Duffel Coat Makeover

When my Dad and I were in Japan, we noticed girls everywhere wearing cute duffle coats. Dad saw one in a department store that was exactly like one he used to have. I said I knew exactly which coat he was talking about, because I've tried it on before and wished it was my size. Ever since I first read Paddington Bear I've loved the look of duffle coats.

I started looking for one of my own, which seemed easy as every store was stocking a variety of duffle coats. None of them were quite right though. They all had fur trims, the fabric was too thin and cheap, they had crazy linings, or if they were nice they were too expensive (or they only came in tiny Japanese sizes).

I kept saying to dad 'It needs to be that nice camel colour that yours is'... 'I want proper horn toggles like on yours'... 'I like how yours has a tartan lining'... you can see where this was going. Finally sick of wandering around crazy Japanese clothing shops, Dad said 'If you can make my old coat fit you, it's yours'. I thought about it and realised that although it would be a big job (literally - it was a huge coat), it would be worth it to have the lovely fabric and proper trims.

So when we got home, we dug the coat out of the wardrobe.

It was huge, had a few little moth holes and stunk of moth balls. I was happy though, because the fabric and trims were just as nice as I remembered and the way it was constructed meant that the job would be a little bit easier than I originally thought.

I re-set the sleeve, bringing the shoulders in and making the sleeve just the right length. I narrowed the sleeve and the side seams. I added princess seams at the front and darts at the back. I moved the pockets upwards and hacked about 25cm off the bottom.

I'm so happy with how it turned out! I'm glad I took my time to do it properly, and extra glad I didn't buy a cheap reproduction in Japan. I love this coat!

Of course the weekend that I finally finished this lovely warm coat has been the warmest weather in weeks! Winter is supposed to be just over a week away and we've had sunny 24 degree weather (that's 75 fahrenheit). So I had to throw on a winter-y outfit to take these photos because it looks stupid wearing a coat over a t-shirt and shorts.

I googled Gloverall and found that they are still making duffle coats in a huge range of beautiful colours! For three hundred pounds though, I think I'll just stick with my customised vintage version!