Animal Print Demin Wrap Coat | Simplicity 8217

I sewed a coat!  Well, it's just a wrap coat, but it still counts :-)

I stitched this up a few weeks ago when Texas had a "cold" spell and I realized I had no coats appropriate for 30 to 50 degree F weather. Everything I packed and moved is more appropriate for the bitter Minnesota winters I left behind.

The pattern is Simplicity 8217, which apparently just went OOP (out of print). Of course I discovered that right after I published a short video reviewing the pattern on my YouTube channel (I'll link it at the end if you're interested.)

This coat first caught my attention when I saw a version on Instagram in a fabulous pastel colored wool.  Even though I don't wear wool (hello itchy skin!) I knew I'd like to sew myself a version of this coat. The pattern was released in 2016 and I sure wish I had sewn it sooner than two weeks ago.

Let's chat about the fabric for a moment. It's an animal print denim! Plus it has silver sparkles on some of the spots. Oh, I loved it the moment I saw it on the shelf at SR Harris. This was one of the fabrics I picked up in September when we made a visit to Minnesota.

Did you notice that there is no belt around the back of the coat? That's because the two ties in the front are sewn into the front dart just below the bust. I love that! For two reasons:
1) Having the tie above my waistline gives me the illusion of a smaller waist, and
2) Belts on my wrap coats would always work there way out of at least one belt loop when untied so I'd be walking around with the belt practically dragging on the ground.

Now when I want to wear the coat open the tie belt stays put!

The only alteration I made was to lower the bust dart by 1" and the placement of the ties by 1/2". The coat ended up a bit larger than I'd like in the shoulder area and I may go down a size in that area next time.

The lining is a bright orange silky print from Fabric Mart Fabrics.  I had plans to use black lining but decided to have bright pop of color instead.

In addition, I added piping between the facing and lining. I think it's a nice extra touch. 

I added labels on the facing along the lower right edge. Since the surgery, anything against my neck seems to bother me.

The blue label, which says "You Are Beautiful" was custom ordered from Dutch Label Shop. I added the size tag, the Handmade With Love, and a care tag in case the coat would ever be donated to a thrift shop. Although I don't really see that happening because I LOVE this coat!

I did have to stitch the facing to the coat to keep it in place. I stitched in the ditch (about 1-1/2" long) on both shoulder seams, as well as the center back seam. Here's the inside of the center back facing showing the stitches.

Pockets are a necessity with coats (at least in my opinion) and this coat has inseam pockets. They're black as I added them to the coat before deciding to use the orange fabric for the lining. 

Can you tell I'm really pleased with this coat? It certainly wasn't a complicated coat, but it was still fun to sew - and even more fun to wear! 

By the way, here's the link to my YouTube video review if you're interested.

Blessings