Aunty Em's
Mrs. Clause Sweater Coat
by Emily Steiger
www.Facebook.com/CraftedByAuntyEm www.CraftedByAuntyEm.etsy.com
All
pictures and written instructions are ©
copyright by Emily M. Steiger of Crafted By Aunty Em
These
instructions are for your personal use, and are given freely with the
understanding you will not try to resale these instructions to a
third party.
If you would like a PDF copy please email CraftedByAuntyEm@gmail.com with "Tutorial" in the title.
If you would like a PDF copy please email CraftedByAuntyEm@gmail.com with "Tutorial" in the title.
What you will need:
- 13 sweaters (including a good “base” sweater)
- 1.5 yards of Curly Mongolian Faux Fur in White
- 4 large spools of Maxi-Lock “Poppy Red” thread
- 4-thread serger
- Rotary Cutter
- Rotary Mat
- 6.5” x 24.5” Ruler
- Good pair of scissors
- Sharpie
- Sewing Machine with a zig zag stitch
- A good sense of humor
I have been sewing in one way or
another for my entire life and making sweater coats for about a year
now. As far as the coats are concerned I have never seen or used a
pattern. I had discovered other ladies making these coats and
immediately wanted one. My first coat was the result of me wanting
one so desperately I finally just started cutting. Patterns are a
great thing, but for a project like this? Not for me. If you can
let go and have fun, you will find yourself with a fabulous sweater
coat and some bragging rights to boot.
A fun way to create ideas of your own
to look at what other people are doing! You can find examples of the
many coats I have made at www.Facebook.com/CraftedByAuntyEm or
www.CraftedByAuntyEm.etsy.com. It is always fun to browse through
different pictures and ideas to see what you truly want to happen
with your own project.
Choosing sweaters is a ball game all
in it's own. Every person's color and texture preferences are
different. My one piece of advice on this would be to avoid large
and loose knits. These are difficult to work with and just plain
annoying to use because they unravel so easily. Also try to find a
sweater besides the base sweater that has a zipper or button you like
and that you can reuse for your coat. Choose a base sweater that is
in good condition, medium thickness, and that has just a little
stretch to it. In the end these sweaters can be up to 6 and 7
pounds, the weight of the skirt is hanging on the base sweater so a
good choice is important!
For this tutorial we will be making
Aunty Em's “Mrs. Clause” coat, but you can apply the basic idea
and build on from there for other lengths and designs.
Step 1: Start with the foundation.
Take the base sweater
and lay it flat on the cutting mat, making sure the hem lines up and
all the crinkles are pushed away. If the top has a button or a
zipper on it carefully cut it away leaving about an inch on either
side so it can be reused later (if you're not going to reuse it,
still cut carefully - you will need a straight line for when you sew
your buttons or zipper on!). Use the long ruler and cut any where
from 3.5” to 5” down from the underarm. You can easily measure
this part on yourself to see what your preference will be. Next cut
the sleeves: lining up the horizontal lines of the ruler width wise
with the top line of the sleeve, cut anywhere from an inch to 7”
below the underarm. Use the first sleeve as the pattern and lay it
on top of the second sleeve to cut. Set aside for later.
Step 2: Take All the Sleeves.
Using the rotary cutter,
cut along the seam that runs from the shoulder to underarm to detach
one sleeve from each of the sweaters you are using for the skirt.
Generally I have between 30 and 36 wedges in each skirt, for this
project there will be 36. Each sleeve with produce 3 wedges (If you
find you can only get 2 wedges out of a narrow sleeve, just use the
second sleeve to that sweater and cut one more wedge). Cut along the
sleeve's seam from wrist to underarm. Lay the sleeve open and flat,
lining up the bottom of the sleeve with the bottom line of the mat
(if you have enough room cut the cuff off). Cut the top of the
sleeve at the 17” line. When making wedges with the sleeve make
sure you have 1.5” - 2.5” (generally 2”) at the narrowest part
and 4” - 5” at the widest part, the wider this part is the fuller
your skirt will be. This will vary with each sleeve because of the
different sizes, but as long as you have a good average you will be
ok. If you are making a larger sweater, Women's XL or bigger, try to
keep the narrow ends of the wedges a little wider. When you are
working with a serger you can always go smaller but once you have cut
you can not put it back.
Step Three: Strip! Once you
have all the wedges cut, decide which 2 sweaters you would like to
use for the bottom rows. Generally I choose the largest sweaters for
this to make sure I have enough for the bottom row, sleeves, and
hood. Cut one entire sweater into 2.5” strips. Cut the second
sweater into 3” strips. Cut two strips from each remaining
sweaters (make the strips different widths; from 2” - 3.5”,
however cut the two strips from each sweater the same). You will
need anywhere from 125” to 230” of each color strip depending on
how long you are making the skirt and how wide the wedges are. For
this example we are making a short sweater so we will only need two
different sets of strips (in addition to the white fur) and we will
only need 130” to 180” from each one. Mathematics example: If
the sweater in the picture is 20” wide, that mean when cut open it
will be 40” long. If I can get 5 strips out of it I now have 200”.
These will be for the hood, and sleeves. Also choose one sweater
and cut a 3.5” strip for the waist, and a second sweater cut a 4”
- 5” strip for the waist ties (depending on how long you would like
the ties you may want to cut two).
Step Four: The Fur. Fold
the fur RIGHT sides together, width wise (hotdog not hamburger). I
fold it twice and cut through four layers. Line the fold up with
your cutting mat and use the ruler and Sharpie to draw vertical
lines. You will need two 7” strips (one for the hood and one for
the cuffs), and four to five 3.5” strips for the bottom hem. Cut
these lines with your “Good Pair of Scissors.” My ginghers do a
good job!
This is everything you have just cut
out:
Step 5: Put a Wedge in it. Lay
out your wedges in the order you would like to sew them in. Laying
them out helps to see the “bigger picture” and allows you to
decide if you like the colors next to each other. Sew the wedges
together, taking one of each color, in order, until you have gone
through them all, repeat two more times. Be sure the seam is on the
RIGHT side of your fabric - we want to see the pretty seam! When you
are finished sewing the wedges together you will have a weird, yet
awesome, looking semi to full circle (depending on the wedges). Set
aside.
Step 6: The Waist Strip Attaches
to the Bodice. For the waist
you can either measure your waist and cut it exact, or do what I
sometimes do! Take the waist strip and sew it to the bodice WRONG
sides together (so the seams is on the RIGHT side!), pulling the
waist strip slightly tighter then the bodice as you go. If you pull
it to tight it will end up really ruffled and puckered and may not
fit. For the example pictured I actually used to narrower strips for
the waist rather then just one, this is completely up to you. When
the waist strip is attached fold it in half and mark midway with a
pin.
Step
7: The Crazy Skirt Attaches to the Waist Strip. Take
the skirt of wedges and fold it in half marking the center with a
pin. Line up the center points of the waist and skirt with WRONG
sides together. At this point you can see if the skirt is a little
to big for the waist or will fit. If it is to big simply re-serge a
few of the wedges making them smaller. When you are satisfied with
the fit pin the two middles together and serge the waist to the
skirt.
Step
8: Sewing by rows. Choose
which color strips you would like to go on the skirt next. Take all
of these strips and sew them together RIGHT side facing together (on
this we want the seams on the wrong side!) making one long strip.
Sew this strip to the skirt WRONG side facing together (we are back
to putting the seam on the outside!). As you are sewing pull the
skirt fabric slightly tighter then the strip. This will help with
the fullness of the skirt. When you get to the end cut off the
excess and set aside. Repeat with the second set of strips.
Step
9: Fur Makes Everything Better.
Now that you are sewing with the fur be aware that it is going to
feel like it's snowing in your house from here on out!
Serge the strips together with
RIGHT sides together just as in Step 8, making one long strip of fur.
Attach the fur to the skirt in the same manner as Step 8, however as
you sew try to push the fur away from the seam you are sewing. This
will give the hem a fuller look and save your poor serger from being
over run with white fluffies. When the hem is attached go back and
serge the bottom of the fur, also. Again, take care to push the fur
away from the line you are sewing.
Step
10: The Arms! Make the Arms! Now
we will be working with the left over strips. Try to use
just one of
each color, leaving the rest for the hood. Use the cut arm of the
base sweater as a guide for the size to cut the first row in your
sleeve. Take one strip and fold it like an accordion, lining up the
two folds on the right. Cut to the width you need. Continue this
for each new strip, you can “shape” the arm while doing this,
also. Measure from your underarm to the base of your fingers (or
where ever you would like the cuff to be), this is how long you need
your sleeve to measure. As you cut the strips out for the arm lay
them on each other, over lapping about 1/4”, this will give you a
near accurate measurement. When you are ready for the fur cuff, take
one of the 7” strips we cut at the beginning and fold it width wise
(hotdog). Now fold and cut just like the other strips in the arm.
Please note: In the picture two of the strips looks drastically
narrower then the others. This is because it is the type of sweater
with ribs and stretches a lot more then the others.
Step
11: Just keep sewing, just keep sewing...
You are now going to sew the arms together. When I sew the arms I
start with the strips closest to the shoulder and work my way down.
When you sew the fur cuff to the rest of the sleeve be sure you are
catching both sides of the fur and the sweater strip. When the
entire arm is sewn together, fold it with wrong sides together,
meeting raw sides together. Starting with the underarm, serge down
to the end. If you do not like the shape of the arm, serge it again,
shaping as you go. Be careful not to take to much off at once,
remember: You can not put it back on once you cut (serged) it off!
Step
12: Attaching the arms. Take
one of the finished sleeves and roll it inside out. With the base
sweater still right side out, take the sleeve and slip it inside the
cut arm hole of the base sweater. Matching underarm seams serge
around the sleeve. Repeat with the second arm.
Step 13: Button up or Zip it down.
We are now going to attach the
buttons or zipper you chose for your coat to the exact spot we took
the original set off. Match the top of the button strip to the
collar of the base sweater on the one side and serge it down, keeping
both sides at about the same tightness. When you have attached one
side of the buttons, mark where the waist seams lay on the next side
(so when the coat is buttoned or zipped up everything is aligned and
pretty.... I messed this step up on one of my first coats and it is
not pretty. It was no fun to fix it, either!). Pin the button strip
to the next side making sure to line up the marked points with the
waist seams. As you serge remember to remove the pins!
Step 14: Time for the Hood.
As far as the hood goes, you can choose to make it a long, elf type
hood or keep it short. I put the elf hood on this coat. Grab the
second 7” strip of fur and fold it width (hotdog
again) wise. Fold
it in half and cut it to about 25” (making it 50” in total
length). Out of the last of the
left over strips choose the longest
and sew it to the fur. Make sure when you serge these two together
you catch both sides of the fur and the sweater strip. Sew another
strip on to this one keeping the seams on the RIGHT side. When you
have 3 strips attached fold the hood in half and lay flat. Take a
pair of scissors and begin to “shape” it. This is also a
personal preference. Remember not to take the angle of the bottom of
the hood to sharp because it will not fit your head! If you leave to
much it will be very bulky and will not stay up on your head either.
Continue with this process, continuing to shape the hood after every
1 or 2 strips you add on. Below is a picture of the measurements I
used for this particular hood. Once you get between 21” and 23”
back you should be shaped up to 2.5” (remember all of these
measurements are with the hood folded in half, when I say 2.5” it
means if you laid it flat it would be 5”). Add on from here to the
length you desire your hood to be. When you get to the end take some
of the left over fur cut from the 7” strips. Fold it in half and
attach it just like the sleeves.
Step
15: Attaching the hood. First
you need to find what I refer to as the “sweet spot.” This is
the point where we start serging the seam of the hood and where it
meets and attaches to the center back of
Line up the sweet
spot up with the marked center of your collar and pin them together.
Run either side of the hood along the collar and pin it when you
reach the start of the buttons. Run the few remaining inches of the
hood down the sides of the buttons making sure they are lined up even
with each other, pin them in place. Starting at center point of the
collar serge the hood to the coat one side at a time
Step
16: Finishing up. Take the
strips you cut to be the ties. Just as we did with the end of the
hood take two scraps of the 7” strip fur and fold them, wrong sides
together. Sew one piece to the end of each tie, wrong sides together
- the seams is still on the right side! Fold the tie in half width
wise and serge the small end (opposite the fur). Now serge along the
side going all the way to the end. Repeat with the other tie.
Attach the ties to either side of the sweater coat on the waist using
a zig zag sitch on a sewing machine.
Step 17: Freak out because YOU ARE
DONE!!! I believe that says it
all.
For
more information on these sweater coats, pictures of various designs,
and some good 'ol fashion fun, please visit my facebook page:
www.Facebook.com/CraftedByAuntyEm.
I would also LOVE to see pictures of the coats made while using this
tutorial!
