Coat Check

Earlier this week, I finished the Oliver + S School Days Jacket.  I'm quite pleased with the results and can hardly believe that I sewed a wool coat.  Holy smokes!

I'm going to give my first official pattern review here.  I'm borrowing some of these questions from PatternReview.com which hopefully doesn't upset any of the kind folks over there.  Sure, I could come up with my own questions but these are good ones and I'm feeling a bit lazy after all that sewing this week.


Did it look like the drawing on the pattern envelope?  YES!  It really does look like the drawing and the photographs on the Oliver + S website.

Were the instructions easy to follow?  They were very clear.  I usually have one (or two or three) moments in every pattern where I can't figure out what the heck the directions are talking about.  There were none of those moments with this pattern.


What did I particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  It's flat-out adorable, if you ask me.  And with the option of using an oilcloth fabric to make a raincoat?  I'm sure I'll be unfolding this pattern again in the spring.

There was a good amount of hand-sewing at the end (to attach the lining sleeves and hem to the wool).  I've never done hand sewing before and it took me awhile to get the hang of it.  There's a tutorial on the Oliver + S website that eventually helped but for awhile I just stared at it and couldn't make heads or tails of the photographs.  Honestly, I think this is my fault and not Oliver + S because once I got the hang of it, it made perfect sense to me.

I also had some difficulty top-stitching through four layers of wool to finish the jacket.  It took a good half-hour of forcing the fabric between my presser foot and feed dogs before I realized that I could raise my presser foot even higher.  Once I figured that out, it was a lot easier to top-stitch!

Was the difficulty rating of the pattern accurate?  Yes and no.  This pattern is rated three scissors (out of four).  Before the hand-sewing, I felt that the project was probably over-rated in terms of difficulty.  But between the hand-sewing and top-stitching at the end, I think it is a fair assessment.  Maybe now that I know how to do a blind stitch, finishing up a second coat would be easier.  I would say I'm an advanced beginner in terms of sewing level.  It took me about a week to make the coat (a few hours a day).  So it is a bit time-consuming but not as much as I thought.  My hope was to debut the jacket for Thanksgiving and I finished a lot sooner than that, obviously.


Did I make any pattern alterations?  No.  I thought about sewing in a loop to hang the jacket.  I was afraid the jacket would be too heavy and pull on the stitches if it was hung from a loop.  In hindsight, I wish I had gone ahead and done that.  I haven't sewn the snaps in yet and I'm not sure if I will -- it stays shut and hangs nicely without them.

Is the sizing accurate?  I'm not sure.  Dag is two-and-a-half and fairly tall.  Since the pattern and sizing are unisex, I went ahead and made the 3T, thinking it would probably fit better and last longer.  It's bigger than I'd like on him (the sleeves have to be rolled up but I think it looks cute and shows off the lining).  If I could do it over, I'd probably go with the 2T which would be a trimmer look now and I'd have an excuse to make another one next year.


Would I sew it again?  Would I recommend it?  Yes and yes!

Overall rating:  I'm giving this 4 out of 4 spools (a rating system I just made up).  This was a lot of fun to sew.  I'm a little sad that it's done. 

Which brings me to the quilted lining, which is not yet finished.  I decided I wanted to make my own bias tape so I ordered a Clover bias tape maker and will tackle that next.  I'm not in a hurry for the vest since it's 60 degrees here right now.  The fabric is quilted and ready to be cut.

There you have it!  If anyone has any questions about the pattern, please leave a comment or send me an email.  I'm more than happy to talk about making this jacket (as you can tell).  And I hope I've inspired someone else to tackle this very satisfying project.