"THE" Coat by Amelie and Henri

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Welcome back - I'm guessing that most of you by now have heard of THE Coat (aka the Pleated Ruffle Coat) by Amelie and Henri.  While this may be the first pattern release from this specific shop, the designer has been selling her custom made designs along with patterns for capes for the past few years.   One of the fun things about this pattern is the size range, it is available in size 3m-10 for toddlers and girls, 10-16 for tweens, and XS-XL for Women.  Now THE coat does eat up quite a bit of fabric - but it is a very full skirted coat and is fully reversible!  The fabric requirements range from 3yrds for the smallest sizes to 8.5-9yrds for the Women's XL - now that is TOTAL yardage for both your Main fabric and lining (which can be the same or different depending on the look you want).  You can also mix it up a bit and go for a Stripwork style like Jessica - she is sharing her full tutorial with a cutting chart for ALL sizes over in the main section of the blog!!!  

  • This review was completed by a 3rd party objective reviewer who received a complimentary copy of the pattern in order to complete the review. Neither Pattern Revolution nor the reviewer received any additional compensation for this review.

Now here is Serena to share two of her three (or is it four now?!??!)  versions that she made for her daughter.... (and keep reading after that to see my review of the Women's size).

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I'm Serena from Serena Garcia Photography and love sewing for fun, it's what my 'me time' is filled with! My daughter is my inspiration and I'm loving how girly she's turned out to be, she's also a little ham in front of the camera so she gives me plenty to work with! I was one of the luckiest girls to have been chosen to test 'THE Coat' from Amelie & Henri, it's simply elegant. I was one of the hundreds of stalkers on Facebook when someone posted about this coat that they were dying over, waiting patiently for the designer to get back in touch and announce she'd be creating the pattern to sell. To begin with, I'm not an advanced sewist, rather new into this new love of mine but following a well written pattern isn't so hard to do. To date I've made 3 of these, yes that was in one week, and plan on another. When I get my hands on an amazing pattern I just can't stop myself! This does take quite a bit of fabric but it's necessary to get the fullness that is all the gorgeous ruffles; it's also reversible to make it even more versatile. There are options for the sash being tied in back, front, or even no sash to change up the look a bit; not to mention the use of 3/4 sleeves or full sleeves in spring time or winter. Love this pattern and any new to intermediate sewist could tackle this after your kiddos are in bed. IMG_3322

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Now we all know it looks simply adorable on toddlers, but how about for us ladies - particularly the curvy ladies.  Well... I'm going to share MY coat with you.  I went with the slim version of the Women's L, which you can see is still fairly full.

I have a background in Theatre and love all things with a bit of dramatic flair, so when I saw this coat, I knew I had to try it out.  I rarely have/make the time to sew for myself, so when I was offered the opportunity to test this pattern, I grabbed the adult size with a determined 'I WILL make this for ME!' mantra.

The instructions for this coat are fairly easy to follow - the pattern looks elegant, but is a beginner pattern when it comes to technique.  For me the most time consuming part was cutting out all the pieces - those rectangles for the women's size are HUGE, and cutting is not my favorite part of the sewing process.  You print the pieces for the bodice and sleeve; the skirt, pleated ruffle, and sash are all rectangles that you are given measurements for in an easy to follow chart.

You will also need to gather... pick your favorite technique and go for it - but know that this is not a 2to1 ratio on gathering so adjust your technique accordingly.  I chose to focus more of my gathering towards the back of the coat so that the front wouldn't get too full.

The only other time consuming aspect is the box pleat ruffle.  If you haven't done a box pleat before, here is a great youtube video to give you more confidence. (for this pattern you will mark every 2 inches rather than 1.5 like in the video - this will give you the 1 inch fold ratio described in the pattern)

The coat closes with a button and then has the sash that ties over - now the sash is designed to wrap around 2x and then tie in a bow... you could also do a single wrap sash, tie your sash in a knot, or even go with a variety of cool belts to mix up the look of your coat.

The only negative I see in the Women's sizing is that the bodice is not fitted - you use the sash to create fit.  Now this does make for simpler construction by not having darts or extra seaming to contend with, but for those of us on the curvier side, it also leave extra fabric around our torsos which is not as slimming as I had hoped for. (I can hear my mother laughing - 'you expected a super full coat with a pleated ruffle collar to be slimming on you?!?!?'... well ummmmm, maybe) .  It is all about managing expectations - this coat is fun, flirty, dressy, and depending on the fabrics can be downright over the top!  It isn't designed to be sleek and form fitting.

I can't wait for cooler weather so that I can start wearing it!!!  And I WILL be wearing it... it is the kind of coat that makes me stand a little straighter, walk with a lighter step, and just makes me smile. 

do you like my Super Woman pose???  Hahahah, I may be a photographer, but have not mastered the art of selfies ;op

Are you excited about THE Coat now??!?!?  Well, head over to Jessica's tutorial for a chance to win 4 yards of fabric and a copy of THE Coat in the size range of your choice.!!!!