This week we are going back in time to give a little TLC to one of my very first (and very favorite) sewing projects: The Ashby Coat. I love love love this coat--I love all coats really--and my admiration for outerwear first blossomed when I was attending FIDM. (Almost a decade ago now, what.)

I didn't really consciously know that I loved outerwear until my later classes--the epiphany happened when I presented one of the first collections I had ever designed, and my teacher just assumed that it was an outerwear line based on the way that I had designed it. I had never really thought about loving outerwear until that moment..

I LOVE working with heavier, structured fabrics that can produce full, voluminous shapes. I love all of the beautiful, insanely complicated details that go in to making a coat: The overall structure, two-piece sleeves, shoulder pads, facings, linings, buttons.. The list goes on and on.

Coats pretty much do it all, which is what made it a perfect monthly sewing project here at TFM.

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!) 

IMHO, coats are definitely the most complicated and time consuming garment to make--but that's also what makes them the most rewarding garment to make. In the winter, a coat pretty much defines your wardrobe. I think that's also what I love about them: They play such a HUGE role in your closet, and are so incredibly important.

A coat isn't something that is going to be tossed out after a single wear, or a single season. So much thought goes in to buying a coat because it's something that you are going to wear EVERY day for months at a time. Which is exactly what made the Ashby a perfect monthly sewing project for December--the month in which this post was originally published--the "real" beginning of winter.

No, but really. It does get cold here. Definitely not east coast winter cold--but in the coldest weeks it's typically in the low 40's. (Maybe even the 30's in the early morning?) And girl, that's my kind of winter.

This kind of weather is what makes the Ashby Coat perfect for San Diego. It's heavier than your basic jacket, but isn't too heavy where it's ridiculous to be wearing it here in Southern California. The hip length is perfect--a long coat just isn't really necessary here. (Although I will be a bit of a sun baby sometimes and bust out my knee length coat from NYC.. HA.)

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!) 

I mentioned above that my love for outerwear first started when I was at FIDM. This coat was actually a design from my final collection that I made while at school. I WISH I had the final garment that I sewed up while at school--it was a truly beautiful piece.

The outer shell of the coat was this beeeeautiful creamy beige woven linen, with a lightweight tan lining inside. The piece was actually featured in a show a few months after I graduated, but by the time I could have gotten the piece back I was already living in New York and crazy busy. I still think about that coat though.

When I was planning out my very first sewing projects for TFM a few years back, I knew I wanted to include something a bit heavier and more involved.. And this coat from my time at FIDM came to the forefront of my mind.

The coat itself is hip length, with asymmetrical seams running along the front and back. The band running along the left side of the coat is a pretty dominant feature, and is a perfect option for some fabric and color contrasting. While I'm typically not a huge fan of color contrasting--I think it's a weak design option in most cases--I think it works perfectly on the Ashby.

There is an inseam pocket along the left hand side as well, and the coat closes with a hidden zipper along the right hand side, where the left and right side overlap. There are also giant hand sewn snaps above and below the zipper, as well as along the inseam pocket to help keep it closed.

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!) 

I particularly love the slight cowl along the neckline, a last minute design decision--one that I think gives the coat a most elegant touch. Prior to this sewing project, I had never drafted or worked with a cowl neckline before, had never even thought about adding a cowl neckline to the coat when I initially came up with the design.

I consider this proof in the value of experimenting with construction details you may not love individually--but add immense value to a project collectively. (And we've actually got a brand new series all about this topic -- on construction details I wouldn't normally draft into a project, but surprise me with how much I end up loving them! Our first post is all about collars.)

When sewing outerwear, using a heavy and structured fabric for the shell is essential. Heavier fabrics hold their shape much better than lightweight ones can, and withstand the wear and tear that coats experience with every day use. To contrast, a lightweight fabric is often used for the lining to allow for some movement. 

The outer shell fabric that I chose to use for this project was a bonded faux cotton suede. The faux suede has a good weight to it, and a beautiful hand--almost velvet-like, perfect for the shell of a winter coat. A heavy poly knit was bonded to the back of the faux cotton suede to give it additional weight and structure. Again, perfect for a winter coat!

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!) 

The fabric was so incredibly easy to work with, it cut and sewed like butter. The biggest challenge with using this fabric (which is also what makes it perfect for this project) was the thickness. While the thickness was perfect for sewing, it made it incredibly difficult to hand sew. And there was A LOT of hand sewing with this project.

Because of the velvety nature of the coat's shell, I wasn't able to press it from the outside of the garment, otherwise it would burn the fibers. Which meant that in order to keep all of those seams flat and pretty, I had to hand stitch every. single. seam allowance to the garment. Was that absolutely necessary?

But. It was still A LOT of hand sewing.. And my little fingers are still a bit raw. (It's times like these that I REALLY wish I could stand wearing a thimble. Girl, I just can't do it.) Aside from the fabric--coats are always a bit challenging to sew, and the Ashby is no exception. Since I had already sewn this before, I was a little more familiar with it, but it was still a bit of a challenge. (And it had been almost 6 years since I sewed up the original.)

Matching the 4 corner point on the back of the coat was a challenge--if it was even a hair off, it would be completely obvious--so that point had to literally be perfect. It's also always a challenge to attach a coat lining--even without the unusual shape of the Ashby. I was able to get everything attached though, and I think it looks pretty fantastic. Am I right? Look at those curves!

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!) 

And now, for the namesake of the Ashby Coat. 

I considered naming this monthly sewing project after some dear memory of living in San Francisco while attending FIDM.. But I really couldn't think of one. We paid WAY too much for a tiny little studio in a pretty terrible part of the city, and put ourselves in so much debt that it took 5+ years to pay it off. 

So. I started to think.. What does the month of December--when this post initially came out--represent? December is the end of the year, the end of an era, if you will. We always make resolutions at the beginning of each year, resolutions that we hope to carry until the end of the year, through December.

For me, keeping a resolution is a big deal--I don't make them lightly. And while I didn't quite hit my goal of reading 50 books back in 2017 when I first published this post--I did make it to 47! And the Ashby Coat is named after my FAVORITE book that I read that year: The Resurrection of Joan Ashby.

Joan Ashby is a beautifully thick novel, over 500 pages. And I read it in 3 days. Not even kidding--I did not work for 3 days, and just read this book. It was that incredible. And I actually just reread it earlier this year when I was feeling a bit down--there's nothing like picking up your very favorite book and just getting lost in it. And that's what Joan Ashby is to me: My very, very favorite book. Not just of 2017--but I'm pretty sure of all time. 

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!)

The book had me from the start, and I want to share the first lines with you:

"It does not matter what you choose--be a farmer, businessman, artist, what you will--but know your aim, and live for that one thing. We have only one life. The secret of success is concentration; wherever there has been a great life, or a great work, that has gone before. Taste everything a little, look at everything a little; but live for one thing. Anything is possible for a woman who knows her end and moves straight for it, and for it alone."

I read that first excerpt from bed one night, and didn't stop reading until I finished the book. (The excerpt wasn't even the start of the book--It was the epigraph. #mindblown) 

Without going in to too much detail (because I really, really want you to read this book, it's incredible) know that Joan is an incredibly strong and independent woman, and a character that I can relate to in so many other ways.

After a devastatingly traumatic event happens in her life, she up and leaves the life she has always known. In her new, resurrected life, she is forever know as Ashby, instead of her given name of Joan. Ashby lives the life Joan always wanted to live, in the place where she always wanted to be. She completely upends her entire life in her 50's, displaying the courage that so many of us would never have in that situation.

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!)

For me, Joan Ashby is a woman to aspire to be. Her courage and devotion to herself is something that I admired intensely while reading the book, and is a sense that has stuck with me years after finishing it. I hope that you love the Ashby Coat as much as I do, and that a sense of strength and independence resonates throughout not only this blog, but also this particular monthly sewing project.

Has anyone else read The Resurrection of Joan Ashby? I could talk about this beautiful, very favorite book of mine all the day long. (And let's be friends on Goodreads!)

(Looking to learn how to sew an inseam pocket? Girl, we've got you. Inseam pockets are the most basic, functional pocket out there--learn how to make your own with our step-by-step sewing tutorial!)