DP Studio Le 809 Coat

The latest DP Studio collection has filled me with inspiration and a determination to make. I'm hugely proud of making my clothes by hand, but I don't want them to be immediately identifiable as handmade (I'm sure a lot of fellow sewists feel the same)! I think it's the extra design details - like the hardware in my last project - that really help to retain that air of 'handmade or high end?' mystery, and DP patterns have their pick of design features. Out of the two patterns that I ordered, I got straight to work on the most seasonally appropriate: the Le 809 Coat.

Finished Le 809

The Le 809 is an oversized, partially lined coat, with two length options (both are pretty long), welt pockets and, the selling point for me, the option of having an 'incorporated gilet' with View A. It helped that I already had the perfect fabric in my stash - a soft, grey leopard print wool (mix I think?) bought at the Harrogate Knit and Stitch Show in 2016. I had been considering using it for the Orgageuse Riga Coat but I knew that the DP Studio Coat would work perfectly with the print as soon as I saw it. The fabric requirements for the Le 809 were confusingly listed as 3.15m on the cover and 3.25m in the instructions, but either way, I managed to squeeze it out of the 3m of fabric I had.

Supplies for the Le 809 (with button options)!

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of this project, but I must admit, I did have a few frustrations with the instructions, the first being the poor listing of required notions. The zip length isn't specified so I had to measure the pattern pieces to work it out - I made the size 42 and found a 40cm zip to be just right. I also used nearly 5m of fusible bias tape - not mentioned until the instruction to apply it - and I was most shocked of all that the requirement for nearly 10m(!!) of bias binding was nowhere to be seen. I've never done so many trips back and forth to town for one project. I think I rinsed the haberdasheries of Leeds of all their black and grey bias binding, so FYI, buy in bulk!

Worn open with a zipped gilet

A note on the instructions... If you've used a DP Studio pattern before, you'll know that they favour large and quite simple illustrations, usually with fairly short descriptions of how to complete each step. I got on with this format really well for their Knit Asymmetric Dress which is quite an easy make, but I was surprised to find that more detail wasn't included in the instructions for a project as complex as a coat. Perhaps some of the struggle came from trying to understand the translated instructions which don't always read too clearly, but I also found myself having to do a lot of thinking beyond the pattern.

Camouflage welts!

The welt pockets are the first things to sew and to be honest, the instructions were baffling. The pattern doesn't indicate where the cutline for the pocket should be, so I attached my welt/facing pieces to the wrong side of the rectangular marking, meaning my pockets sit higher and closer to the side seams than intended. They look fine from the outside so it's no big deal, but the inside is a bit of a mess, which is a shame as the coat isn't fully lined, so they're exposed.

Apart from the more time consuming elements like the pockets, the coat came together really quickly. Nearly all of the seams are finished with bias binding (hence the huge amount required) which looks pretty neat, though I would recommend getting a couple of different widths to accommodate the bulkier seams/edges. The collar and facings were all pretty straightforward to attach, but I did stumble with finishing the vent and hem.

Total confusion over the length/hemming

The hem lines were really confusing, so it might be that I did something wrong at the cutting stage, but the pattern seems to direct you to cut out a square at the bottom of the centre front. It quickly became clear that the rest of the front was much longer than the front facing and back pieces when they were all joined together (see picture above). Even more bizarrely, when I compared pattern pieces with fellow maker Jess, hers seemed to have different cut/hem lines!

Back view and wind-blown vent

The slit facing for the vent was also too long, so I cut off the excess on that and the lower front, before winging the rest. I attached the hem to the front facing loosely based on how I remembered doing it on previous jackets (I shortened the front facing by a couple of inches and sewed it to the right side of the bottom front, so that some of the front flips to the underside with the facing) and stitched the rest of the hem by hand.

Pre-gilet insertion

Thankfully the gilet was really fun to construct and quite easy to attach to the rest of the coat. It's essentially a backless zip-turtleneck, made up of 2 layers of the outer fabric (one of them is interfaced) so it's really warm to wear. The collar is a little restrictive when fully zipped up - especially with a wardrobe-staple roll neck underneath - so I would probably shave 1cm off the depth if I made it again.

Strangely, the coat is only half lined - a design choice I guess, but after all of the effort with binding the edges (as neat as they look) it may as well be fully lined, and I wish it had been an option. If I made the coat again, I'd consider extending my lining pieces, as my intention was to fully make a statement with my contrast lining (not just a half of one)!

Half lining and insides

After all of the work that went into the coat, I couldn't spoil it with normal buttonholes, so I made my first ever bound buttonholes following a tutorial from Colette. I had to finish them by hand due to the bulk and weight of the coat, but I''m really pleased with them. I wish I'd budged each one up by an inch - you know once you notice something is a bit off and can't stop thinking about it?! - but I can live with them as they are! I bought 3 different sets of buttons to pick from, and eventually went with these cool silver mirrored ones from Duttons for Buttons.

Buttons from Duttons for Buttons

I finished up the coat with a lot of hand stitching to secure the different layers of facing/collar/outer together. I'm not sure if this is standard practice for more experienced coat sewists, but the coat does look better to wear for it and is easier to put on without loads of straightening and adjusting. It still sits a little off sometimes (you can probably notice the gilet is a bit bunched up in some pics) but I did the very best I could with it.

Layers of collar and gilet

I feel like I've complained about the pattern quite a bit in this post, but I have to stress that I'm absolutely thrilled with my finished coat! DP Studio is in a league of its own in terms of offering such impressive, fashion-forward designs, and although the instructions were a bit sparse in parts, they encouraged me to slow down and flex the skills I already have. Focusing on the step in hand rather than the end goal really did make the process of sewing the coat much more enjoyable. I surprised myself with what I was able to work out and whilst I might not have followed each step exactly as intended, the end result looks exactly as it's meant to, which is pretty satisfying.

Check the oversized style

It's definitely a statement coat, both in silhouette and print, and I'm really happy about it - it feels unusual and very 'cool' to wear! I think I benefitted from having made a few bits of outerwear in the past and would've probably been in tears if not, so I wouldn't recommend the Le 809 for a first attempt at coat making. It is a great make though, and a good challenge if you're willing to put a bit of thought into the construction. I'm sure there are also plenty of sewing tutorials out there to help with some of the trickier bits - the welt pockets, finishing the vent and the front facing/hem.

Thanks Erin for taking super profesh pics :)

As someone who always had expensive taste in RTW coats, it's such a pleasure to be able to make my own. I loosely costed this make up and the materials came in at around £60. I couldn't imagine finding a coat with such an interesting and unusual design for anywhere near that price on the high street. Successes like this only serve to remind me why I sew rather than shop!

I'd be interested to hear about other people's experiences with DP Studio patterns. Their Le 915 shirt dress is next on my list - lets hope the instructions are easy to decipher!

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