Even though our winters are a lot milder than they used to be I still like a big coat for winter, the sort you can put lots of layers on underneath and even a shawl over the top…a big coat!

In my enforced isolation with a mild dose of covid I decided to make a big coat. I had recently bought the September coat pattern from Merchant and Mills and that definitely comes under the big coat heading. I read a few reviews and decided to come down a size from my measurements so I made a 12 and it’s still very roomy.

I rummaged in my wool stash which at the moment is in my freezer, this is not as random as it sounds, we had an outbreak of carpet moths last year and they eat wool, as I had rather a large stash of beautiful locally made wool I popped it in airtight bags in the freezer to kill any potential larvae. It was meant to be there about 2 weeks but 12 months later it’s still there!

I found a length of a closely woven wool in a herringbone weave, it’s a length I bought from Marton Mills in Pool in Wharfedale when they had a pop up shop pre pandemic. I think it was about £12 a metre whereas in shops good quality wool tends to be at least £25. I also like the fact that it’s woven about 3 miles from my house. It’s a lovely soft shade of blue.

I also found in my stash a length of pretty jacquard lining in a silver grey and blue which went with it beautifully. I do like the jacquard linings for coats and jackets, it’s just a bit more interesting than a plain lining fabric and they tend to feel nicer too.

The coat went together beautifully, I find Merchant and Mills patterns are a bit like Vogue patterns with separate pattern pieces for linings and good instructions. I only made a couple of minor changes, it was meant to have a breast pocket too and the patch pockets were meant to be on more of a slant. I felt that even though the herringbone weave wasn’t too obvious, to put a pocket off grain could look a bit unbalanced. I also lined the patch pockets rather than just turning the edges under.

I’ve been wearing my coat all week, it’s very comfortable and easy to wear, I think another time I would leave the pocket flaps off as I think they detract from the line of the coat. The pattern is designed to be either winter weight or summer weight, it could look rather nice in a linen for spring or summer. I might go down one more size as there’s still plenty of room. I’ve had some nice compliments about it too which is always good!

Merchant and Mills describe the pattern as ‘Overcoat meets duster, a coat for striding through town or country with purpose’ I think that’s pretty accurate 🙂