Patchwork Chore Coat

This is my daughter Kendra in her reversible quilt coat.  This was a really fun project because I shared the work load with my sister-in-law Christie.  Christie recently rediscovered her passion for garment sewing, and was up for tackling the construction once I got the quilty part done.

We both agreed that Kendra was the person in our lives who would make a quilt coat look cool (and appreciate the work that went into it).  Kendra really wanted it to be reversible if we could manage that so the Patchwork Chore Coat pattern from Patchwork and Poodles fit the bill.  The pattern gives great instructions for starting out with an actual quilt or using a panel method to construct things.

Kendra and I took a trip to Needle Craft and Studio in Beausejour and fell in love with the Fabelism Sprout Wovens.  Kendra picked a range of blues and greens and we were off to the races.  I definitely recommend prewashing the woven fabrics as the shrinkage was significant.  The reverse side of the coat is an Art Gallery solid in a color called Hunter Fields.

After piecing the simple grid pattern and quilting  the panels for each section of the jacket I washed the quilt sandwiches twice before passing them over to Christie.  I wanted to make sure the batting did all its shrinking before the coat pieces were cut out.

Kendra picked a simple continuous curves pattern for the quilting, thinking that she wanted the reverse side to have a simple look she would enjoy for years to come.

Christie took over the project and did all of the cutting, construction, fitting and mastering a variety of binding techniques to give the coat a professional finish.    (This part was not without trial and error and some ripping and redoing that comes with new territory).  Christie has much more patience than I do, so I was thankful she was doing that part!   I love the sweet touches like the little labels she added.

The end result is one happy daughter/niece rocking her quilt coat this fall.