Grey Trench for Fall

The past couple of weeks, I have been working on trench coat using McCall's 5525. I am using a dark grey cotton/poly twill, and an animal print charmeuse for the lining:


I decided to use a cotton poly blend for the shell because of the durability and stain resistance that that type of fabric has over other types. I know that many people prefer natural fibers, but I don't have any issue with poly and given how clumsy I can often be, any type of stain resistance is a plus for me. However, it has a devil to sew once I got to areas where seams crossed. I ended up having to use a denim needle on it.


For the trench I used version E, which is double-breasted, knee length, with epaulets, pocket flaps, tie belt, back vent, and back buttoned yoke. It has a lot of nice details, similar to what is currently available in RTW:


Above is a grey trench from Banana Republic, which retails for $198.00. Here is one from Fred Flare that sells for $88.00:


And here is the Page Turner Trench from Anthropologie that sells for $228.00:


Trench coats seem to be big this year, and many of them have similar details to the McCall's coat. The pattern is drafted nicely, but there are tons of pieces and well over 100 steps once they break out all the parts for the different versions. I won't say that the coat is particularly difficult...but it is tedious. There are lots of details, lots of buttonholes, lots of top stitching. I finally finished it today, after a trip to the fabric store because I was ONE BUTTON short:


I'll get some photos of it on myself later on...I just can't bring myself to wrap myself up in a trench coat when it is still 85 degrees outside!

I made a couple of changes to the pattern, for example, using white cotton broadcloth rather than sew-in interfacing. I didn't have enough interfacing for the huge front pieces, but had plenty of white cotton that was unusable for anything else because it got washed with a bunch of colored cotton. Not on purpose, but I had a box of fabric in the basement that got wet when we had some leakage issues. It didn't damage the fabric, because the leak was minor and I caught it early enough that it never moldered or mildewed. However, I tossed everything into the washing machine not noticing that there was a huge length of white broadcloth mixed in. It is now vaguely pink, so I can't really use it for anything...hence, it's deployment as interfacing:



I also added sleeve heads along with the shoulder pads for a little extra shaping to the top of the sleeve. With the heavy fabric, I was getting a divot where the sleeve was collapsing at the shoulder. The sleeve head keeps that from happening:

Here is the finished product:


See anything wrong with it? Look at the sleeves. The little bands that go around the sleeves were ridiculously long. So, I remade them cutting the piece 3.25 inches shorter than the pattern piece indicated. Here are the revised sleeve bands:


The cutting lines were confusing for lining back, I almost took a notch out of the lining when I was cutting for the kick pleat:


The lining also calls for a TON of hand-stitching. My poor middle finger is as raw as can be (because I have no ability to use a thimble...it just falls right off!). Some of the nice details include pocket flaps (look at the Banana Republic sample, they are exactly the same):


One of the things that took so long to finish were all the bits and pieces:


There is also a back yoke/flap:


The flap is lined:


And pretty much EVERYTHING is top-stitched. Overall, I am pretty happy with the finished product. One thing I would warn folks of is that for a coat the sleeves are very narrow. Because I am impatient, I forged ahead without a muslin....but had I made one I would have caught that and given myself about another 1/2 inch of ease through the bicep.

Other than that, there are some very nice details...princess seams for shaping, a center back seam for contouring, and a full lining.

If I were to make this again, though, I would consider narrowing the belt. For some reason, that thick belt just says "home-made" to me. I don't have enough fabric to cut another, I may take it apart and narrow it, but for now I will live with it a bit and see if I feel better about it later. Another thing to watch is that there are a lot of pieces that they use a 1/4 inch seam allowance on. The tabs on the shoulder, the collar, and the sleeve bands all use a 1/4 inch seam allowance...I had to take more than one of them apart and fix that!

Also, with the bulky fabric and the interfacing, where there were multiple layers the buttonholes were a pain to cut open. But I have a trick for that....a box cutter. Normally I just use my fabric scissors to open buttonholes, but this fabric was just too tough. So, I got a box cutter from the basement and cut them open with that (don't forget to do it on your cutting mat, or a table that it doesn't matter if you put a big gouge in it).

I can recommend this pattern, though. Just be careful that you are following the instructions for the view that you are making, and just be patient as you work through all the steps.