Women's Tailored Coat
Introducing a women's sewing pattern for a sophisticated fully lined tailored coat featuring a single-breasted three-button front, notched lapels, princess seams, and welt pockets with flaps.
When To Wear
This tailored coat is a versatile staple, perfect for:
- Professional Settings: Ideal for business wear, adding polish to office attire.
- Everyday Elegance: Elevates smart-casual outfits for sophisticated daily wear.
- Transitional Seasons: A refined layer for mild spring or autumn days.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: A mid-thigh length coat, fitted through the bust and waist with princess seams and darts, falling to a straight hem.
Collar & Lapel: Classic notched lapel collar, designed for a sharp, tailored appearance.
Closure: Single-breasted front with a three-button closure.
Sleeves: Tailored two-piece set-in sleeves for a smooth, contoured arm line.
Pockets: Welt pockets with flaps on the front.
Back: Center back seam with a vent for ease of movement.
Length: Mid-thigh length.
Level Of Difficulty
Advanced. Requires confident tailoring skills including collar and lapel construction, precision pocket setting, and full lining assembly with a vent.
Fabric Recommendations
Choose silk fabrics with enough body to be tailored, such as:
- Silk suiting, silk shantung, or heavier silk weaves.
Additional Supplies
- Fusible interfacing
- 3 buttons
- Lining fabric
- Shoulder pads
- Sleeve heads
Cutter's Must
- From main fabric:
- Side Lower Front – 2 pieces
- Center Front – 2 pieces
- Side – 2 pieces
- Middle Back – 2 pieces
- Flap – 4 pieces
- Center Front Facing – 2 pieces
- Lower Collar – 1 piece
- Upper Collar – 1 piece
- Upper Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Lower Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Back Neckline Facing – 1 piece
- From lining fabric:
- Front Lining – 2 pieces
- Side – 2 pieces
- Middle Back – 2 pieces
- Pocket Lining – 4 pieces
- Upper Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Lower Sleeve – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing: Center Front Facing, Flap, Center Front, Back Neckline Facing, vent allowance, sleeve and coat hem allowances; stay strips 4 cm wide and 2-3 cm longer than the pocket opening.
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse interfacing to the center front facing, flaps, center front, sleeve hems, coat hem, back neckline facing, and vent allowance.
- Mark the darts on the front and back. Stitch the back darts and press them towards the center. Stitch the front darts up to the notches and cut them open; cut the pocket opening.
- Stitch the side lower front to the center front and press the seam open.
- Place the flap pieces right sides together and stitch around. Trim the seam allowances at the corners and turn right side out. Place the upper collar on the lower collar and stitch around. Roll the seams to the underside and press the collar and flaps.
- Cut the welts for the pocket. Reinforce the pocket opening with a stay strip, or baste it. Fold the welts in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press. Mark a stitching line on each welt parallel to the fold. Mark a stitching line on the flap parallel to its upper edge, keeping the flap width even along its length. Mark lines parallel to the pocket opening for attaching the flap and welts. Stitch the pocket lining to the flap. Stitch the welts to the front, ending the stitching exactly at the pocket end marks. Check from the wrong side that the stitching lines are parallel. Cut the pocket opening, making diagonal cuts into the corners 1-1.5 cm from each end. Turn the welts to the wrong side through the opening, straighten the edges and adjust them so that the pressed folds meet edge to edge. Secure the pocket ends from the wrong side with a double backstitch across the base of the triangles. Insert the flap into the pocket and stitch it to the upper welt. Stitch the lower pocket lining into the lower welt seam; trim and stitch the pocket lining pieces together.
- Stitch the center back seam down to the vent. Press the lower vent edge under 1 cm. Press the center back seam and the vent towards the center back. Stitch across the top of the vent diagonally as marked, catching the vent allowance.
- Mark the hemline. Place the center front facing on the right side of the front, right sides together, pin and stitch along the front edge, from the hem up to the notch that marks the end of the collar seam. Stitch the lower edges of the facings to the front exactly along the marked hemline. Trim the seam allowances at the upper and lower corners. Understitch the seam allowance 0.2 cm from the seam: onto the facing along the buttoned section and onto the front along the lapel. Turn the front edges right side out and roll the seams.
- Stitch the princess seams of the front and back and press them open. Stitch the shoulder seams and press them open.
- Stitch the shoulder seams of the back neckline facing and center front facings and press them open. Stitch the lower collar to the coat neckline and the upper collar to the neckline of the facings.
- Stitch the back (elbow) seam of the sleeve and press open. Stitch the front seam of the sleeve and press open. Press up the sleeve hem.
- Set the sleeves into the armholes, matching the notches. Attach the shoulder pads and sleeve heads.
- Sew the lining pieces together and set in the lining sleeves, leaving an opening in the front seam of the right lining sleeve. Press the lining. Stitch the lining to the inner edges of the center front facings and back neckline facing. Press open the collar seam allowances and tack them together close to the seams.
- Turn up the lining sleeves and stitch them to the sleeve hems of the coat; turn the excess lining down and press. Turn the coat right side out. Smooth the lining, pin its princess seams to the princess seams of the coat, and carefully cut the lining along the vent edges, 1 cm towards the center back seam. Stopping 1 cm below the top of the vent, clip diagonally 1 cm to each side. Turn the cut edges under and pin them to the vent edges. Reach between the coat and the lining, take the pinned edges and pull them out one at a time. Stitch the edges and fold the hem down. Straighten the vent edges. At the top of the vent, turn under the lining corner and sew it to the vent allowance. Stitch the lining to the coat hem. Turn the coat through the opening in the sleeve lining and stitch the opening closed.
- Work buttonholes on the right front and sew the buttons onto the left front.
