I saw this
Leanna Marshall cape coat pattern at
JoAnn this summer and was immediately inspired to begin working on my first piece of outwear. JoAnn was having a pattern sale and I purchased this pattern for only $2.00! Wanting to copy the envelop sample almost exactly I found some light gray heathered sweater knit and purchased all the store had, 1 1/2 yards.
I used the body measurements chart on the back of the pattern envelop and decided to make a size 12, meaning I needed 3 yards of outer fabric to make the long version of this coat. I only had 1 1/2 yards, but kept looking for matching fabric every time I went to JoAnn... which was admittedly quite often. Not finding the fabric I needed I eventually turned to the sewing community through a few different Facebook groups and found an amazing woman who was willing to ship her matching, uncut yardage to me for only the cost of shipping. Kayla, THANK YOU, I truly couldn't have completed this project without your generosity!
As I said above, this coat was my first outwear make and it was also my first lined jacket in a decade. The pattern was coming along quite well, until I tried to add the lining to the outer portion of the coat. The instructions said the front lining panels should be smaller than the corresponding outwear panels, but they were the same size. I was stumped! After setting the project aside overnight and coming back to it fresh I discovered that I had accidentally cut the front lining piece from the same pattern piece as the outer panel. It wasn't just me, it really was too big. Using all the correct pattern pieces the lining was easy to install.
I chose a two-way separating zipper to make the coat as versatile as possible. The installation was very interesting, with the zipper on the left side of the coat being sewn face down and turned 180 degrees each time its zipped up. This technique keeps the zipper tape inside, it isn't exposed when I zip the jacket up. My only issue with this zipper is that the pulls hang below the bottom of the coat, so I have to unzip the bottom of the coat about an inch to hide the bottom pull. I'll need to be more careful when installing zippers in the future, especially if they aren't a two-way separating zipper.
Even though I cut the front outer panels at the same time, the left side ended up about an inch longer, even after letting the coat hang for a few days. I'm not sure what I did there, but was able to correct this issue by inserting that extra fabric into the cape, making the two front panels match. To finish the cape I sewed a Dritz magnet to the edge of the point, and ended up adding an extra one on the other side as well to ensure the closer is secure. I'm not sure how I feel about these magnets; there weren't any pre-made holes. I had to sew through a thin layer of plastic, which ended up bending my hand needle. We'll see how they wear, but I'm not sure I'll use them again.
I love how this pattern turned out and can see myself wearing it fall through spring. I made it roomy enough that I can easily layer under it, although I would probably size down one size in the future. I really like the cape when it lays down across my shoulders but its not a very functional hood for truly cold weather. Thankfully the weather here is pretty mild and I can wear my new jacket right away!
Time estimate: 32+ hours
Size: 12
Fabric used: 100% polyester sweater fleece from JoAnn and cotton blend lining from my stash
Care instructions: machine wash normal, cold, nonchlorine bleach, tumble dry low
Cost to make coat:
pattern - $2.00
fabric - $13.50 for 1 1/2 yards
fabric shipping - $13.50 for additional yardage
two way zipper - $12.00
magnets - $18.50
*used lining fabric and thread from my stash
TOTAL: $59.50
