In hindsight, jumping right into another coat tailoring project right after my duffle coat might have been a little much. But I fell in love with the fabric, saw this similar orange tweedy coat for $400 at J. Crew, and thought, “Oh what the hell.”
Did I get a little burned out, especially when I had to go back and cut out the interlining I laboriously put in to make it SUPER WARM but only ended up making it too heavy and stiff to wear? Yes, yes I did. But do I love the finished project? Oh yes I do.
FABRIC
That gorgeous tweed is from Linton Tweeds in England, who got their big break working with Chanel back in the 30s (!). It arrived in about three days and is just lovely–heavy and soft, with great body. Considering the quality, it really isn’t all that expensive, either, even with shipping (especially compared with $400 J. Crew RTW).
PATTERN & FIT
This is the Grainline Yates coat and, like the Grainline Cascade, it’s beautifully drafted. All the tailoring for the lapel roll is done with just interfacing and it worked wonderfully. This time I didn’t deviate from the interfacing instructions except to add a back stay, since the tweed is pretty loosely woven.
Like the Cascade Duffle, I cut a size 12 even though my measurements put me in a 10. The shoulders are (again) a little big, but I added shoulder pads (and a sleeve head) for now; the fit isn’t 100% perfect but I’m also not getting any smaller as the years pass, so I’m sure I’ll grow into it.
I lengthened everything by 4 inches and redrafted the back to be a single piece so I wouldn’t have to deal with matching the houndstooth pattern.
DETAILS
I used contrast! royal blue! flannel back satin! for the lining (which I had on hand) and ordered more satin bias from Pacific Trim for a lining detail. I added an inside welt pocket again and the snaps are faux tortoiseshell from Mood. (I was not about to attempt buttonholes in a loosely woven tweed right next to a seam, no thank you and I said good day, sir.).
FINAL THOUGHTS
I ended up documenting most of the steps of making this on Instagram and saving it to a story highlight (“Coat!” at the top), which you can find here if you’re interested.
I haven’t touched a woven fabric or interfacing since I finished this, but I do love it. And we can thank Doc for the excellent pictures; he even suggested the mural on the side of the Hawkwatch building for a background, which I love.
