Cocoon Coat

I absolutely fell in love with this pattern while I was living in London, its a 1920's inspired cocoon coat from Ralph Pink. I absolutely love 1920s and 30s fashion, and was looking for a project that would challenge me and I could learn from, this seemed to fit the bill.

I decided to make the cropped version of the coat, as I'd only seen one other make from this pattern pop up google, and that was a long one from The Wallinna. I got a good start on it while I was over there, I bought some wool suiting and beautiful printed lining in Walthamstow market, this was the most amount of money I'd spent on a garment as the fabrics are quite good quality. Unfortunately life happened and I started packing up to come home and didn't get around to finishing it off until very recently...when I found out this pattern fits very very small. Like I could hulk rip out the back of it. The material was hard to iron so the coat is pretty wonky in the pictures below:


I got a size 8-10 UK, and I KNOW I am that size, I even double checked with the measurement chart on the website but this coat is super tight on my arms and across the back. Another weird fit issue is that the scoop at the bottom of the coat hits directly at the center of my butt instead of underneath it, so it looks super silly. It's definitely too small. I've also noticed that the 8-10 is no longer available on the site so I guess I am not the only one who had issues with it. I also am pretty sure that wool suiting used to be a recommend material for the pattern on the site, but its also no longer there.

With respect to the instructions, I found them a bit unclear. This was the first jacket I'd made and I got the impression that it was assumed there was prior knowledge of jacket construction. There were a couple things that I felt when A to C and I had to guess B. It also didn't help that the numbers for the instructions were not in proper sequential order.

I omitted the top stitching from the pattern instructions because the seaming was virtually invisible against the black and white check. Look how fun the lining is!


LUCKILY, I have tiny friends! I am glad that at least someone gets to wear this coat. I think it is more Mallory's style anyways.

 Goofing around!
All in all, its a very beautiful pattern and I wish I could make it again, but I would have to buy it again in the size up :/ Theoretically, next time I would make it in a lighter silk fabric so it is more drapey, and make the longer version to avoid the scoop hitting at a weird place on my butt ( I know I have a long torso) I'm just happy someone gets to wear the fun bird print!



Comments

  1. Jill CharbonneauMarch 4, 2015 at 5:31 PM

    Ali, I think next attempt will meet with more success. I have this one ready to go, just need to cut it out, will go with a size up. Want to make it for Spring

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownMarch 5, 2015 at 9:33 AM

      Hey mom! The pattern only comes in one size when I bought it, I may try to scale up the entire pattern itself, which hopefully will fix the length issue too.

      Is that a terrible idea?? just magnifying the whole thing by like 10%?

      Delete
  2. thewallinnaMarch 5, 2015 at 3:02 AM

    From the pictures, the coat looks to be the right size: the shoulder points stop just where your shoulders end.

    I think the main problem is the fabric. Although he also mention suiting wool, Ralph Pink's first fabric choice is silk. Prior to making the coat, I created a toile from the medium-weight muslin and came to the conclusion that if I use anything thicker than silk, all movements around the shoulder area may be restricted. Being made from three layers of fabric (sand washed silk, silk organza and silk crepe) it is just about right size (I used the size 8-10).

    Having said that, you coat looks great! I like that it does not have any closure, so everybody can see your cute birds!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownMarch 5, 2015 at 9:32 AM

      Hi Inna! Thanks for the feedback!

      This actually isn't me in the photo, it's my much smaller friend, she usually wears a US 2-4 (or a UK 4-6). But I agree that it isn't the right fabric! I was iffy buying it in the first place for this project but I thought I'd give it a try. Its good to know that the fit is very different depending on the weight of the fabric! It's such a beautiful pattern I may try it again. Worse comes to worse my friend has another jacket :)

      Thanks again for the CC!

      Delete
    2. thewallinnaMarch 5, 2015 at 4:27 PM

      You are very generous and your friend is super lucky! I would never give away a garment made by me, even if it does not fit :)

      Delete

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