I decided to use the more detailed pattern. I enlarged the pattern to the width of my fabric and test-fit it in muslin. I then used the muslin as my pattern. I drew out the windowpane check, which has a 3.75″ repeat, onto half of the muslin to best position the pattern on the cloth and keep everything on grain.

My muslin pattern measures 50.5” in length and 52” wide. If you were lucky to purchase the fabric that I used for this tutorial, you can draw 3 3/4” squares onto a piece of paper or muslin and then just count the squares as you see in the photos here. It doesn’t need to be precise to get the shape. The coat can be made longer or shorter, narrower or as wide as the fabric will accommodate, it could have a center back seam for narrower fabrics.

Making the muslin pattern may take some tweaking to get it the way you want it, but it does not take a lot of skill to make the coat once your pattern is worked out. It is all straight lines!

Whether you choose the simple or the more detailed pattern design, the techniques will be the same, and the result will be elegant and timeless!

Layout and Marking

The best way to mark the pattern onto the fabric is to use thread tracing. Thread tracing is a technique which uses cotton tacking thread to outline the stitching line of a garment onto fabric.

On a single layer of cloth I found the center of the fabric and aligned CB of the muslin along the middle of the checked line. I positioned the pattern so that the hem would fall at the edge of a check. I allowed an extra inch, which is where the fabric had been cut, to finish the hem.

In this layout there was enough fabric to cut the coat, Front Yokes, 2 pockets and a 10″ wide crosswise scarf. The muslin is aligned at CB along a blue check.

To thread trace, pin the pattern to the fabric, placing pins every three to four inches along the stitching lines. Mark all darts, seams and markings for sleeve, pockets, side seams and CB with pins. Turn the fabric over. The outline of the coat will be marked with pins. Use cotton tacking thread and a long darner needle to carefully outline the design with 1/2″ long stitches. Only pick up one layer of cloth. Do not stitch through to the other side or you will not be able to separate the layers later.

Half of the coat has been tacked out on a single layer of fabric. From this photo you can use the checks to help enlarge the pattern to draft your own version to scale. The checks on this fabric are 3 3/4″ square.

After half of the coat is tacked out, remove the pattern and fold the fabric in half along the Center Back. I found it helpful to pin the corners of some of the checks together to ensure the two layers were exactly on top of each other. Using the tacked outline as a guide, pin through to the unmarked side, again placing pins every three to four inches, marking all darts, seams, etc. Again, turn the fabric over, and using the pins as a guide, thread trace the outline of the other half of the coat using tacking thread. You will end up with two identical halves.

Now that one side of the fabric is marked out fully, lay the fabric out in a single layer again. Pin through the tack markings to outline the coat onto the opposite side of the fabric. Thread trace the outline onto the second side. Although this seems like a lot of work it is worth the effort! It is very helpful to have both sides of the fabric completely marked with tacking thread when assembling the coat.

Once all of the thread tracing is complete the pattern will be marked on both sides of the fabric.

Separating the Layers: A Few Tips!

Be prudent! Take care when separating the layers. Separating too much fabric will leave wide seam allowances where you will see that the fabrics are not joined together. It is better to go slowly and separate a bit more fabric later, if needed, rather than open too much to start with.

Be cautious! Use a small pair of scissors to clip the threads when separating the layers. Do not accidentally clip a hole in one of the layers of fabric.

Be gentle! Once the Front seam has been cut, handle the garment gently and with care. The tips of the darts and the end of the Front cut lines are very narrow and potentially weak areas that could fray easily if not handled carefully. Once they are hand over-sewn and machine-stitched they are fine.

Before beginning construction of the coat, I cut a 3″ square of fabric to test out the technique of creating a seam. Find a piece to test after your coat has been thread traced, as this is an almost zero waste pattern and you don’t want to accidentally cut out a sample in the wrong place.

I decided to do all of the machine sewing on the tan side of the fabric and the hand finishing on the blue side. The pockets were placed on the tan side. I found that the heathery appearance on the blue side hid the shadow of the pockets, seams and darts better than the tan side. These are the kinds of judgements you will need to make, depending on your fabric choice.

Construction Techniques

The construction of this garment is very different from a regular garment. It is more akin to origami, a work in progress, made from a single piece of fabric. There are no traditional pattern pieces to cut out and seam together. Working with the garment as a whole piece of fabric, it is shaped with darts, folds and a few seams. The process is a bit like origami. The tack lines are actual stitching lines. There are no seam allowances as you would find in a commercial pattern.

In the following sections I will outline the construction techniques used to sew seams, darts and edge finishes. These same techniques are used throughout the garment construction. Once you familiarize yourself with and practice the construction techniques, you can proceed to the Sequence of Construction section of this article, which will be helpful in assembling the garment.

Edges and Hems

With regular garment construction, seams are usually sewn first and edges finished last. With double cloth construction, edges and hems are finished as you assemble the garment. In fact, the first step is to hem the back of this garment!

When separating layers of fabric leave a generous 1/2″ of fabric outside of the tack line. This will be cut down to 1/4″ but the process of separating the layers can stretch and distort the edge. I prefer to leave a bit extra, which can be pressed flat and then trimmed down to the appropriate width after it has been separated.

I discovered that the threads joining the two layers together on this particular cloth are quite strong and run lengthwise. For lengthwise edges that need to be separated such as the Fronts, I was able to pull the threads out leaving a nice clean edge. For crosswise edges I gently pulled the layers apart and used a small pair of scissors to open up the edge. Again, this will vary with your fabric choice.

To begin place a row of pins 1/4″ inside the finished garment tack line. The row of pins prevents you from opening up too much of the edge.

Place a row of pins 1/4″ back from the finished edge.

Pull the layers apart until the row of pins is reached. If scissors were used to clip the threads remove loose threads as they will work their way through the cloth. I found a lint brush handy for this job. Don’t be too aggressive with the lint brush or you will risk unravelling your fabric!

Press the edge flat. Trim to 1/4″. Fold one layer to the inside. Work with the good side of the fabric facing up and use your eye as a guide along with the tack thread to fold a straight line. Press. Turn the garment over and do the same on the reverse side. The two edges should just meet along the tack lines. If the edge follows a solid check, the edge of the check can be used rather than the tack line.

Use a slip stitch to close the edge. Stitches should be small and invisible. The thread can be tensioned to tighten up the edge slightly if it has stretched.

Use a slipstitch to close the edge.

During the construction process, finished edges are often inserted into an unfinished edge when a dart or seam is sewn. When finishing the second edge leave a little bit of extra fabric to wrap over the previously finished edge. A slightly wider 1/4″ is sufficient. Neatly fold one of the raw edges over the finished edge. An awl or the end of a seam ripper is useful for tucking the edge in. Fold the opposite edge in to meet. The meeting point of all edges should be tight. Make the stitches small and tight to keep the edge straight. You do not want the finished edge to have a lump in it.

Darts

There are four darts in this garment, which give the sleeves and body their shape. You separate one side of the dart but leave the other side intact. I sewed the darts by inserting the intact side of the dart (not separated), into the side that was separated. The dart was machine sewn on one side of the fabric and finished by hand on the reverse side.

Begin by cutting down the center of the dart to the tip. Very gently separate a small amount of fabric at the tip of the dart on the side that needs to be opened. Remember, the tip of the dart is very narrow and only a wide 1/8″ will need to be opened up. Opening up too much leaves loose cloth that will show on the finished dart. Immediately hand over-sew the tip of all three layers (the two separated layers and the other intact double layer) for 1 1/2″ – 2″ to prevent the fabric from unravelling. Stitches should be deep enough to catch at least two threads of the fabric. Use a thread color that will blend with the fabric as these stitches are permanent. It is important that the over-sewing is done before the garment is picked up or handled. In the close up photo below you can see that I have over-sewn by hand to the tack line. My stitches are close together and continue until the dart starts to widen.

Press the dart flat to set the stitches. Working over a seam roll, press the sewn edges open trying to keep the one unsewn separated layer out of the way. Press the dart towards the separated layers.

Trim the single layer (tan) edge to 1/4″. Grade the double layer to a narrow 1/4″. Trim the reverse single layer (blue), which will cover the dart to a wide 1/4″. This layer needs to be slightly wider to go over the other layers and cover the line of stitching. Tuck the edge under and pin, lining up any checks. At the tip of the dart there is only a narrow bit, which was previously over-sewn, to tuck in. Slip stitch the edge closed. Use the tip of your needle to turn in the tip of the dart before stitching it closed. Use small, short stitches to reinforce the tip.

Once the reverse side has been closed up, press the finished dart over a wooden seam stick. Cover the fabric with a press cloth and apply a bit of moisture. This technique will flatten out the bulk helping to make the darts invisible.

Seams

There are only a few seams in this garment depending on which pattern you choose. Both patterns have an underarm sleeve seam and a seam across the Front. The more detailed pattern has the addition of a Yoke and this adds a seam at the sleeve as well as the upper edge where the Yoke joins to the shoulder.

There are different methods of constructing seams in double cloth. For this garment I chose insertion seams. This type of seam reduces the amount of separating that needs to be done and gives nice narrow seams that are almost invisible once complete. Like the darts, the seams are done by inserting a double layer of fabric into separated layers of fabric.

One of the most critical seams is the Front seam that attaches to the Front Yoke or Upper Front. This seam should be as invisible as possible. I kept the separating and the seam very narrow, just the width of the blue check line.

I placed the lower Front seam right along the edge of a check. The point where the sleeve and lower Front get cut apart resembles a dart. As this is a point of high stress, located at the underarm of the finished garment, I left a slightly wider seam allowance of a narrow 1/4″ on the lower Front and cut the Sleeve a bit narrower. Over-sew the narrow bit of the Sleeve.

• Hem the Back Sleeve.
• Sew the underarm seam inserting the Sleeve Back into the separated Sleeve Front layers. When finishing the reverse side by hand I started 1” back from the underarm. This allowed me to access the area when inserting the yoke. After finishing the reverse side by hand, finish the 1” of Sleeve Front hem that was left unfinished previously.
• At this point it is a good idea to pin the muslin toile pattern for the Front Yoke in place and test the fit of the garment. Check to make sure CF is hanging straight. The yoke can be dropped down slightly on the angled seam above the bust to accommodate a fuller bust. Check to see where you would like the coat to end. Again, larger sizes can be fitted by widening the Fronts. Re-mark CF if needed.

• Layout and thread trace the Front Yokes and Pockets. There should be enough fabric remaining to cut a crosswise scarf.
  
  
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• Insert stay tapes at CF on the Lower Fronts and Front Yokes. Cut all 4 stay tapes at the same time ensuring that each set of two are equal in length.
• Close Front Yoke along CF.
• Insert a stay tape into the short neck edge of the Yoke. Close the neck edge of the Front Yoke.
• Sew Front seam inserting Front Yoke into the separated layers of the Front. Finish the reverse side by hand. Stop 1″ back from the Sleeve corner. This will allow you to insert the Yoke and finish the corner later.
• Separate the layers of the Sleeve and Shoulder Yoke seams on the coat. Clip into the corner and oversew the edges on the tan layer.
• Insert the Front Yoke into the Sleeve and sew from the Front seam to the corner of the Yoke. Remove the garment from the machine to refold and reposition. Sew from the corner to the neck edge. At this time finish the remainder of the Sleeve seam, which had been left open for an inch on the reverse side. Careful folding at this corner will keep it neat and flat. Clip the inside corner of the yoke on the reverse side. Turn the edges under and finish by hand.

• Close the Lower Front along CF.
• Check the neckline shape and adjust if needed. Open the layers carefully. Insert a stay tape. Fold stay tape in half and beginning at CB pin in place around to shoulder seam making sure both sides of the neckline are equal. Stab stitch in place. Close neck edge.

• Tun in all four sides of the pocket and close by hand. Baste pockets to coat. Using a double thread, fell stitch the Pockets in place taking a few stitches along the top edge of each corner.

• Cut the scarf on the crosswise width of the fabric. Separate the edges, turn in and finish by hand.

The design is as current today as it was 60 years ago!