Sometimes making a quilt involves the wing and a prayer. That was the case with this pink version of Misunderstood. I wanted to make a quilt coat. I wanted it to be bright and bold and vibrant, and I thought that the Misunderstood design would make a really interesting coat.
We Start With a Quilt
I have wanted to make a quilt coat for a long time. In fact, my friend Teresa GAVE me a copy of her Elemental Coat pattern at Quilt Market 2024 when Zero Waste Quilting was released and I’m embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to get around to making one; however, I think it was worth the wait.
The What If’s?
I made the quilt and, I’m not gonna lie, it was pretty bold. I was second-guessing myself. I was second-guessing my decision to create this. I was second-guessing how this quilt would look once I cut into it and turned it into a jacket but a little faith prevailed and I went for it. I quilted the top, cut out my pattern pieces and with a lot of nerves and a pair of scissors, I cut out my pieces.
There was a lot of anxiety about cutting into this quilt. What if I made a mistake? What if I mis-cut? What if I hated the jacket when I finished? All the what if’s ran through my head but this jacket wasn’t going to make itself and part of growing required me sitting in some discomfort. I had to remind myself that this was just a quilt. I was cutting up a quilt. I was making a coat and if I didn’t like it, I could find another purpose for the parts and pieces.
A wing and a prayer worked. I am pleased as punched with how this quilt coat turned out. I am so excited and just love it. It is bright, it is fun, it is bold. I added some embroidery. I’m hoping to add more and I’m really really excited to share this with you!
Nothing says almost finished like an unbound quilt coat over a hoodie!
The Devil is in the Details
Here are some detail shots from my quilt coat.
The Power in Your Stash
This quilt coat highlights how much value we have in our fabric stashes. The ability to create something on a whim. The opportunity to play and expand our creative selves. AND, in this case, the power to make an entire quilt coat without buying ANYTHING extra.
I did not have to purchase any additional supplies to make this coat. All the fabric in the quilt – top, backing, batting and binding – were in my stash. Even the embroidery supplies!
I was able to pull scraps and yardage to make the top. Keeping my fabric and scraps visible and organized by color sped up the process because I could just grab fabric and audition it as I put the top together. Furthermore, the Flying Geese blocks in this quilt finish at 1 1/2” x 3” and 3” x 6” so scraps would either work or they wouldn’t.
Additionally, I’m on team bias binding so I keep the extra in a bin and pull it out as needed. For this coat, I used three scrap binding pieces. Two around the body and another around the sleeves. You can see two of them in the detail photos above.
About Making the Coat
The coat is easy to make and Teresa’s instructions are easy to follow. The version I made is full length with full length sleeves and a collar. There were four pattern pieces used – the coat front, the coat back, the sleeves and a collar. I had plenty of room to cut all the pieces from my quilt, too.
TIP: Be sure to lay out the pattern pieces on your quilt BEFORE cutting into it. I traced around the pieces on my quilt to make sure I could make the longer version and wouldn’t come up short.
Teresa includes variations so you can make:
- Cropped or hip length versions
- 3/4 sleeves
- a hood
Once the pieces were cut out it took me a few hours to put the coat together. Construction is simple and sewists from confident beginners to advanced quilters can easily make their own quilt coat.
I opted to sew the binding down by hand and that probably took me as long as it did to make the coat but it’s also the perfect night-time activity.
Embroidery Stitches I Used
I used two embroidery stitches on this jacket. A chain stitch and a lazy daisy stitch which, frankly, look pretty similar. The truth is I used the embroidery to embellish any spots in my quilting that were askew. I need to add more but I’m really happy with how it looks so far.
Bottom Line
Would I make another? Absolutely. Have you made one? If not, you should. 🩷