Winter Mood - DIY Quilted Coat

I just made the winter coat of my dreams and somehow I still cannot believe how well it turned out. I have been pinning quilted coats on my Pinterest board for the past year but had not gotten the chance to make one yet. So when I had the opportunity to collaborate to make that happen, I jumped at it right away.* If you’ve been thinking of making one too, I hope this blog post is helpful.

*PS. This was a paid collaboration with Fibremood and their partners, Polytex Stoffen and Mettler Thread. This review however is 100% my feedback on the project. I was not required to write this post.

Fabric Details

I fell hard for this cotton quilted fabric when I first got it. It is such a gorgeous beige color, with relatively thick padding yet a lightweight feel to it all at the same time. I knew it would make a gorgeous coat but I was also intimidated by it. This was the first time I was working with quilted fabric and because I have a basic sewing machine with no walking foot, there were areas that shifted a little bit while sewing. However the slight wrinkle look of this fabric makes it so forgiving that it was nothing to worry about at all. It’s 100% cotton and I used a little over 2.5 metres of it for this coat.

Pattern Details & Size Made

The Giselle Jacket pattern by Fibremood is a knee length coat with a zip, straight set-in sleeves, in-seam pockets, a standing collar, with slits at the side seams. It also features drawstrings at the waist to cinch in if desired. The pattern goes up to a size 57” in the bust and hips (65” for finished garment measurements). Although the size chart body measurements put me at a size L, I made a size M based on the finished garment measurements. My current measurements - Bust 41”, Waist 34.5”, Hips 44.5”

Now I will say that the instructions for most Fibremoof patterns I have tried can be improved to make it easier to understand (especially for beginner sewists). However in comparison to the Hunter Coat I made last winter, this one is much better probably because it has less pattern pieces. With that being said, here are a few tips to make your experience a little better.

Hot tip 1: I prefer PDF versions of Fibremood patterns because seam allowances are included (vs. the magazine pattern copies).

Hot tip 2: Read through the instructions before you start. I typically tend to make notes in my instructions for future reference too. You’ll thank me later.

Hot tip 3: Seam allowances are listed on only one page in the instructions booklet and not mentioned at all during the steps. I am not sure why but this is not the most efficient way as the seam allowances are not always the same for all steps. I typically get around it by making notes in the steps if the seam allowance is different for a specific step. That way, I am not scrolling back and forth while sewing.

Hot tip 4: Fibremood PDF pattern pieces are only labeled by numbers. For example, if the front piece is the number 1 piece, you’ll see that the physical pattern piece will only be labeled with the number ‘1’ and will not have the description ‘front piece’ along with it. I don’t know why this bothers me but it does so I take the time to write the description on the actual paper piece so I am not spending time trying to figure out what each number stands for.

Pattern Adjustments

I made some slight adjustments to the pattern but I think it made a huge impact on how it turned out. It also felt more like my style so review the style lines of the pattern and decide if you wish to omit or add anything. Remember that a pattern is simply a baseline for your creativity.

1. Hem - I straightened out the hemline and omitted this slits. This was easy to achieve on the pattern paper. I simply extended the side seams where the slit notches ended and straightened the hemline with my ruler.

2. Pockets - I mean, who doesn’t want pockets on their winter coat? Although in seam pockets would have been great to have, they didn’t look the best in my opinion because this coat has no lining so they just flap around inside the coat. To avoid that, I chose to make patch pockets instead.

3. Zip placket - If you look at the style lines of the coat, you will notice that the zip placket (which is the flap that covers the zipper and has snaps on) rests quite a few inches above the hem of the coat. I simply preferred to have it as close to the hem as possible so more cold breeze can be blocked haha! I did leave the zip liner as the original length though (you’ll be able to see it in the photos with my jacket open).

4. Hand stitching - This is not an adjustment but I think it’s worth mentioning. I chose to hand stitch the collar closed once I attached the seam binding instead of stitching in the ditch per instructions. I think it made for a much cleaner finish. If you know me, you’ll know it takes a lot for me to choose hand stitching first so I won’t judge you for following the instructions hehe.

Another important thing I would like to note is that because I read through the instructions prior to even cutting out the fabric, I did not follow the order of construction of instructions to the tee. The last three things I sewed to complete the coat were the zip placket, then patch pockets, then drawstring insertion. I was comfortable doing this because I had made sure that it would not screw up any other sewing step for me if I chose to wait till the end. I was making changes to both the pockets and placket and could not decide on until I was close to the end and I think it paid off.

Things I would do differently?

There are definitely a couple things I would consider doing differently if I make this again.

1. Drawstring - I’ll go for a simpler drawstring and a single hole cord stop. I thought I was being “fancy” by choosing to use an elastic cord as the drawstring. Although it ended up working out, it took forever to get the cord through the drawstring channel because I didn’t consider how bulky it would be since I had to loop it through the channel twice.

2. Zip placket - Next time, I’ll make sure my zip placket sits flush with the hemline. It sits about half an inch above the hemline for this version and I cannot decide if it bothers me or not.

I think I have covered everything but if you have any questions or I missed any information that may be helpful for you, please let me know. I will be sharing a video of the inside of this coat on my IG but I somehow forgot to take videos to share here. I may update the post later and share some but for now, please enjoy additional photos of my coat below.

Happy Sewing,

Sylvia XOXO