Winter is long and tiresome. This year in Paris, we had snow, hail, cold, and rain—a real winter like we haven’t seen in years. As with every season (and that’s what I love about fashion), I try to find styles composed of items from my workshop, bought in stores, or, more recently, thrifted from Emmaüs. Today, I’m here to tell you about my latest winter sewing project, the Douillette coat from Cousette. And yes! Cousette has started making sewing patterns. My favorite from this first collection: the Douillette Coat. Its particular features: its ultra-masculine long, wide, and straight cut, its slightly dropped shoulders, its double button placket with 4 buttons, its tailored collar, its welt pockets, and its back vent. This is exactly the masculine cut I was looking for to create style without too much effort. And to fully embrace the masculine look, I reversed the buttoning direction, which is typically to the right for men.
OK – I can already hear you asking where I found this fabric: well, it’s a wool fabric from Bonpoint that I found at Sacrés Coupons in Paris. I had been looking for THE perfect houndstooth for a trench or a coat for years. I had found some, but they either had checks that were too small, or the color wasn’t right. If I have any advice to share for sewing this coat, when it comes time to connect the vent to the lining, do this seam by hand; it will be much simpler. Also, if you are using a rather flexible wool fabric, don’t hesitate to fuse the front pieces with an appropriate fusible interfacing.
Elaine
Douillette Coat
My dear readers,
Winter has been long and tiresome. This year in Paris, we had snow, hail, a very cold and dry weather, we also had some rain… a true Parisian winter as we hadn’t seen around for a few years. As every season (and this is what I love with fashion), I try to come up with styles made out of clothes that come straight out of my workshop or that I bought or thrifted. Today I am coming to you with this coat from Cousette. Yes Cousette is now into patterns, and this is my go to pattern from this first collection of their’s: the Douillette coat. Its particular features: The masculine long, large and straight cut, the slightly falling shoulders, the double row of boutons, its tailored collar, the welt pockets and its back slit. This is exactly the type of masculine cut that I have been wanting for some time now, for an effortless city style. And to play even more with that masculine look I inverted the closing of the coat to the right as it is done with men’s coats.
OK – I already hear you asking me where I got the fabric from: Well this is a 100% wool fabric from Bonpoint, and I got this from Sacrés Coupons in Paris. I have been looking for this houndstooth fabric for ages, but never found the right size or right color. If I have a piece of advise to give here it’s regarding the vent at the back: No need to use the sewing machine when connecting the vent and lining. Proceeding by hand is much more simple. In addition if you are using a light fabric, do not hesitate to fuse the front pieces with an appropriate fusible fabric.
Elaine
