Cascade Duffle Coat
I'm so beyond excited to finally announce that the Cascade Duffle Coat pattern is now a reality! It's a big pattern with lots to talk about so I'm going to launch right in. If you have any questions let me know in the comments below!
GARMENT DETAILS First lets talk about the design elements of the pattern. From the pattern envelope... "The Cascade Duffle Coat is a fresh take on a classic shape featuring a slight A-line cut, toggle front closure, and a hidden zipper band to keep the coat shut tight against cold weather. The hem of View A hits at the hip while View B’s falls to mid-thigh. Although View A is shown with a collar and View B with a hood, both are interchangeable allowing you to create your own perfect coat."
Some people love hoods and hate collars, some people hate collars and love hoods. I wanted to make sure that if you're making a pattern this involved that you have the choice between the two. The collar is generous enough that you can flip it up against the cold if you need to - I occasionally flip up the back collar and leave the front edges down. As for the hood, we went through a few iterations together. It was important to me that the hood felt warm and roomy and could accommodate a scarf at the neck, but also wasn't so roomy that it would blow off in the wind.
Another detail I took into consideration was the hidden zipper which you can see in the above photo of the first version of this coat. While the zipper band is optional I really like having it in a winter coat, especially in a city as windy as Chicago. The toggles keep things closed but the zipper keeps them closed tight.
SUGGESTED FABRICS "Medium to heavy weight coating fabrics such as melton, boiled, or felted wool. View A can alternately be made up in canvas or twill for a lighter weight jacket. Recommended lining is rayon bemberg or a similar fabric. If you’d like a pop of color or pattern try cutting your hood lining and zipper bands from flannel." I'll be doing a post about selecting the supplies for this coat soon but in the meantime you may want to refer to this post I did with Britex about selecting fabrics for a coat.
NOTIONS Thread, 6 toggle buttons, View A: 18” separating zipper, View B: 22” separating zipper I designed this coat so that the toggles and zippers can be purchased at any large craft store with no alterations to them. I've got a post planned out on making your own as well which I love doing. Good toggles can be hard to find but I've got a few sources I'll be sharing, nothing groundbreaking but it's always helpful to have a roundup.
PATTERN DIFFICULTY The Cascade Duffle Coat has an Advanced rating for a few reasons. Honestly all sewing is made up of sewing, pressing, and trimming (if needed) one seam after another so if you take things one step at a time it's really no harder than any other pattern. The reasons the Cascade is rated advanced are...
- There are 40 pattern pieces between View A & View B which is a lot to deal with and keep track of.
- Between the two views there are about 60 steps which could be overwhelming and take more time than a more basic project. Take them one step at a time though and you're good to go.
- The suggested fabric is wool and you need between 2 3/4yds - 4 1/8yds depending on which view and size you're making. This means you have the potential to spend more than your average amount on the supplies for this.
Due to these things and certain techniques like bagging a lining (which is super easy once you get the hang of it but seems completely bizarre and ill fated at first) I didn't want to rate the coat Intermediate and have anyone put so much time and money into it just to have a failed project. I think it's more than just a step up from a basic tank in sewing responsibility, though in all honesty the difficulty really comes from the compounding of steps and not one thing in particular.
MEASUREMENTS & YARDAGE Cause I know you guys are going to want these... 
For a contrasting hood / yoke like I did in View B, you'll need approximately 1 yd of the contrasting fabric for all sizes.
ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE PATTERN I feel like I need to talk a little bit the sheer size of this pattern. If you've checked out the Cascade in the shop you'll notice that it's quite large. The reason for this is 1. it's a coat with two views, but 2. it's the way the linings are drafted. I could have easily saved about 30 pages (and a lot of money at the printer) by having the coat lined with the same pattern as the shell but that completely negates the point of the lining and I couldn't do that. The lining needs to be larger than the shell in order to do it's job of protecting the coat from stress and allowing you to get in and out of it easily. The lining is the cheap part, the part that you would replace when it wears out before the coat (because it's doing its job of protecting the coat). If the lining isn't protecting the shell as it should, there's just really no point unless you're after extra warmth. In that case I recommend interlining the coat and inserting the lining as drafted. That said, each of the the downloadable pattern file options are broken into 3 files.
- View A & B: This file contains the pattern pieces required whether you're making View A or View B as well as the hood and collar pieces so you can switch those up without having to print additional pages. You will need to print this file no matter which view you're making.
- View A: This file contains the pieces specific to View A, you only need to print this to make View A.
- View B: This file contains the pieces specific to View B, you only need to print this to make View B.
