Hi, it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been sewing but I’ve had little time to blog. I even had a paying sewing gig at a startup last week but I can’t say much about it because I signed an NDA. Anyway I attached my iPhone to a tripod mount and took these photos of my mockup of the Papercut Patterns Sapporo Coat.
It was late afternoon so the sun was not at its brightest and by that time, it’s shining through a tree – giving this natural dappled light effect. It’s not a special filter or Photoshop effect.;)
I made this mockup using a bed sheet I got at a thrift store for a few dollars. I wanted to see how it would fit before I made one in a luscious wool coating from Britex Fabrics. The Sapporo Coat, part of Papercut Patterns Sakura collection, comes in three sizes – XXS/XS, S/M and L/XL. I made the largest size. I have broad shoulders and long arms. I didn’t make any pattern adjustments and it fit quite well. Note: The sleeves may be too long for some people.
You can get the pattern here on Papercut Patterns website or you may be able to get a copy in your country. (You can go to this link to see if a store near you carries this New Zealand-based indie line of patterns.)
As you can see the Sapporo Coat is roomy with wide sleeves and a slight cocoon shape. It tapers – getting slightly more narrow at the hem. The cocoon shape did give me pause but I decided to try it and see if I’d like it – and I do like it.
There aren’t too many pattern pieces for this design – top and bottom front, back neck facing, three pieces for the back and the sleeve cuff, which is made by cutting four of the same pattern piece. There’s also the lining pieces. The pattern also calls for interfacing for the front edge, back neck and bottom hem.
The only tricky part of constructing this coat was the corner of the bottom hem and the lining. In this photo, I’ve attached the lining to the front edge of the coat. You can see the strip of interfacing fused to the front facing, which is not a separate pattern piece. It’s formed by folding the front edge.
The tricky part for me was that I didn’t quite understand how to attach the bottom hem until I realized that I needed to line up the side seams.
Then all I needed to do was fold up the bottom hem and sew the coat fabric to the lining fabric right sides together. My lining is just some cheap cotton/poly blend I got for a few dollars.
When you attach the lining to the front and bottom, you stop sewing 1 cm from the end.
Stopping before you get to the edge, lets you sew this diagonal seam.
I was wasn’t precise in my stitching was I was a little short on the bottom hem. But this is just my mockup so I left it as is.
You leave an opening on one side seam of the lining so you can turn the coat inside out.
And then the bottom inside corner looks like this.
Here’s the back view of the Sapporo Coat. You can see the large center piece and two smaller pieces to the left and right. It would be fun to do a version with piping at the seam lines of this coat.
The large cuff attaches to the front top piece and the back shoulder piece.
I really like the pockets on the Sapporo Coat. However, if you use a lightweight fabric or a fabric with drape, the pocket might sag slightly because there is no interfacing there. The top edge of this pocket is formed by a fold in the fabric. You might want to consider putting some interfacing there if you are using a lightweight fabric. The beauty of this pattern is that it works for all fabrics.
I like the diagonal lines formed by the front seams and the pockets of the Sapporo Coat.
This Sapporo Coat is going to be my fancy bath robe – a great idea from Brooke of Custom Style. We follow each other on Instagram and when I posted an early photo of this on my IG feed (@csews), she(@sewbrooke) made that suggestion. Thanks, Brooke!
I’m wearing a vintage hat that has a little veil attached to the brim. My husband doesn’t like this hat. He thinks it’s an odd hat and doesn’t get that it’s a “sitting” hat, a hat meant to perch on your head as opposed to fitting around your entire head. Well, I like it and I’ll continue wearing it!
Stay tuned for my wool coating version of the Papercut Patterns Sapporo Coat!
Chuleenan,
I’m constructing my coat now and have carefully traced off the XL version. I pinned the tissue version and I find that the notch marks on the two front pieces don’t match up at the side. Are these notches for the lining?
Yes, There’s a notation somewhere (on the pattern piece?) that says those marks are for the opening of the lining. They let you know not to sew between those marks on one side of the coat. So the marks don’t line up with anything.
I love seeing your mockups and work in progress. They are inspiring.
I’ve avoided coats, but this might change my mind. If I may ask your opinion — I have a few yards of a polyester fleece in a deep red on cream toile pattern that’s been… aging gently in my stash. I have my doubts about this fabric playing nice with this fabric — might you have any insight? Lining is also a concern. I almost want to use a heavier satin, to give the fleece some body and wearability.
I think fleece could work well with this coat pattern. I think you could make it in any fabric and it would look fine. My guess is that the heavier or thicker the fabric, the more structure and body it will have. For example, the sleeves will look bigger because they fabric won’t drape.
The thickness of fleece will give the coat some body. If you go with a heavier lining, you’ll give it additional body. But I’m sure it’ll be fine with a lightweight lining, too.
I’m curious to see how my wool coating version will turnout. Stay tuned!
This is such a pretty pattern! I love the fancy robe idea too. Everyone needs one of those!
Thank you, Kelly! I just need a belt for the robe as this coat doesn’t have any closures.