For my very first men's coat, I was hoping to find an easy enough, yet still classy pattern. And Vogue 8940 was exactly what I needed. It’s a peacoat pattern that has everything this design should feature - back slit, a double-breasted front, neat pockets, etc. Picking the right size was quite easy and surprisingly I didn’t have to add any adjustments to it (apart from changing the placement of the buttons, and that barely counts). I also had to split the collar and collar stand patterns in half, and cut those pieces on a bias - it gives a much neater and better fitting result.

I picked a beautiful 100% British wool coating fabric and it was the perfect choice for my project. It’s the perfect weight for a winter project, which is crucially important, and it’s so beautiful and masculine. It has a gorgeous colour too, which is also so practical since you can only dry clean this garment.

To make the coat wind-proof, I hand stitched the flannel to the main fabric. All of the details are doubled with it, apart from collar, collar stand and facings (those have the iron-on cotton interfacing). It’s a great, thick, very warm and soft fabric, which is absolutely fantastic for the price. I pre-washed it to prevent any shrinking in the future. I also pre-shrank the main fabric by wrapping it in a damp towel and steaming it.

The insulating layer was the same as last year - it was quilted to an extra layer of lining, and then attached with the lining. I used the one called Zelwolwaterline.