Coatigan Silvia by Schnittchen is slowly taking over all my social media. I think I've seen in almost everywhere and it has slowly grown on me. Normally I prefer fitted coats but seeing coatigans over a few weeks I went from "hmm... this is interesting but I don't think it is for me" to "OMG! I must make it!". It was Lauren's
coatigan that pushed it over the edge for me. She just looks so chick and effortless! So I purchased the pattern and this weekend I was set to make it.
There is not much to say about the
pattern itself. It didn't take long to tape it and I didn't even have to trim the edges of the paper at all. That's always a plus! I fell in between the sizes and seeing that this is an oversized garment and I generally up to this point wasn't comfortable with oversized items, I decided to go with the smaller size. I am happy with the size I picked, it fit perfectly and I didn't need to make any alterations to it. Well, except for the sleeve length. But that alteration is so common to me since I have to lengthen every single sleeve, so I don't even count it as a major change.
The instructions are not the best. They do not have any pictures or much explanation to them. The translation from German is not perfect either and some parts of instructions are very interesting. But if you have made a coat before and have some experience with sewing, it's not bad. I've read over the instructions once before I started sewing and I ended up not following them. I am pretty sure I've added some extra steps, took some steps out and merged others. I didn't even try to read the instructions on how to line the coat as I always follow Grainline Studio's
tutorial on bagging a jacket . Jen is amazing and her tutorial is very good. It does take some head scratching at first, but once you go through it step by step it's so straight forward. I am never lining a jacket any other way!
I used a coating blend fabric from my stash. It has been waiting for it's moment since 2009! I bought it back in the day with an intention to make a warm winter jacket, but I never got around to it. The fabric is a pretty lose weave and I doubt it would make a very warm jacket. It also frays quite easily, so I am happy I waited on it since I don't think I would have had the patience and experience to treat it right back in 2009. The lining is also from my stash. I used some kind of black polyester lining fabric I had. It's not quite my favorite Bemberg, but at least I didn't have to buy it!
I ended up lowering the button placement. The original placement looked weird on me, probably because I am tall. I just tried the finished coatingan on and then decided where I wanted to button placement to be. I used a sew-on snap closure instead of the button as well. I like how the snap is not showing from the right side, so it is quite invisible when the coatigan is closed.
The coatigan turned out exactly as I anticipated. In hindsight I could have added another 1/2" to the sleeve length, but it is not bad the way it is. It is also not very warm, but it is just perfect for the spring and fall wear. I feel so cozy wrapped up in it and a scarf! It is also roomy so if I want to add extra layers under I definitely can do it. The bagginess of it is definitely growing on me even more. I probably will be wearing this pretty much every chance I get.
Love,
Anya
P.S. I am wearing a
Hemlock Tee under the coatigan which I will blog about later.
