the middle of the strip.
Almost as soon as I finished cutting out the coat I decided I wanted it to be more like a Parka so I fashioned a little tail for the back, I’m not sure this works and I may remove it later. I also thought a breast pocket would be cool. I spent a while drafting a great pocket with a bit of waterproof zipper from the stash. It wasn’t until afterwards that I decided this is too small to be of much use, but it does look good.
I made use of double-sided tape to hold elements in place before top stitching as you can’t baste anything, and I didn’t want to leave needle holes. This worked really well.
The closure was a challenge. I didn’t want to put too many elements on this coat as I wanted to retain as much of the rainproof quality as possible also I wasn’t sure that toggles would work, so I created an insert panel to put a zip into the coat, as luck would have it I had a zip in the perfect colour and length in the stash. It also means I can comfortably wear this while riding my bike. Hurrah!
One thing I noticed about the pattern that I wasn’t keen on is how long the body is. I set the waist drawstring at the point indicated without measuring (my bad) when made up the waistband was almost at my top hip. You can probably see it in the back view. I should have measured because I know I am short-waisted but for some reason decided to trust the pattern. This is a reminder to always check those sorts of measurements.
As I had to adjust the waistband, I made some tweaks after wearing this a bit. I have a soft-shell jacket that no longer fits me but has some nice details. It has some interestingly shaped cuffs, which I appropriated. They are more than decorative, they give some additional wind and cold protection, especially if you don’t have your gloves with you. These curved cuffs were easy to make and should have been easy to attach to the sleeves. .
Sewing in haste took its toll again in sewing up the sleeves and side seams I forgot to insert the cuff tabs so now I had to do a bit of unpicking to put that detail in place. (Spoiler alert, there are no tabs.
Final verdict. I’m feeling like a coat guru around here. I love how this turned out. Already tested in the wild and although there was no rain, it stood up well to some late winter/early spring cold, keeping me cosy and stopping the wind from blowing through me. I’m still not sure about my back fins, and I think it may be a size too big, even allowing for layers, but I will see how I feel after wearing it for a bit.
Thanks for dropping by,
LaineeMakes 