Little Vintage House Coat Pattern

Every once in a while I come a cross a vintage piece of children's clothing that brings back such vivid memories of my childhood. The pieces of clothing that my mother sewed for me are the ones that I recall loving most dearly . This little house coat, though I never had one, was the type of thing I would have loved. Very ala' Brady Bunch don't you think? It is in poor condition, but home it came with me anyway. When I tried it on my almost three year old I swooned (why didn't I take a picture?). I just adored the shape and fit. Now, I don't quilt, but this little coat may be the thing to make me start! It is made from cheater quilt fabric but I can clearly see it made from true quilted pieces. So the little coat sat on top of the wanna-be-sewing projects for a couple of months.
My husband being the most amazing man a crafty gal could be married to surprised me with taking the three little people to the lake for the weekend. Leaving me to my projects and general mess making. While standing around wondering what to do with myself I spotted the little coat and set to work. A lady with more patience and quilting love could probably have fixed this little coat up. Since I am not she, I deconstructed, traced the pieces and scanned them in as a pdf for you to print and make your own. Cheers!

Click here for the pdf

The file is stored on rapidshare. Click free user and then download.
The only piece that I didn't take apart was the lower "skirt" portion. It is constructed in four pieces with gathering along the top edge. For my purposes I am going to use one piece with gathering. The four panels just seemed over kill to me. You folks with good pattern skills can easily recreate the four panels for your own purposes (they are gathered at the top with an Aline shape). The single panel I will use will be a rectangle measuring 40 inches wide by 22 inches. The finished length of the panel is 19 inches once hemmed. This pattern will fit a child wearing a 3-4 T. My Ella has just started to wear a 4t and it fits her beautifully. The sleeve piece is broken up into three pieces on the pdf. I put a 1 inch registration box on each pattern piece. So when you print them you can measure the box and see if the pieces printed to the right scale.

Gathering along top edge of skirt (I know that's not the right term but I am too lazy to search for what it should be called) panel.
Showing bias tape used to finish the neck line.
Zig zag stich along hem
Really nice hand stitches for hemming the sleeve.

I am going to make one out of a vintage chenille bed spread and another with my Flower Power fabric winnings from Sew Mama Sew a few months back. I would love to see what you make! Feel free to ask questions if you have any :)