The Kid Is Still Growing

I made a coat for the kiddo in the summer of 2020, right before he started virtual school in the autumn of 2020, and he hadn't needed a coat since then...until...I checked the forecast and saw that it would be below freezing the morning of his booster shot.  So!  I ended up with a day to make something.

I didn't think I'd have time to make a nice coat, but I wanted to at least make something to wear as another layer over the hoodie he already had (which...his arms are a bit long for that, now, too.)

So I grabbed a fabric I had thrifted, when I was looking for fabric to make the replacement hoodie linked above, and threw this together--including cutting the pieces--yesterday.

I mostly used Butterick 5090--which I'd used years ago to make another coat for him--and the hood from New Look 6766, the pattern used for the previous hoodie.

I cut size small, and shortened it to be closer in length to the green zipper...which I believe I had salvaged from his earlier green hoodie.

This fabric is a polyester double knit with two distinct faces--I like the faux plaid side, but I felt like the heathered side would suit the kiddo's tastes more.

The way the hood falls shows off the other side.

 

(I turned and stitched down the seam allowances on the fly.  There are wrinkles at the top of the curve, hidden inside the hood.)

 If I'd thought about it, I would have sewn the facings with the faux plaid exposed, so that'd be just about all you'd see inside.

I serged the exposed facing edges, and nowhere else. I also sewed a strip of fabric over the neckline seam allowances, which I think is something I picked up from looking at a RTW hoodie.

The pockets are suitable for keeping hands warn, but not really for holding things, since the length I took off of the coat took out the bottoms of the pocket bags.  I don't think the kiddo will notice.

Normally I would finish the sleeves with ribbing, but I decided to follow the pattern as designed there and insert elastic.

I thought about inserting elastic at the hem, too, but I felt like that would have required some sort of fastening at the bottom for everything to sit right, and I didn't want to take the time to engineer that.

I did have to fiddle with one side to make it the same length as the other, and it wouldn't hold up to close scrutiny, but it's not going to be scrutinized, so it's fine.

I used the same 'natural' thread (it's polyester, that 'unbleached cotton' color is in no way 'natural') that I've used for my last few projects, and of course top stitched twice everywhere.

Honestly?  It looks better than I expected, for using a randomly thrifted vintage polyester double knit. (And it had been worse before I washed it, as I'd become aware of Vintage Cigaratte Stench after I started working with it, then noticed some brown smudges and generally discolored areas.  I was able to collect a small load of laundry and get this laundered last night, too.)

I figured he'd peel it off as soon as he got home, but he's been wearing it (and the hoodie under it) all day.  Granted, his base layer is a short sleeve t-shirt, because they needed access to his shoulder area for the shot, so the extra warmth is probably appreciated.

Right now, it hangs on him about the same way it hung on the hanger, so maybe this time I've managed to make something he'll be able to wear for a few years?  He had a few more years of growth left...