Pattern variation
A Statement Coat

Statement coats appeared in many of the designer collections at the Autumn 22 runway shows. Classic coat shapes were adorned with luxury embellishment, from embroideries to exotic trims.

For a wearable alternative, pair the rough with the smooth, mixing textured fabrics in a single colour hue.

For this coat I chose to make The Classic Coat in smooth wool and cashmere coating fabric, trimmed with textured bouclé for a deep hem and cuff treatment.

The bouclé is a much lighter fabric than the main coating fabric so this was overlaid on top. Here are the steps to recreate it.

I cut all the pattern pieces in the main fabric and chalked a line on each piece 1cm lower than where I wanted the bouclé to start. So on the front and back at 41cm from the hem edge and 31cm on the sleeve pieces. I cut two strips of bouclé 44cm x70cm for the front and back and four pieces 32cm x 20cm for the sleeves. The individual bouclé pieces are required due to the shaping of the sleeve seams.

I made up the front and back including side seams but only stitched the centre back seam down to 60 cm from back neck. With right sides facing I then placed the bouclé onto the coat butting the edge up to the chalked line. I stitched in place taking 1cm seam allowance, I trimmed this back slightly before pressing with a pressing cloth. I hand tacked the bouclé to the open three edges to hold in place while completing the coat.

On the sleeves I stitched the bouclé pieces to each sleeve piece before making the sleeves up. Again I tacked the bouclé down on the open sides until completing the coat.

The resulting garment has a feel of understated elegance and luxury about it. The main coating fabric is from Rosenberg & son and is available in Navy, Black or Charcoal Grey.

The bouclé required is 1m of 150cm wide fabric. It was purchased from a stand at one of the previous Knitting and Stitching shows.