Louisa Coat - Compagnie M.

I feel so lucky to have been chosen to take part in the blog tour for Compagnie M.'s new pattern, the Louisa Coat. I think Marte's designs are the perfect balance of classic and modern, and they also inspire me to try new things (I made my own piping for this one!) As soon as I saw her first sneak peek photo of the Louisa Coat I was hooked, and every new detail she revealed (the back! the tulip collar!) just made me crazier for it.

 I picked up this piece of grey wool (maybe a wool blend?) at the thrift store a while ago for $2.99. It was a little over a yard and perfect for this project. I was worried that perhaps grey was a bit too boring for a toddler coat, and then happened to see it next to a piece of Rifle Les Fleurs fabric in my box and suddenly I knew they belonged together.I didn't have much of the Les Fleurs fabric but I was just able to squeeze out the piping I needed. I lined the inside with a more subtle print - tiny white polka dots on grey. The pattern includes instructions for a little flower to put on the coat, but I swapped ours out for a sailor bow pin out of the same fabric as the piping. Ivory buttons and cuffs gave it the perfect finishing touches.

The cub's chest measurement was closer to the 12 month size on the chart, but I sized up to 18 months so that she can grow into it (instead of out of it!) and so it is a little big on her all over and I'm hoping she can wear it for a long time. I did shorten the sleeves by two inches. It is quite long on her right now, but at the rate she is shooting up I'm thinking come January/February she will fill it out much better.

 This was the most complex thing I've ever sewn and I still can't really believe I made it - it's so impressive! I was a little intimidated to start, but read through the whole pattern and realized I could definitely do it. The pattern is written very nicely and the finished product looks so professional - all the seams are enclosed inside and it even has a little hang loop which I love.