Welcome to your February 2025 Dream Wardrobe.
UK SIZES 6-30
With Spring on the way, we are starting to plan our new season wardrobe, and what everyone needs in their wardrobe is an amazing trenchcoat. A wardrobe staple, The women’s trench coat is timeless. It has evolved over the years, transcending its military origins to become a symbol of sophistication and style.
With so many stunning features, it was about time we added a trenchcoat to the Dream Wardrobe collection.
About the fabric:
Now, we have something super special for you today. We have sourced the deadstock fabric to top all deadstock fabrics. This stunning gabardine London Trench coat fabric has been sourced from a very high-end Heritage London brand famed for its outerwear and coats. This Brand combines a passion for the outdoors with modern British design.
As this is deadstock, a few different fabrics are available, all from a similar tonal range.
As with most fabrics, we recommend you prewash to remove any dressing and allow for pre-shrinking. A cool wash will be fine; just make sure the temperature you use to prewash is the temperature at which you plan to wash the final garment. You don’t want your final garment to shrink.
This fabric would also work well for:
About the pattern:
Enhance your wardrobe with the Eliza Trench, a versatile coat that can be transformed from a long, elegant piece with a back vent, to a stylish cropped jacket for daily wear. This coat boasts a back storm flap, adjustable sleeve tabs, full lining, and the option of a standard or vintage-inspired deep pointed collar. Complete the look with a waist belt and choose between welt or oversized patch pockets. A must-have for any wardrobe.
We have included enough fabric to make the long length trenchcoat.
Depending on the size range required, you will have received either the Eliza Trench or the Eliza Trench curve pattern. The Instructions can be found below:
The instructions for the Eliza Curve version are here
The instructions for the Eliza are here
Notions:
- Matching Thread (Included)
- Lining Fabric - We have used Ace Animal Print Cotton Poplin We recommend you use either a cotton poplin or lining fabric
- fusing
- 20 - 30mm diameter buttons x 7 for long coat, x 6 for short coat – we used these Faux horn buttons
The Eliza Trench would also look great in:
About your gift:
The perfect tool for pressing fabrics
Use the natural wooden beech material to absorb your iron steam directly from the fabric and continue pressing without worrying about burning your fabrics and projects. Remove the weight from bulky seams, create clean, dart lines and perfect your sewing projects. Use the tailor’s clapper to ease and press shoulder seams and darts.
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Want to share your Dream Wardrobe? Use the hashtag #fgdreamwardrobe and share your unboxing and final makes on social media.
Happy sewing, Josie xxx
Laura's sewing notes
On our sample, we used a flat piping in red at the join between the lining and the front edge facing. This is made using a premade bias binding. To make this into piping, all you need to so is press the binding in half (it helps to pin it to your ironing board when doing this to avoid burnt fingers!). You then attach the binding to the inner facing edge, on the edge which joins to the lining, once the front and back facing pieces have been joined together at the shoulder.
I wanted about 5mm of the piping showing so I positioned the folded edge of the binding about 15mm from the raw edge (as the seam allowance on this pattern is 10mm). Pin it to the right side of the facing and stitch in place. It's a good idea to do your stitching line within the seam allowance so that it doesn't show once the lining is attached - so I positioned my stitching line around 8mm from the raw edge. Once this is done, you can then attach the facing to your lining following along the instructions!
To help make the belt & coat loops, I used a bias binding maker. It helps to pin one end of the piece to the ironing board to keep it folded while pressing, and to avoid burning your fingers! Use the bias binding maker to make the first folds and then fold in half again and cut into the loops.
There are lots of corners on this pattern that need to be sewn accurately, like the pointed end of the belt, and the edges of the back vent and hems... it helps to draw the exact stitching lines on the wrong side of the fabric with chalk, to make sure your sewing is really accurate and you get neat and even points. That way you can be sure that everything will line up neatly once the lining is attached and everything is turned out the right way. It also helps to use a point presser to turn out and press the pointed corners on the collar / belt etc.
Making the welt pockets was probably the trickiest part of this pattern. The patch pockets are definitely the easier choice! But I like a challenge... I found this fabric is very unforgiving so you have to be spot on accurate when sewing and clipping into the corners of the welts and pocket openings. I drew on the outline of the pockets using chalk / heat removable pen, extending the lines either end so I could see exactly where I needed to start and stop stitching.
A good tip I was told was to start with your needle a few stitches in from the edge and backstitch to the start of the stitching line, continuing to sew from there, and doing the same at the end. When opening out the welt pocket, you have to clip right into the corners to get a clean turned out edge, so its important that those first stitches are very secure and that there are no thread ends coming loose.
I tried using fray check on the clipped corners but I found it did leave a slight mark on the fabric when it dried so I would recommend using very sparingly and keeping it on the wrong side if you do choose to use it.
Sewing the collar onto the coat is quite tricky, use lots of pins around the curved edges and take your time. I used a magnetic seam guide on my machine to make sure I was keeping an even 10mm seam allowance. It's important that the seam allowance is correct so that all the collar pieces line up and you get a nice even roll under the outer collar edge.
There are lots of corners to join on this coat, especially with the storm flat, the sleeves meeting at the side seam - to make sure the seams stay in the correct position, I always make sure to secure a pin through the seams to keep them held together, placing the pin in the seam as in the photo below.
