Skirted Pea Coat Sweater

This look I sewed for Project Run & Play's Signature Style challenge. I talked a lot about my signature style in this post and how I like to make mini fashion. I think the only thing that has changed since then is that I now put an even greater emphasis on comfort. My six-year-old is so quirky about her clothing and how it must feel. I have made too many things that go unworn because something or the other doesn't feel exactly right.

In my book, style is still number one, but comfort is the very close runner up. Practically tied. Sometimes style even takes a back seat if it is going to threaten the comfort.



So this Skirted Pea Coat Sweater mixes style and comfort perfectly! I wanted the look of the structured pea coat, but something soft and could be comfortably worn during a Phoenix winter (which is absolutely beautiful, by the way). It is made using the softest organic cotton sweatshirt fleece, got it here. It is heavy enough that it still holds structure, but it sure is stretchy, soft, and breathable like your favorite old sweatshirt is.



One way I gave this sweatshirt fleece a structured look is through all the lines and the double stitching. Because of all the different pieces to this coat I had to switch from my double needle to single needle over and over again to get just the look I wanted. Painful but oh so worth it.



The metal zippers in the pockets and on the sleeves also add more structure and interest. Not to mention they are gold and amazing. This was my first time sewing zippered pockets and it was so easy! This tutorial was great. To make the zipped up sleeves I basically did the exact same thing as the tutorial shows for the pockets, but just modified it a bit. Don't ask me how. It was one of my last steps to finish on this beast of a coat and I was basically just trying. to. finish.



Look at all that double stitching, oh yeah.



Looks cute worn buttoned up or open.



I also made the feather pants which didn't end up quite as I envisioned, but I still really like. I got the fabric from here but didn't read the specs very closely. There is only a 30% stretch to this knit (feels like even less to me), which means the knit is definitely not suitable for the leggings I wanted to make with it. But for someone like me who believes in miracles, I felt the un-stretchiness of the fabric, cut out my usual leggings pattern, sewed them up, and prayed that by some power she would come home from school and they would slide on her like a glove. Of course her foot only made it about halfway through the leg hole until it got stuck in place.



But my unanswered prayer meant that I got to make these trouser-like pants with cuffs at the bottom. Drew said they looked like pajama pants, but hey, she was going to wear the feathers one way or another and it sure wasn't going to be in leggings! The pants are not my pattern, they are these from Figgy's patterns. I don't usually buy patterns because I'm cheap, but oh man was it nice to have all the work done for me.



And my Nash doesn't make it on the blog much because I don't usually (or ever) sew for him, but he is very, very loved around here and is the light of my life.







How did I get so darn lucky?