It’s about that time when Manhattan starts to become a sea of grey as the winter weather rolls in and everyone wraps themselves in coats, hats, and scarves. I was dangerously close to hopping on the typical all-black winter look that has become the staple uniform of city-dwellers, until I noticed Mood’s wool/cashmere blends that come in over 10 delicious colors. How could anyone say no to this fuchsia?
The wool cuts like a dream, is soft to the touch, and doesn’t fray, so I immediately wanted to make something that didn’t require a lining or hems. Why complicate things, right? The Caladium Trench was perfect: featuring easy seams, a belted waist, and a gorgeous waterfall collar.
Fabrics & materials used:
- 3 yards Italian Fuchsia Wool/Cashmere Coating
- MDF009 – The Caladium Trench Sewing Pattern (Free download below!)
Pattern includes a 1/2″ seam allowance unless otherwise stated.
Since this fabric doesn’t fray, I went with very simple seams: sewing right sides together, pressing the seam allowance down, and top-stitching as you can see below.
To start off your jacket, sew the two back panels together to create a center back seam. The two front panels can be attached at the center back of the collar, which is shown by the dashed white line below. For this one seam, you can sew with the wrong sides together as the collar will be flipped outward and the seam allowance will fall beneath the collar if it’s on the face of the fabric.
Next, sew the dart on each shoulder of the jacket’s front panels. The front and back of the coat can then be attached at the shoulders, like you see below. When you reach the neckline,pause your stitching, cut a small notch into your seam allowance of your front panels so the collar can be matched up to the neckline of the back panel. Finish stitching.
Before sewing up your side seams, it’s time to add your pockets. Layer the pocket welt on the top of your front panel (right sides together) and your pocket lining just below the front panel (wrong sides together, depicted by the white dashed line below.)
Sew a rectangle through all three layers of your fabric. Cut along the dotted line inside the rectangle above, fold the welt fabric in toward the wrong side of the garment, and top-stitch it like below.
Fold your pocket lining in half and sew it closed around the remaining three sides. Viola! Your pocket is complete!
Finally, sew your coat together at the sides and add some optional belt loops at the center back and side seams. At this point, you should have a functioning trench vest! If you’d like to skip the sleeves, cut your armhole edges evenly and continue on to the belt.
If adding sleeves, sew the upper and lower sleeve panels together along the larger seam first. This it the seam that will be more noticeable and easily seen from the back. Top-stitch along this seam, securing the seam allowance, before sewing along the shorter seam. Once both seams are sewn, attach your sleeves to their respective armholes. Be sure to align your notches, and place the longer seam toward the back of your coat.
The last part of your coat that needs to be sewn is the belt. Stitch the two panels, right sides together, along one of the short sides. You should have one long strip of fabric with a seam in the center. Top-stitch the seam allowance and fold the strip along the length, again with the faces together. Sew along the three open sides, leaving a couple inches open at the center or at one of the ends to pull the belt right-side-out. (I angled my two ends, like you see above.) Top-stitch around the entire belt, making sure to close the 2″ you initially left open.
Easy, cozy, and chic – my three favorite ways for a project to end up. The raw edges can be trimmed and cleaned up, but I absolutely love that I didn’t need to hem anything (although I did choose to roll and stitch the bottom of the sleeves).
Personally, I want to try this pattern in every single color. Maybe an Ocean Blue next? What fabric are you going to use to make yours? Let me know in the comments!
47 comments
Beautiful.
Thank you!!
This is an absolutely beautiful coat!
I think I’m going to tackle this next week. I will have it completed just in time for my birthday next month!
Awesome! Be sure to tag it with #MadeWithMood or #MoodCaladiumPattern if you post it. I’d love to see how it turns out!
Lovely coat. When I clicked through the link above, the Achillea coat was downloaded rather than the Caladium.
That’s so strange! I just tested it and I was sent the Caladium. I wonder what happened there. Would you like me to directly email you the Caladium file?
I love this and I think I’m going to take the plunge. Ive been think about making a coat for myself but I’ve never made anything so complicated (or expensive). This pattern seems like an easy way to start. Do you have any particular thread recommendations?
Definitely give it a try, it was super easy! If you’re worried though, you can always try a draft with some cheap muslin to test the fit before you cut into a more expensive fabric. For this, I just used a basic all-purpose Gutermann thread. Color 345 matched this fuchsia perfectly!
How much material do you need?
3 yards
Can’t wait to try it!
Oh, YUM! I think I may need some of that wool-it has to be a dream come true to work with!
I’m in love! My mom and I are going to make this. I’m dying for that fuchsia! Thanks for the pattern!
I can’t wait to try this! Love the pink color! I entered my email address but I did not get an email with the pattern, I tried twice.
I sent one over for you! Let me know if it gives you any further trouble.
What is the seam allowance on this? Is it the standard 5/8ths?
Hi! Our patterns typically have a 1/2″ seam allowance unless otherwise stated on the pattern.
So chic. What kind of thread did you use? And did you use a topstitching needle for the topstitching?
Thanks! I just went with all-purpose Gutermann thread. Color #345 matches this fuchsia pretty perfectly. And no top-stitching needle (mostly because I am just super lazy)!
Love this coat!
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks for the awesome free pattern!
Do you offer it in a large file format for printing at a copy shop, to avoid the taping/piecing?
Thanks for reading!! Sadly, we don’t have large file format at the moment, but we are hoping to in the future!
I made this coat pattern with black velvet and lined it with a bright blue satin floral. It came out beautiful. It was an awesome and easy pattern to work with! Thank you Courtney!!!
Hi! I keep getting an error message when trying to download – is there a way around this? I’m an elementary school teacher and one of my 5th years wants to attempt this coat as a project!
Sorry for the inconvenience! The issue should be fixed now, but please let me know if it still gives you any trouble.
Hi. Making jacket love it if I wanted to line my how would I go about that . would I cut lining the same as jacket
Cheers
Yes, that should work fine! You may want to cut the coat layer a bit longer than the lining so it folds up as a facing along the hem, but that’s the only thing I’d change. 🙂
Thanks will take pic when done
There are no facings or lining?
Correct! It’s just a simple wrap coat.
Hi Courtney, i have a problem to fit front and back of the coat. They can’t be attached at the shoulders ;( it miss arround 1″ 1/2 !!! i took a picture, where can i sent it to you ?
Thanks in advance for you help.
Hello! You can email me at [email protected] and I’ll help you out 🙂
So beautiful-wish it would go up to size 30.
Just wanted to leave a comment for those outside of America….. I’m in New Zealand and we print on a4 paper but America uses letter size which is different, which means that when I printed this pattern, cut it and went to sew it up it’s way off. Up to 2 inches (4-5cm) in places I’m going to persevere and add in fabric but just a warning that you’ll have to do the same!
Thank you though for this pattern! when I eventually finish and sort it out it will be beautiful and I can’t wait
Thank you!! I was about to ask this. So in letter size should be fine? Thank you again for pointing this out.
I just purchased this beautiful fuchsia wool for a different coat pattern. I’m thinking that I would like to line it for a little more weight and ease of getting off/on. Any suggestions on lining fabrics? What weight would be good if I’m making a long swing coat. I’m thinking something fun and unexpected like a print but didn’t find anything in your lining fabrics.
Hi Diane, we have a post all about unconventional lining options! 🙂
Is there a test square on this pattern?
Yes, it’s on the first page! 🙂
Is there enough width for buttons to be added?
Yes, it does cross over in the front so you could definitely add buttons!
Hi! I’d like to try my hand at this, however I probably won’t be getting wool, is there an alternate type of fabric that would suit well this design? Thanks in advance!
Hi there! Acrylic fabrics are a great alternative to wool. 😀
Can I use a polyester boucle sweater knit for this?
Hi Francesca, if the knit is heavy and/or has the tendency to “grow”, I’d advise against it. However, if it’s pretty structured and sturdy then yes!
Thank you for get back to me so fast! I will post some pictures when I’m done. Thank you!