Unlined Linen Paletot

All we have left to do on the paletot is give it a good final pressing, beginning with the collar and lapels. Ideally you should try on the coat and have someone press the collar and lapels into place along the roll line, followed by pressing with the iron, just to perfect the fit, but …

Usually the last things I sew onto the coat are the buttons, as they have a tendency to catch sewing threads if you put them on earlier. When sewing on the buttons, work from the waist up if you are right handed to avoid the threads catching on the previous button. Begin by marking out …

Usually the last things I sew onto the coat are the buttons, as they have a tendency to catch sewing threads if you put them on earlier. When sewing on the buttons, work from the waist up if you are right handed to avoid the threads catching on the previous button. Begin by marking out …

Setting the sleeves can seem a little intimidating at first, but with a bit of practice it will become second nature to you. The first thing I like to do is make sure I’ve got the correct sleeve and correct armscye – both for the same side! Then lightly mark an ‘X’ indicating the center …

Now that the coat is hemmed, it’s time to top stitch the coat and facing. This top stitching serves to keep the edges from rolling out of position over time, ensuring everything is neat and tidy. It also somewhat stiffens the edge, adding to the durability. The original coat was top stitched by machine, so …

Please note that this is just a very rough outline of the buttonhole process. If you’ve never made a buttonhole before, check out my extensive tutorial The Art of the Buttonhole, and make a few practice buttonholes before moving on to the coat. You should have already laid out the position of the buttonholes on …

If you recall from earlier when we were cutting out the coat, we left an extra 1/2″ inlay along the back skirt. This needs to be trimmed to match the length of the front skirts. Yours may be slightly more or less than 1/2″, depending on how accurate you were during construction. I used a …

I’ve found that the easiest way to get the cuff pattern is to simply trace the sleeve itself onto the fabric. Lay the sleeve on the fabric with the center seam following the grain of the fabric, and trace around the cuff area, following up the sides about 3 or 4 inches. Draw the top …

While there are a few little things to do on the coat body itself, I like a little change of pace at this point and so turn towards the sleeves. If you haven’t drafted and fit a test version of the sleeves in muslin, I’d recommend doing that before cutting out the linen sleeves. The …

Attaching the collar is fairly simple, but involves some special techniques with basting stitches to help the collar and lapel roll in towards the body. Place the topcollar on the undercollar, right sides together, aligning the center back seams and the outer edges. Baste from the center back to the outer edges. Along the shorter …