All My Outerwear or "Do I Really Need to Sew Myself Another Coat?"

Friends, I found this wonderful double-faced Pendleton (or Pendleton-style) wool coating at It's A Material World (one of my favorite stores in the Garment District) last week, and I immediately thought I'd use it to make myself another peacoat using this vintage 1930's pattern I muslined a couple of years ago.

The fit was right and the style is perfect.  The question is: Do I really need to sew myself more outerwear this winter?  The answer is undoubtedly no -- I do not NEED another coat.  Which made me want to take an inventory of all my coats and jackets (not including blazers aka sports jackets) and you're invited to join in. 

So here goes: all my coats, from most-worn, to least-worn. This will be followed by jackets.

First up is this mountain parka I sewed from a vintage Daisy Kingdom pattern back in 2014.  It is without a doubt the coat I've used the most: I've worn it hundreds of time and laundered it quite a bit too.  It's wearing out and very faded, but I still love it and even considered sewing a new one this year, before deciding I'd squeeze another year out of it.  Such a versatile style, and, because it's lightweight, it's great for layering and for activities like hiking or biking around town.

When I sewed this faux fur coat for myself in 2017, I didn't think I'd wear it as much as I do.  It took a little getting used to as I'd never worn a fur coat before and I thought it was perhaps borderline "pimpy." But I wear it all the time, especially when the temperature hits the thirties or below.  It's incredibly warm (it's interlined with a layer of tightly woven nylon to make it windproof) and I can unzip it from the bottom so I can even bike in it.  Plus black goes with everything.

I can't believe I made this toggle coat in 2010--eleven years ago and with only one year of sewing under my belt.  I still love the way it looks but I actually don't wear it that much.  I find the toggles kind of fiddly and it's not quite as warm as it looks.  That said, I do wear it occasionally.  I made it from Vogue Sport pattern 8452.

 

I made this Donegal tweed wool peacoat in 2013.  I put a lot of work into tailoring it and it still looks great.  Honestly, I never wore it that much because I didn't think the color flattered me.  I also felt the original buttons didn't pop enough so I removed them and bought darker ones.  It also needs a new lining.

I have the new buttons and I have the lining fabric, I just have to ATTACH THEM.   So right now it just hangs.

I made this plaid raincoat in 2015 using Burda 7780.  I wear it occasionally but to this day I wish I'd made the pocket bags in a lighter-weight fabric instead of using the fashion fabric because I think they're too heavy and distort the hang of the coat.  I know I'm probably the only person who notices this but still.  I also think the plaid is very dull looking.  I just don't love it and, hence, it doesn't get worn that often.

You've never seen me in this peacoat.  I picked it up for $10 at the Chelsea Flea Market last fall because a) it fit; b) it was cheap; and c) I was cold.  I need to repair one of the pocket welts (a five minute job) and reinforce some of the buttons.  It's a great coat for layering because it's quite roomy.  It's lined with silk charmeuse and very nicely constructed.  I certainly didn't need it but there you go.

This coat is from Banana Republic though I bought it cheap on eBay.  It has a detachable fiberfill vest -- part of the same design line -- that I found at the Salvation Army (although the vest is gray).  I bought it in 2019 when I thought the light blue mountain parka was too worn-looking and I didn't have the energy to make another one.  It's boring but practical.  I haven't worn it at all this year.  I prefer to wear my own makes.

This is the wearable muslin version of the Donegal tweed peacoat.  It's made from coated cotton and is lined with cotton flannel.  It isn't very warm.  I like it because it resembles waxed cotton without the sticky feeling.  That said, I almost never wear it.  Did I mention that I made these two peacoats using a Japanese men's pattern book?

 Now let's move on to jackets.

I made this jacket in 2016.  It's wool and fully lined.  I wish I'd interlined it because it isn't that warm.  It's always been one of my favorite makes.  I made it using vintage Simplicity 1820, which is actually from the 1930s!

I love this mod Safari jacket I made last fall using a Folkwear Australian Bush Jacket pattern.  It's just cotton canvas so it's not warm but I expect to wear it a lot this spring.  

 

This poppy-print work jacket (also made from a Japanese pattern book) gets worn more than you'd think.  It's very cheerful and, since I lined it with soft brushed-cotton twill, it's pretty warm.  I made it in 2019.

This is an earlier version of the same jacket, made in 2016.  Ths one isn't lined.  I like it but I'm not sure the red is very flattering to me.  I wear it occasionally in spring and fall.

This lightweight cotton-linen blend jacket, which I made in 2014 using a vintage Seventies pattern (Butterick 4362), gets worn a ton and even my mom likes to wear it with the cuffs turned up.  I made it along with matching pants (later turned into shorts).  I never wore the two together as I did in the original modeling shots.

Another bold jacket I wear quite a bit -- it's a real conversation starter.  I used a vintage stars-and-stripes cotton canvas I found at the Chelsea Flea Market.  You may remember I also made a pair of jeans out of this fabric though I wear those less frequently (at my current pandemic-era weight, they don't fit).

I was all scheduled to film a second Bluprint class, this time on sewing jean jackets, but first Covid happened and then Bluprint shut down permanently.  Fortunately I made these two samples for the class in my size and the Bluprint people graciously returned them to me when it became clear the class wasn't going to happen.  I wear these from time to time but, as I have a lot of other jackets, they mostly hang.

This was one of my first makes from 2020, a vintage Eighties jacket with a Members Only vibe.  I ended up removing the shoulder pads as they just made the jacket feel too wide for me proportionally.  I've worn this jacket only a handful of times.  I find it slightly boring, frankly.

I made this bold, water-resistant anorak using a Green Pepper pattern.  It's fully lined and nicely constructed but I almost never wear it.  I don't care for outwear that I have to pull over my head rather than zip up the front.  Live and learn.  

What can I say about this little camo jacket?  I almost never wear it.  It's very lightweight, the fabric isn't that attractive to me, and the collar is too wide, giving it a dated look.  There's truly nothing wrong with it but it's the last thing I reach for.

I thought I'd include Cathy's vintage Fifties cotton sateen opera coat, which I made for her maternity photoshoot.  The outfit actually won a Vintage Pattern Contest on Pattern Review in 2012!  Details here.

There are a few outerwear pieces I've sewn that I no longer own, including my beautiful Issey Miyake leopard-print coat which I gave to a female friend, and a stretch velour jean jacket I tossed.  But as you can see, everything else I've made for myself over the last decade is still wearable.

In closing, friends, I think I have a very extensive wardrobe of outwear.  Perhaps I should postpone the Pendleton coat for next year at the earliest. Then again, these days, who knows what our lives are going to look like a year from now?  

QUESTIONS:

Does this seem like an unusually large outerwear wardrobe or is yours even bigger -- or both?

Should I rationalize making another coat this year?  

(Would you?)

Happy sewing, everybody!

Whoops -- I forgot this silk-nylon taffeta Marc Jacobs daisy print jacket from 2013.  Weird fabric and rarely worn.