Project Run and Play: Sienna Wool Princess Coat

Hey y'all, it's Alida from I Make Stuff! I am so honored to be doing a tutorial on my Week 2 WINNING look!
Modifying the sienna dress pattern into a coat is not as hard as it may seem. With a few tricks you will be sewing up a beautiful wool coat in no time! I felted the wool so that it wouldn't fray (which=less work in the long run!) I used THIS tutorial.

First you'll have to cut your pattern pieces. I recommend going up a size from what size you'd make your recycled tee shirt dress because tee shirts are stretchy and wool is not so much :-)

The above is the bodice piece. The back bodice piece will be cut on the fold. The front bodice piece will be cut 2" away from the fold, then cut down the middle.

You need to add an inch to the sleeve length.

Now you'll make the bottom of the jacket, which is essentially a circle skirt. I used the bottom piece that we cut off earlier to measure along my circle. For the measurement of the top of the circle skirt you'll have to do some measuring. Measure along the bottom of the back bodice and the front bodice pieces and subtract 1". Use this as your radius. Dana from Made has a fabulous tutorial on this, so I will refer you to HER TUTE for the equation. When you are done cutting out the skirt part cut down the center of the front.

Following the instructions on LBB's pattern you sew the bodice pieces to the sleeves. (Please imagine that you DON'T see that the front is all hemmed and buttoned...I kind of jumped in to this project without thinking it through.) Pin together the front pieces so they don't move around too much. Sew up the sides right up through the sleeves (right sides together). Now sew on the skirt.

Now you're going to turn your jacket openings under 1" and hand sew the hem using a blind stitch. Do the same with the sleeves.

To make the collar you could use another equation, or you could just put the jacket top on top of the fabric fold and trace around it. You'll have a semi circle. Then measure out 3 inches and mark the outside of the semi circle. After you cut out that piece you will cut a slit down the middle front.

Now you're going to put the smaller end of the semi circle collar inside the neck hole and sew it in. Then flip it over and stitch in the ditch.

Almost done! Now all you have to do is trim up the collar to your liking and add buttons and button holes. You can also hem the bottom if you want but I didn't. The magic of felted wool!