Grainline Cortland Trench in Light Gray Linen

Been on a coat/jacket sewing kick lately. Living in Los Angeles, it doesn't get too cold, so this Grainline Cortland Trench is perfect for the weather. 

Specs

Fabric: 4C22 SILVER GRAY Softened linen for the outer. Cotton+Steel quilting cotton from my stash for the binding (leftovers from a dress I made a very long time ago, always loved this fabric)

Size: 0 (smallest size)

Mods: none at all! Made a muslin - sleeves fit great, length was good. 

This pattern is an unlined A-line shaped trench coat, with bias bound seams. For some reason, there aren't many FOs of this pattern out there. I'm not really sure why but maybe I can speculate: the design is a little plain for some people; not many need a short unlined coat, more like a jacket anyway; bias bound seams scare a lot of people; released during the height of the pandemic so it slipped under the radar of a lot of people; smallest size finished bust measurement is 41" which is quite high. 

Pros and cons

Whatever the reason, it's a shame because this is a great pattern. It's very well drafted; all my seams lined up well. The collar pieces were "a dream" to sew up. It was my first time sewing a bias cut under collar and that actually worked really well. I would like to incorporate it into other patterns. Also love how nicely the collar stands up. Probably one of my favorite collars I've sewn thus far, haha. 

I did make the smallest size, which as mentioned ends up being a 41" bust, which is 9" of bust ease for me. If it were storebought, it almost looks like a medium on me. Especially with the A line shape where it gets even wider at the hip at 45.5", also 9" of hip ease. I would love if it were more like a 39" bust, which would skim over my handknit sweaters well. I thought about grading it down manually, or scaling it down on the computer, but I'm worried that would introduce other problems. The most I might do is to remove the A-line shape at the hip. 

handstitched collar stand was actually very quick and looks very nice!

A hybrid of seam finishes

So I didn't love that all the seams in this coat are bias bound (HK seam method). I much prefer flat felled seams, so that's what I opted for on the seams. The facing and the pocket edge pieces are bias bound. Unfortunately, the seam allowances on this pattern are only 1/2", which is not typically used for flat felled seams. But I made it work anyway. For the most part, it was alright, doable. It's a good thing my fabric is not too thick but if it were thicker, 5/8" seam allowances would definitely be required. I had trouble for the seam up the side and the sleeve, which is always a difficult seam but made harder with the narrow allowance. I'll definitely alter the pattern to have 5/8" seam allowances if I make it again.

Different welt pocket construction

The pocket construction confounded me before I finally understood that it was sewn in a cheat way: the welt is sewn by itself first. Then it is placed on the pocket opening and a rectangle is sewn around the finished welt, then it is cut open. Usually, the welt is created as a result of the rectangle sewn. The pattern's way is quite clever, but you need to stitch the short edges of the welt down at the end, which could end up looking unprofessional if not done carefully. Handstitching would probably be best. 

Instead of this way, I opted to follow how it's done in this Thread Theory tutorial. For each pocket, I had 4 pieces: 2x welt facings, 2x pocket linings. For the welt facing, I used bottom pocket bag at half length; for the pocket lining, I used the top pocket bag. Then I serged them together (the only time I used the serger for this project), so you have 2 identical pieces of fabric for each welt pocket. If I had enough linen, I would've cut the facing and lining together. It was still quite easy and ends up looking very professional thankfully. I still bias bound the pocket edges per instruction.

my pretty sewing label :)

I think this "coat" will serve me well in the mild climate I live in. If I can figure out how to remove the A-line shape at the hip (surprisingly harder than I thought), I would sew this again.