Hello!

Welcome to this new video about our season’s favourite, the Pam coat with its pretty shawl collar, large flap pockets and loose fit. So…we are taking the same thing and starting again... A new version!

It’s not essential to sew the lining of a coat or jacket to make your first pretty mid-season piece, especially if the back of your fabric is as pretty as the front (like our pretty Scott tweed ;) ).

In the previous “Sewing Secrets” tutorial, we explained how to join a checked fabric, so your fabric pieces are ready for this next step. To prevent the fabric from fraying, all the edges of the pieces will have been overcast and the specified areas interfaced with fusible interfacing (bottom of the garment, bottom of the sleeves, facing and back panel, under the collar).

The video will show you how to assemble your garment without sewing the coat lining. To make sure your coat looks as good on the outside as it does on the inside, we’re going to edge the seams: these are finished with a bias binding that covers the seam allowances.

Applying a bias ensures a clean finish, and can even be decorative if you choose a contrasting bias. Bias is applied before assembling your pattern pieces:

• The sides and shoulders of the front and back pieces
• The sides of the sleeve pieces and the bottom of the sleeve
• Around the facing

The quantities of bias binding required for the Pam coat, short and long versions, as well as a tutorial on how to apply bias binding, are shown in the video.

For my coat, I chose not to edge the seams at the top of the sleeve and at the bottom of the garment because the tweed is thick and I didn’t want to risk stiffening my seams in these areas. The seam allowances will therefore simply be overcast. Depending on your choice of fabric, all the seams can be edged (velvet, light denim, gabardine, fine wool).

Short (above the knee), Pam has a very different look and with its pretty checks it’s a change from my other versions! I’ve edged my seams with a black bias, which contrasts without shocking (the combination of beige, navy, brown and black is really elegant). The bias will be visible at the bottom of the sleeves and as I always wear them rolled up, the inside of the sleeves is also visible (the ‘couture’ touch!). The bottom hem is made with a hand-stitched invisible stitch and the facing is also secured with hand-stitching, as is the back panel, which is under-stitched with the seam allowance of the underside of the collar (I promised you a neat finish, didn’t I?!).

I decorated my coat with a gold tipped shell buttons from Rascol, real jewels! I really like my new coat, and I’m not sorry I took the time to choose my fittings and finishing touches.

And if you’d like to take the plunge, here’s a step-by-step video on how to sew your coat with a lining (of course your sewing pattern includes all the lining pieces and how to assemble the lining to the garment, all these technical aspects are detailed in the Pam coat brochure and video tutorial).

I hope you have a lovely time sewing and that the techniques covered in this tutorial will be useful for many more sewing projects! Julie and I are delighted to see all the comments you make on our YouTube videos and to be able to share these sewing moments with you. Our aim is to support you in your projects, to help you progress and dare to try new techniques, video after video. Sewing is still a technical discipline, but I’m convinced that you can progress very quickly and that the pleasure of making your wardrobe, whether it’s a pretty everyday blouse or a very elaborate coat, is even greater when you’ve also learnt new things.

Have a great day!