Seamwork’s Jill Coatigan

I’ve been very distracted lately with life, and although I peek in on sewing social media, I haven’t really been doing tons of sewing or knitting myself, so one day I decided I needed to take a morning and sew something.  If you remember I’ve been trying to sew up more of my Seamwork patterns.  What I like to do is search the Instagram tag (for example #seamworkjill) for one of their patterns I think I might like to sew, you know, for inspiration.  That’s when I ran across a very lovely version of the Jill Coatigan.  It’s one of the patterns from Seamwork’s December 2017 collection.

At first glance, this is not a pattern I would typically jump on.  I usually like more fitted garments, but I seriously fell in love with this version by Beth from Sew DIY, and I had to make it.  I even found the fabric she used because I wanted one just like it.  I was so relieved to have found and purchased the very last few yards from my local JoAnns!

So my measurements put me in the smallest size for the pattern, and it’s nice that the pattern includes an ease chart, so I could see even in the smallest size, I would have several inches of ease for a loose fitting coatigan.  I also made the asymmetrical front with an oversized lapel, one of the pattern hacks from their magazine’s Block Paper Scissors article.  I reduced the amount I extended the front lapel though by a few inches and by 2″ at the bottom.  I also shortened the length of the pattern by 4″ because it’s supposed to hit at mid-thigh and I’m 5’3″, and I shortened the sleeves by 1″.

Now remember when I said I’ve been feeling distracted lately, well I managed to screw up every step of sewing this coatigan together.  Seriously folks.  Every. Single.  Step.  I spent more time seam ripping than sewing, but I really wanted to make this work out even though I really wasn’t into it.  I finally had to take a step back and a week later came back to finish it up.

I eliminated the kick pleat in the back, mainly because I used a knit fabric, so this isn’t restrictive in the least when I walk.  Of course when I hurriedly took pics I forgot to take one of the back, but it’s basically plain and simple back there, so you’re not missing anything.  I do love the angled oversized pockets though!

Here’s a look at the inside facing.  This isn’t as much of a fabric hog as I thought it would be, and I was able to squeeze it out of 3 yards of 60″ width fabric.

For construction I used my sewing machine for the neck/collar/shoulder areas, serger for the rest of the seams, and coverstitch for hems.  The fabric is a heavyweight boucle knit, and it leaves a bit of fuzz behind, but I think that will reduce as it’s worn and washed.  I do think I could’ve added the full amount of extension to the front lapels to get the drape I was after, but that’s ok, I still like  it.

If you’re interested in trying out Seamwork yourself, you can get your first month for $3 using this referral link.  I get a free month when you use the link too, so a little something for me and a little something for you 😉  I do love seeing which patterns come out each month though, and I really love this current month’s dress.  That may be my next Seamwork pattern, but there’s just so many to choose from!  Also, you can use your Seamwork credits to choose from Colette patterns too, something I’ve taken advantage of since I amassed quite a few Seamwork credits.  One feature I like is that I can pause my membership without losing my status, so if I’m not crazy about their pattern releases, I can pause my membership so I won’t keep accruing credits.

Anyway, I’m pretty happy with my new coatigan, and I love that there’s such a thing as a coatigan!  Living in a “mild” climate area, heavy wool coats are really unnecessary.  You know what’s actually kind of funny about this whole experience is that I didn’t even know boucle came in knit form.  I thought it was only for wovens!  I love discovering new-to-me fabric.  Is there a fabric like that for you?