Some Assembly Required

I've had this coat for a long time.  Only, if you really want to belabor the point, it's been in pieces for a long time, not assembled.  I made a version of this coat years ago for my youngest daughter, who was Cruella DeVil for Halloween, out of a faux fur in a dalamation print. (sorry, no photos of that one - I looked, but it was awesome!!  You'll just have to take my word for it!)

I loved this style of coat, and sewing it up was relatively easy.  The reason why it sat in various stages of completion for so long (ahem, I betcha I've had it cut out for at least 9 years) is a bit of a winding story that involves a significant lack of sewing mojo, picking up the pieces, sorting it all out again, noticing that pattern pieces were missing, packing the whole thing up to move to another house, another period of a complete lack of sewing mojo, picking up the pieces again, noticing that pattern pieces were missing, then having the whole mess being completely separated from the envelope, etc., etc., etc...

Anyways, fast forward to two weeks ago.  I needed winter coats.  I found the pieces again as I was looking for something else (yes, organizing L'Atelier is certainly on my list of things to do, but the impending Polar Vortex put making coats up higher on the list!).  Amazingly, I was STILL missing the same pattern pieces as I had been years ago.  I had a light-bulb moment of searching on the internet for the pattern number, and realized that I not only had one copy of this pattern, but two! (FACE-PALM).  And in my recent pattern clean-out, I knew EXACTLY where they were in my newly much smaller but still huge pattern stash.

So, long story short, the stars aligned correctly in my universe, and I found the pattern pieces for the lining and FINALLY cut out the lining.  I found the directions, figured out where I was in the whole process and stitched together the rest of the coat (in very short order, I might add!!).  And I love the results.

Without further ado, I give you my version of Butterick 4619, which I think is now OOP.  Both of the patterns I have are in sizes 8-14, but I think it also came in 16-22. I found a few copies on Etsy and Ebay when I was searching for the pattern images.  I used a large black and white herringbone in a heavy wool coating fabric.  As you can imagine, I have absolutely no idea where I purchased the fabric from.

The coat is has a yoke design that incorporates the front shoulder and the upper back area, which I really like.  It has a centre back seam and vertical darts in the back, as well as vertical darts in the upper front area just below the yoke seam, and vertical darts in the front at the waist area.  The design offers lots of places for easy fitting adjustments. The facings are in one piece with the centre front  pieces so it cuts down on what would have been a bulky seam in this coat, which works really well with the heavy fabric.

There are side seam pockets included in the original pattern, however, I lost the pieces that I had cut out a while back, so I continued on without them.  The coat features a one piece sleeve, but features a dart at the elbow for shaping.  This works very well with the heavy coating fabric I used.

Once I had the directions and figured out where I was in the whole process, the coat was very easy to sew together. I am most certainly making this coat again.  The fit is very flattering despite it being a bulky fabric.

I think I am ready to survive for winter weather with one long and one short coat.  I have plans for a few more because who wants to wear the same thing every day, but for the time being I think I can safely say, "Bring it, Polar Vortex!"