For my latest Fabric Mart Fabricista post, I've made a minty winter wonderland coatigan!
This is the Jill Coatigan from Seamwork, which Seamwork describes as "an easy-to-sew, over-sized coatigan that can be made in chunky sweater knits and thick wool coatings." I immediately liked the shape of the coat and the angled pockets, and was encouraged by some of the cool versions I saw on blogs and Instagram.
Size-wise, I opted for a large for my Jill. My measurements put me at the high end of large for the bust and the low end of XL at the hip. I'm happy with the fit, although, especially in this fabric, I'm finding Jill to be more coat than cardigan. If I wanted more of a cardigan or was planning to use a stretchier/lighter fabric, I would probably go down a size.
The fabric I used is a fun mint colored wool/poly blend boiled wool knit from Fabric Mart. It's a low-stretch knit that I just treated like a woven, essentially. It has a cool nubby texture on the outside and more of a stable knit look on the wrong side. The mint is outside of my normal color palette, but it has a very pleasant ice-queen-y feel to it that I like! It got a lot of oohs and ahhs the first day I wore it to the office, so apparently mint is a popular color!
I didn't pre-wash the fabric, but just gave it a steamy press with my iron before cutting into it. The fabric has a bit of a minty/menthol smell; I wonder if it's a mothball smell? Or maybe I am experiencing some synesthesia with regard to the mint color?
Construction-wise, the Jill is really simple. My only gripe is that I wish the intersection between the hem and the facing in the front was mitered or done in a different way so you couldn't see the hem popping out. Also, I did my understitching on two different sides of the shawl collar, depending on which way it was going to fall when wearing it.
One thing to note: I was able to fit the Jill onto significantly less fabric than the pattern called for. I had over a yard left?!
One thing to note: I was able to fit the Jill onto significantly less fabric than the pattern called for. I had over a yard left?!
The Jill coatigan is unlined, so to make the insides look nice, I bias bound all of the seams and edges with printed quilting cotton bias tape leftover from last summer.
I had made a yard and a half's worth of continuous bias tape back then, which was a bit of a pain at the time, but I have used it to bind the seams on 4 garments now, including this coat (see Lander, Thea, Hvar), and still have enough left for another garment or two! Thank you for making so much pretty bias tape, past Meg!
I hand sewed the sleeves and hem, which is very unlike me, but looks very nice. The thick wool absorbed my messy stitches very well and the final result looks pretty sleek! I also used my clapper for the first time to press the seams flat, which was a joy.
I am loving my resulting coat(igan)! Like I said, the mint is not my typical color, but it's really unique, I think. I'm also pleasantly surprised that mint acts as a neutral and goes with everything? Who knew?! Here it's paired for dressed-up days with my new Rivermont Dress as well as for casual days with a Toaster Sweater and Birkin Flares.
It's quite cozy and I love the angled patch pockets and shawl collar. I'm tempted to make another Jill in fleece or sweatshirting for bopping around the house. A housecoat(igan), if you will.
Thanks for the fabric, Fabric Mart!