Taylor Trench- Planning and Materials

This is the first of several posts about my journey into sewing the Taylor Trench by Rebecca Page.  This is one of the plans from my make nine, so it feels good to be getting the materials ready for this more involved project.  So how do I approach a project like this? Here is how I have been getting started.

Pattern

While I love the instant nature and lack of tracing involved in PDF patterns, I don’t have the patience to stick together the millions of pages in more complex patterns!  I have been using netprinter to order my patterns printed on A0 with saves all the tedious cutting and sticking and means that I can get straight to the cutting out.  The pdf files for the Taylor Trench are layered, so you can save the pdf’s again with just the sizes you need visible and make life as simple as possible when it comes to the pattern preparations.

The Taylor trench has quite a few options with the pattern.  I will be making the shorted coat length and will definitely be adding the removable hood.  I will probably also use the back yoke piece, welt pockets, shoulder and sleeve tabs, but will omit the front yokes.  I am planning to add a buckle to my belt, rather than just tying it up.

Fabrics

I want this coat to be a real investment piece for me.  Something which will last for years, so I have been taking my time to choose some quality fabrics.  In rainy Devon, waterproof is a must, so I have selected some waxed cotton for my outer fabric.  This should give a balance of being pretty classy, and also practical on damp days out.  I managed to get some of last seasons colours of some British Millerian cotton in a beautiful vibrant red which should give me a high quality and long lasting finish.

I wanted this coat to be relatively warm too, so I’ve decided to quilt the lining with thinsulate, a bit like Lauren from Guthrie and Ghani’s Kelly Anorack.  I have ordered 2m of the thinsulate from Point North which should be plenty to have the hood and main body of the coat quilted with it as it is a full 1.5m wide.  I haven’t decided yet whether to quilt the sleeve lining or not.  I don’t want them to get too bulky, but I do want this coat to serve me all winter.  I will use un-quilted linings for the pockets and other odds and ends though.

For my lining I have chosen some lovely Liberty Tana Lawn from Abakhan.  I’m so glad that I did because it feels gorgeous and silky, but has the ease of working with cotton.  I managed to buy mine during their Christmas sale, so got 15% off the already fantastic £10/m so I snapped up Estella and Annabelle for just £8.50/m which is an absolute bargain!  I also got to use my birthday gift voucher from my parents on it, so it felt like even more of a treat, and I like that it picks up the red of the outer too.  I have the blue colourway, which they have now sold out of, but abakhan do have it still in green.

Notions

With a coat there are quite a few notions to be collected.  I have decided to go for silver fixings, because that should be easier to match, even when I am getting things from multiple sources.  I have ordered a few things, and have more in the planning.  So far I have:

Cord ends for the hood draw cord from eBay

Some drawstring cord, probably a neutral cream

A belt buckle, probably something like this

I am going to go for press fasteners everywhere, rather than buttons I think and will probably use Prym Anorak Snaps, because I already have a set of Vario Pliers for setting them

Small eyelets for the holes in the belt

I haven’t decided on thread yet, but will probably go with Gutermann threads in white and red because I know that they are great quality.

It seems to all be coming together pretty well.  I am planning to prewash the cotton lawn just to sort out any shrinkage and to keep it nice and soft, but I think I will leave the other fabrics unlaundered.  A coat is unlikely to be put through the washing machine once it is complete anyway.  I think that is as far as I have got, and I’m not quite sure when I am going to get to the cutting out stage because I have a few other projects to finish first but it is lovely to be planning away!

 

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