Collarless Coat with Concealed Fly Front
A straight, collarless women's coat at mid-thigh length with a round neckline, a concealed fly front with four buttons and one visible button at the top, and two-piece set-in sleeves. Fully lined, with shoulder pads and sleeve heads.
When To Wear
- In spring and early autumn over dresses and suits.
- For the office and daytime events, worn over a fitted dress or trousers.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Straight, shaped by bust darts on the fronts and shoulder darts on the back.
Length: Mid-thigh.
Neckline: Round and collarless, finished with the front facings and a back neckline facing.
Closure: Concealed fly front on the right side: four buttonholes are worked through the facing and a fused framed opening, with bar tacks between each pair. Short diagonal lines of topstitching on the right front hold the fly in place. One button with a buttonhole above the fly at the neckline.
Sleeves: Two-piece set-in sleeves with elbow and front seams, shoulder pads and sleeve heads.
Back: One piece, no centre back seam.
Finishing: Front edges understitched 0.2 cm from the seam; hem sewn by hand with blind stitches.
Lining: Full lining of body and sleeves, bagged to the facings and to the sleeve hems; lining hem turned twice and topstitched.
Level Of Difficulty
Advanced. A framed fly-front opening with buttonholes and bar tacks, two-piece sleeves with sleeve heads and shoulder pads, and a full lining attached to facings.
Fabric Recommendations
Lightweight coat or suiting fabrics of natural or blended fibres.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric
- Fusible interfacing (front facings, back neckline facing, fly front lining)
- 1 decorative button
- 4 buttons for the fly front
- Shoulder pads
- Sleeve heads
Cutter's Must
If the patterns have a double contour, they include seam allowances. If the contour is single, the patterns do not include seam allowances. Seam allowances: all seams 1 cm. Hem allowance for the bottom of the garment and sleeve 3.5 cm. Attention! First of all, print out the paper patterns and lay them out on the fabric width (fabric width can be from 90 cm to 150 cm) to determine how much material you will need (do not forget to account for paired and symmetrical pieces).
- From main fabric:
- Back – 1 piece
- Front – 2 pieces
- Front facing – 2 pieces
- Upper sleeve – 2 pieces
- Under sleeve – 2 pieces
- Back neckline facing – 1 piece
- From lining fabric:
- Back – 1 piece
- Front – 2 pieces
- Upper sleeve – 2 pieces
- Under sleeve – 2 pieces
- Fly front lining – 2 pieces
- From fusible interlining:
- front facings, back neckline facing, fly front lining – 1 piece
Attention: back and front pieces are cut deducting the width of the back neckline facing and front facing respectively.
Sewing Instructions
When stitching pieces, pay attention to the notches - they must match!
- Fuse interlining to the front facings, back neckline facing, and fly front lining.
- Stitch shoulder and bust darts on the back and front. Press dart depths towards the center – on the back, and upwards – on the front.
- Mark the fly front opening on the right front facing with three lines: the first line is parallel to the front edge and runs 1.5 cm from the finished front edge; the second and third lines limit the length of the opening. Place the fused facing piece onto the right side of the front facing, right side down, from the front edge, aligning the raw edge of the facing piece with the marked line. Stitch 0.5 cm from the marked line along the opening cut to the lines limiting the opening length. Place the second opening facing piece butt-to-butt with the stitching of the first facing piece and stitch 0.5 cm away. Check the correctness of the facing piece attachment from the wrong side (stitches should be parallel). Cut the opening. Make diagonal cuts 1-1.5 cm from the end of the opening slit. Turn the facing pieces through the opening to the wrong side, forming a frame from the fused facing piece equal to the width between the stitches. Stitch a securing stitch into the seam of the facing piece attachment. Press the second facing piece towards the inner edge of the front facing and stitch a securing stitch 0.1 cm from the facing piece attachment seam. Mark and make buttonholes. Buttonholes are worked on the front facing together with the fused facing piece. Straighten and secure the ends of the opening from the wrong side with a double backstitch at the base of the corners. Stitch the raw edges of the facing pieces. Place bar tacks between each pair of buttonholes, the length of the bar tack is equal to the width of the frame. Press the front facing.
- Place the front facing onto the right side of the front, right side down, pin, and stitch along the front edge. Stitching is done from the front piece upwards to the marked neckline line. Stitch the lower edges of the front facings to the front piece strictly along the marked hemline, stopping 1.5 cm before the inner edge of the front facing. Trim the seams of the lower front corners. Topstitch the seam allowance of the front edge facing onto the front facing. Position the stitch 0.2 cm from the seam. Turn the front edges to the right side, straighten the seams.
- Stitch and press open shoulder and side seams.
- Stitch and press open the shoulder edges of the back neckline facing and front facings. Stitch the back and front necklines, clip allowances, turn the facing and front facings to the right side, press.
- Stitch and press open the elbow seam of the sleeve. Stitch and press open the front seam of the sleeve. Press up the sleeve hem.
- Set sleeves into armholes, matching notches. Insert shoulder pads and sleeve heads.
- On the lining fabric pieces, stitch side seams and set sleeves. Overlock side seam allowances from bottom to waist. Turn up the lower edge allowance of the lining twice by 1.5 cm and topstitch.
- Overlock, press, and hand-stitch the hem allowance of the garment bottom with blind stitches. Stitch the lining to the inner edges of the front facings and the back neckline facing. Start and end the stitching at half the width of the main garment's bottom hem allowance. Clip the allowance on the inner edge of the front facing at the start of the lining attachment. Fold the front facing allowance from the hemline to the clip inwards and hand-stitch with blind stitches. Overlock the lining attachment seam and press towards the lining.
- Stitch the lining to the bottom of the sleeves. Press the seam towards the lining.
- Topstitch the right front, securing the fly front closure.
- On the right front, make the top buttonhole, on the left front, sew on buttons.
