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| $9.99 a yard is quite the price for wool coatings. Chic Fabrics, 225 W. 39th Street. |
What's the key to surviving another brutal winter? Outerwear that makes you look and feel good, not to mention keep you warm. Sewing your own coat or jacket is a lot easier than you'd think, especially if you choose a loosely-structured style without a lot of tailoring and fitting demands. And when you make your own coat, you can customize it to meet your personal warmth needs.
To the best of my knowledge, Chic Fabrics on W. 39th Street has the most attractive deals on wool coating, at $9.99 a yard. Not a huge selection and the coatings tend to be on the lightweight side, but that's a great price. Do inspect your yardage before it's cut, as I found water spots on my wool coating after I got home. (Fortunately I could cut around them.)
You can find more wool coatings on W. 39th Street at the stores west of Chic but on the same side of the street. The selection gets better but the prices do go up, starting around $18 a yard. Also, Mood Fabrics has a large selection of wool coatings at a range of price points, as do B&J, Paron's, NY Elegant and Rosen & Chadick.
Don't forget linings. For warmth, I like the flannel-backed satin linings at B&J, or the quilted satins and nylons at AK Fabrics. For a luxurious touch, add a fur collar from Mood or Prime Fabrics (W. 35th).
Happy sewing and happy holidays!
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| Ready-made fur collars at Mood Fabrics. Add one to that coat you're going to make. |
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| Here's my coat in progress: Wool coating from Chic, fur from Prime, quilted lining from AK. |
I hope that you will share your finished coat here--I miss seeing your beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteLynn, thanks for that compliment! But I'll probably keep my projects off STGD, as I want this web site to be about the stores and not me. I am posting my projects, however, at lindsaytsews.tumblr.com.
ReplyDeleteHi! Can you suggest a pattern for a beginner? Maybe a pea coat? Thx!
ReplyDeleteHi Tina! Unfortunately, a pea coat is not a beginner-level project, nor is any coat with lapels. Something like McCalls 6445 (http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m6445-products-14892.php?page_id=911), without set-in sleeves and a loose fit, would be a great beginner coat project. Avoid set-in sleeves, complicated collars or a profile that needs to be fitted. I find a lot of decent coat patterns on Etsy that fit this description. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteTina - this one would probably work too -- and no buttonholes either. Retro ‘50s swing jacket: http://butterick.mccall.com/b5716-products-15275.php?page_id=872
ReplyDeleteFor a first coat (not that I followed my own advice mind you), I'd go for a simple, no collar style (you can always fill in with a scarf later), with raglan sleeves (not always easy to find - looking on vintage sites is a possibility). Oh - and expect this to take some time - lots of hand sewing, pressing. If you have access to a sewing instructor who can help you, I'd take advantage.
Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI was sorry, but not entirely surprised, to see that you have ended your personal log, Lindsay T Sews. Writing a blog is very time consuming, and just yesterday, another sewing blogger in my RSS feed bid adieu.
People want to move on to other things, which is quite natural. But this is why I'm amused when I read bloggers discussing a sewing "revolution" or "movement."
The trend I'm really waiting for is tattoo-remorse. In 15 years,I predict there will be thousands of people writing stories on how they shouldn't have inked up their bodies. Whether they will be using blogs or some other medium to report their experiences remains to be seen.
New York Sewer
I agree with the inspection advice, and I also suggest holding the piece up to the light to check for holes. Paron Annex, I love you, but I think you might have a few well-fed moths!
ReplyDeleteI need to sew up the many coatings in my stash so I can get more next time I'm there. `-) I found great wool knits at Chic at a great price, for a slightly less time-consuming project.
ReplyDeleteThis is a bit overdue by a few months but just wanted to tell you that had it not been for your blog about the garment district my daughter-in-law and I would never have ventured to the big city to check out the fabric stores. We had such a wonderful time. We followed your recommendations as to a hotel, places to eat and of course, THE FABRIC SHOPS. A most sincere thank you for rendering such a useful and well-thought-out service. We wanted you to know that it has made such a difference to us. Love from central Florida
ReplyDeleteKaren, that's great to hear! Glad I was able to help make your trip a success.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to have found your blog. My sister and I are heading to NYC in October for a little trip. She's a regular NY business traveler, but this will be my first time. I've been a seamstress for most of my life, so I'm beyond excited to check out the garment district! Thanks!
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