Coat Making at Home

1956

National Agricultural Library

Farmers' Bulletin Number 1894

A well-made, well-fitted coat is a joy to the wearer and a pride to the maker. Tailoring reaches its highest art in coat making. Many a woman is finding that she can give the tailor-made touch to a coat for herself or the children once she understands some of the tricks of the trade and takes time to do exacting work.

Coats are usually one of the most expensive items in the family's clothing budget. Since they cost so much, most coats have to last for several seasons, and only a good-quality coat will keep its appearance after hard and continuous wear.

By making the coat at home, a woman can get a coat of excellent quality — one that will give years of warmth and wear. It may even be possible to make coats for two members of the family for the same amount of money that one coat would cost ready-made.

Making a good-looking coat at home, a coat with the air of the professional tailor, is no more difficult than many other sewing jobs that women tackle. And in no other task is one so richly repaid for painstaking, careful work. Some women may not care to try their hand on new material but will use their tailoring skill in remodeling old coats for themselves or others in the family. Perfection of construction is important here, too, if the coat isn't to look like a hand-me-down.

This bulletin, then, is designed to help with the simple techniques of tailoring so that one can make or remodel a coat at home. It includes pointers on selecting the pattern and materials, lists necessary or desirable equipment, and tells in detail how to go about making the coat. There are also special sections on fur trim and remodeling.

U.S. Department of Agriculture