Sewing a winter coat can be a relatively easy project. Am I kidding? No! It can be! I’d love to show you how to sew a winter coat (that’s easy). I’m not talking lots of seaming, collar work and welt pockets kind of winter coat, but easy-to-sew winter coat. Here are my three top choices right now for winter coat sewing. I’m going to choose one to start, and share previous coat-sewing makes.
- Choose an EASY coat. If you want a tailored, traditional looking coat (with collar but I promise it’s EASY) and a belt, the Easy Coat from Christine Jonson fits the bill. I promise it’s easy to sew.
- If you want a no collar, with a hood option (and no buttonholes or zippers), I present to you a vintage pattern and a NEW release of that same pattern you can buy now, New Look 6585. I swear to you I own this in a VINTAGE Simplicity version and you can see how I discovered that in my video below.
Let’s start with what you’ll need for these coats. Christine Jonson recommends any coat-weight fabric. If you’re in a warmer climate, you could use twill, denim, medium weight wool. If you are in a cold climate, you will want heavier weight wool (coat weight) WITH Kasha flannel-backed satin lining. This one features button front, patch pockets, a tie belt. The coat buttons all the way up, or the collar (which is EASY to sew, promise, with foolproof results) can be left open.
The New Look coat which has a hood, requires double faced fabrics like double faced fleece or wool (it won’t have a separate lining.) However, the vintage version of this DOES have 2 fabrics and I will share with you the differences there. It’s the SAME COAT (see the video). If you live in a very cold climate like I do, you may want to interline the coats – that is, to sew a thin layer of batting or insulation like Thinsulate, to one of the layers, as you construct the coat. If your wool fabric is thicker, you won’t need this, the flannel backed satin will be sufficient. Thinsulate might even be too warm for most climates these days (save Maine, Alaska, and the northern tier states!)
The NewLook coat also can be made in a single layer wool if the back side is also nice looking. This is a great option if you live in a slightly warmer climate.
Here’s a previous blog post on sewing coats, and includes the Easy Coat!
Even with no coat-making experience, these are beginner friendly coats to sew.
Not into sewing coats? Wool coats are one of those things you can find at thrift stores! You should look over it carefully for moth holes, and definitely get it cleaned before wearing, but a good wool coat that is vintage will last decades more. Or raid your mom or grandmothers’ closets!
A winter coat is one of those ‘fancier’ garments that’s a reward to sew. You’ll wear it all the time, over everything, so choosing good fabric is well worth your investment. You can find coat weight fabrics at local indie fabric stores, or on their websites, you can find coat fabrics in estate sales or sold online as deadstock fabric. And there are a lot of online retailers (Gorgeous Fabrics, Mood Fabrics) that sell coat weight fabrics. My LFS has some here: Seams Sewing and Mercantile.