Sapporo Coat

A quick post about my Sapporo coats! I really loved the pattern as soon as I saw it popping up on Instagram and bought it soon afterwards. It is an oversized cocoon shaped coat with slanted pockets by Papercut patterns and is available as a PDF or paper pattern. I made a ‘coatigan’ to begin with, using a diamond pattern textured wool fabric from my stash. I bought this fabric a couple of years ago on eBay, with the intention of making a coat but realised it was quite soft and prone to pilling which put me off using it. I almost didn’t finish making it but I was persuaded by the good people of Instagram! It worked really well as an unlined soft jacket . I overlocked all the seams which made it very quick, and hand stitched the hems for a neat finish.

I made the smallest size and reduced the length by about 2-3 inches but didn’t make any other major modifications. As predicted, it has bobbled quite a lot but is still wearable and I’m glad I finished it.

Next I was ready to tackle the real thing. I used a teal and black wool boucle from Fabworks. It has a subtle grid pattern and is thick and warm. I made the smallest size again, and modified the shell by reducing about an inch at the dropped shoulder seam and a similar amount from the whole sleeve seam and the side seam. I did not reduce the length this time.

I really liked the lining fabric pattern which is a pretty lilac and blue flower print on a black background from Stone Fabrics. Stone Fabrics is in Devon but they have an excellent mail order service where you can telephone your order through to the shop and pay for it by card.

I found inserting the lining a bit tricky, partly because I had modified the pattern and also because I had never bagged a lining before. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube which helped me to understand the process and it worked out eventually!

I wore it for our anniversary day out and it was really comfortable and warm. The fabric does tend to catch on things, it’s a bit like Velcro!

I really enjoyed making this coat and it has given me more confidence to try other coat and jacket patterns. I’d love to make a bright wool coat for next year and have spied some great patterns such as the Rumana coat by By Hand London and the Sew Over It Cocoon coat (available with Lisa Comfort magazine). Do you have any coat patterns you would recommend?