I had bought this fabulous woven ombre stripe from The Smuggler’s Daughter. It’s attractive on both sides so an unlined jacket seemed a good fit.

I think most of us looked right past Butterick B6244 with the incredibly plain dress, but the coat caught my eye. There are many similar patterns out there, but I liked that the shoulders were fit and despite all of the fabric it looked slimming on the model. The bonus is when you find that there is actually a dart under the draped collar. There are just 3 pattern pieces, which made matching stripes easy, however I had only ordered 4 repeats (less than 4 yards) of the fabric. After close inspection I discovered that there was absolutely no nap and the stripes were symmetrical so the back is cut one direction and the front is opposite! After laying out the front and back pattern pieces and matching the stripes I still had some fabric left, but the sleeve stripes wouldn’t match, or they would be too short.

Knowing that there is always a solution I cut out and stitched together the body of the coat. Then I draped the fabric at the arms and decided that it looks even better with the stripe running down the arm. I love that the inside seam is orange against tan. I’m so glad I didn’t have enough fabric! By cutting the sleeves cross grain I gained enough scraps to make two perfectly matched patch pockets lined in a different fabric.

The best part of this project is how well it fits into my existing wardrobe. Buying fabric I love and then finding the perfect pattern seems to be a good way for me to sew. The patterns are out there or you can alter them, but finding fabric you love is much more difficult.