Hi Everyone! This week’s DIY is an oversized winter coat I made using Butterick #6328. You might remember a jacket I made not long ago using the same pattern before (see here). I loved the way it turned out and thought I could hack the pattern again and turn it into some chic winter gear. Here’s how I did it: 

This pattern is unlined and open front, so to make a winter coat, I need the opposite of that: lined and closed, so I…

  • extended the front panels by 4″ to allow it to close in the front.
  • lengthened it by 5″ because I prefer to have my coats a bit longer.
  • also made the collar 1″ thicker so it would look more prominent.
  • disregarded the side pockets the pattern calls for and added two 7″x6″ pockets to the front.
  • created a second version of the coat using lining material and attached it to the outer shell.

To close the front, I opted to use a brooch instead of buttons because I really didn’t want to add button holes to it. My fear of getting right to the end of this project and then ruining it was real…I had this stunning brooch lying around collecting dust and decided to put it to use. I thought it added an element of design and a lot more character to the coat than regular buttons.

This was my first time making a coat with a lining and it was surprisingly easy. I can’t lie, I was nervous the entire way that I would make a mistake and end up having to throw it all out, but slow and steady won this race for sure!

Slow and steady won this race for sure!

I intentionally stopped to think about each step along the way. So much so, that I’ve had this fabric for about a month now and every time I took it out to work with it (which was once a week!), I put it away because I was sure I’d wreck it! But after careful planning around the adjusting and altering of the pattern, I got it right!


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Fabric: Wool Blend Coating – Fabricland, 2.5m
Jeans: Joe Fresh | Sweater: Banana Republic | Booties: Vince Camuto / The Bay | Scarf: unknown
Photos by George Meris –  www.georgemeris.com


DIY Oversized Winter Coat by Sweet Shard

8 Comments

    • Sharadha Reply

      Thank you Tasha! The colour is definitely a head turner – I catch people staring at it all the time! I used to shy away from these colours, but not anymore lol!

  1. ooh, aah, and UGH. (The ooh and aah for obvious reasons, the ugh because this is my favorite shade of purple, and I can never find it.)

    You look stunning! 🙂

    • Sharadha Reply

      Thanks for the love Marcy! Trusss me this has now become one of my fav colours. I can’t believe it’s something I don’t really have in my wardrobe! Guess that’s the fun of experimenting with sewing right? Stay cool!

      -Sharadha

    • Sharadha Reply

      Hi Carmen! Thank you so much! Your support means a lot! 😀

  2. Absolutely beautiful! I love the fabric, the length and the collar – it’s a WOW coat 🙂 Thank you for that idea re brooch! I’m a bit of a collector of vintage rhinestone brooches (actually just bought myself a beauty yesterday for my birthday) and last spring I made myself 2 Morris’s (Grainline) which don’t call for buttons but sometimes a wind will catch it and I hate that flapping open business 🙂 a brooch is just the perfect solution! Yours looks so lovely and adds that extra umph to your coat. Gorgeous and thank you 🙂

    • Sharadha Reply

      I’m so glad I could help give you some ideas! Yesss I have a few brooches around and never knew what to do with them. Open jackets look cool, but can be pretty impractical! So this is a cool alternative methinks! thank you for the love!

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