Underlining The Sports Coat

When I saw this navy and grey woollen fabric from Ditto, I knew it would make a fabulous version of The Sports Coat.

I decided to make a few alterations from the original. I shortened it by 10cm/4in and dropped the neckline by 1.5cm (just over ½in) at the centre front.

To accommodate the new neckline and the lack of stretch in my trim fabric, I recut the collar piece as shown – (this is 1cm squared paper). This includes 0.5cm seam allowance.

The checked fabric is soft and loosely woven so to prevent ‘seating’ I decided to underline it. I cut the main garment pieces in the lining fabric first then tacked these to the checked fabric, before cutting that out too, I then overlocked each piece. This step could be substituted with Hong Kong binding.

I cut two collar pieces in the trim fabric and with right sides together, stitched the inner curved edge, taking only 0.5cm seam allowance. The collar was then attached as shown in the instruction sheet.

This shows the interior - the underlined pieces are made up following the instructions as if it were the unlined coat.

As you can see I used jumbo snaps to fasten the coat.

The finished garment is a great relaxed style.