The trench coat is one of the first things I think of when I think about classic French style. I have decided I need some me-made trench coats in my life.. largely inspired by my good sewing friend Bianca who made not one but TWO gorgeous ones recently (read all about those here and here).
With spring well underway and summer approaching, I thought I’d start off with a cropped trench coat rather than a full one. I had seen a handful of examples on Pinterest and I really liked the look of them, so I set out to find a pattern to base it on… and as soon as I saw Vogue 1467, I thought, “that’s the one!”. It’s actually a peacoat pattern, intended for coatings, but structurally it had what I was looking for – short length, double breasted, and even had an interesting feature at the centre back neckline.
I shortened the bodice by 2 3/4″, lengthened the sleeves by about 3″, omitted the back belt, and made some epaulettes for the shoulders.
I managed to squeeze it out of 3m of the cotton twill from the same eBay seller Bianca used for her peach trench. They have such a lovely range of colours, it was hard for me to choose one, but I settled on this green in the end. It’s got a really nice depth to the colour in person and I like that although it’s not a ‘classic’ trench colour it still looks smart.
I added four buttons from FCN New Trimmings in London, and pressed the lapels down, rather than following the peacoat instructions. I didn’t bother with buttonholes because I don’t think I’ll ever wear it buttoned up!
It was a really nice, quick make and I’m thrilled with the final result of my cropped trench experiment. I kind of want another one in a beige-y colour too!