Burberry “Inspired” Coat

I finished my first creation of 2017 in March! Its been an insane 2 months – littered with many episodes of flu/cold/tummy bugs and two travels without the kids.

So this coat took a while. I first caught sight of the pattern Lekala 4298 years ago. The inspiration itself  was not a coat I’d normally buy, but I LOVE to sew those types of curves in the front. So this year, I finally made it happen.

I have a lot of good things to say about this pattern. I made almost no changes to the pattern except to take just a little bit in on the sides (maybe half an inch). The armholes are much lower than what I usually like, but it actually worked out well in very cold weathers for layering. I was really amazed at how the arms doesn’t look fat even though it has a lot of room – the pattern was drafted in such a way that the sleeves lie pretty flat against the body and looks slim from the front while giving a lot of room – Ive never experience this with other coat patterns! The arm itself is a little short, but I may have made a mistake when inputting my measurements. All in all – the made-to-order pattern fits really really well!!! I may try to make the waist more snipped if I ever remake this. But really, I dont have the wasp-y waist the model has. Lastly, as most patterns out there, they dont really give you the right pattern pieces for sleeve vent and back vent. I found that I needed to follow this tutorial to draft the vent, and this tutorial to sew the vent.

The material for this coat is not the best wool I’ve used. It is not as stable as I normally like, and the interface from walmart didnt stick very well. I used the luxurious 100% rayon satin though – and I LOVE it. I think I may walk away from synthetic lining forever.

after the last post, I also realized I’ve sewn three beige coats in a row. I am not sure what I think of that 😛

To see some of the inner details and progress photo, check out my instagram feed with the tag.

Here are the husband-grade photos:

The photos are taken in Boston over a really really cold weekend – or at least, by California standard. I really appreciated the longer length of the coat. The coat itself was not quite warm enough for 15F weather, but I found a perfect inner down layer in Uniqlo to pair with this. I hope the material last long enough through a few cold winters!