During lockdown, with plenty of time on my hands, I decided to make a Quilt Coat. I’ve got a degree in fashion so combining quilts and clothing was an obvious next step for me.
I used the Sapporo coat pattern from Cloth Kits and altered it to make it work with quilted fabric, moving the pockets to the side seams and removing the lining.
It is quite daunting to begin with, but the actual pattern is fairly simple, it’s the finishing and fit that’s the hardest part. I wanted it to be as neat as possible on the inside, so once I’d cut my pieces out of the quilted blocks I bound all the edge with narrow bias binding.
Sewing all the blocks together was pretty straight forward, though working with quilted fabric is a lot different to working with single layer fabric, even thick wools, and having several seams from the quilt meet at the side seams can be a tad challenging to sew/press.
This was a real labour of love and a great challenge to set myself, there are some things I would do differently, simplify the quilt pattern and make the ends of the sleeves wider, but these are things you can’t really learn until you give it a go.
Although I said ‘never again’ after I finished this coat I will probably make myself another coat at some point- how else will I be known as The Crazy Quilt Lady of North London?!?
