Schools Days coat take 2

I finished my last post talking about the O+S school days coat I was making for my son. Well it's finished, has already been worn to death and is dirty already!

My little boy's coat is super soft pale blue cashmere, lined with a tangerine elongated dot from the Freebird by Momo collection (the actual print is called 'eggs' and the colour is melon). I really wanted a contrast lining, and this looks so lovely on my little guy, who has strawberry blond hair. I had initially wanted to use one of those cute Japanese prints for the lining, but decided not to in the end as a) I wanted a contrast and most of the boyish ones were blue/green, and b) most of my favourite prints were canvas weight, and I thought that would make the jacket too bulky, especially as it's only a sz 18-24 months.

If you're making this coat, I really recommend checking out one of those bead shops to find the leather cord. I looked everywhere and was about to use a leather shoelace, before mum told me where to look. The shop I went to had leather and a man-made leatherette cord in a heap of colours, including many brights. The leatherette would be a good choice if you plan to dry-clean your coat, and the dry-cleaning process can often make leather stiff and crackly. The man-made option is also very soft and super strong.

There's not much else to say that I didn't say in my last post. Except my son loves his coat too, and both kids like wearing their matching jackets together. They recently stood the test of a cold Melbourne escape and got a lot of positive comments.

I feel like my sewing is stuck in cement lately, so much inspiration but so little sewing time. I am itching to get sewing for the new baby, and to make a few more Winter garments for the kids.


The finished coat. The colour is a bit off here - the photo below is much more accurate.


I love the lining :)

New Winter coat

My mum and my sister have a fabric business and one of the perks for me is cheap fabric! On their last buying trip I asked them to look out for a few metres of wool to make the kids new Winter jackets. Typically, they couldn't settle on just one, and shipped back more than a dozen metres of gorgeous wool/cashmere and plain wool. Heaven!

I have had the Oliver + S School Days Coat pattern for a while but have never tried it out due to not having had the 'right fabric'. Now I do!

The jacket was surprisingly simple to make. It's a lot of work (if anyone knows of a company that will trace off and cut our your pattern pieces for you, please let me know) but all very straightforward. The instructions also had a few tips for working with wool, such as grading the seams and having a wider topstitch, and they gave really nice results.

I was intimidated by working with wool but it was so forgiving. Lots of ease so setting in the sleeves was a piece of cake, and it was even nice to cut out.

The lining is a quilting cotton by Sandi Henderson - medallion bloom from her Farmer's Market collection. It's one of my favourites but I wasn't sure about using it for the coat. In any case Sweetpea decided she had to have it, and I'm pretty happy with the result, even though I would have preferred something to contrast with the pink wool.

The jacket fits really well, with enough room to layer a jumper underneath it. Sweetpea adores it!

I'm working on my son's coat now and am really excited about it. I love that's he's still too little to have any say in the fabric choices, so his jacket is just how I want it.


The finished coat. I choose to use toggles and leather cord rather than buttons.


The coat has the option of concealed snaps or velcro. I chose velcro as it's easier for the kids to mange on their own.


The lining. Sweetpea's choice but it's not too bad at all.


The jacket has lots of topstitching. I followed Liesl's tip and made mine a quarter inch, and love the results. I pre-treated the wool by hand-washing it in woolwash then laying it flat to dry. I plan to wash the coat in the same way.