In the past few months, I've really gotten into sewing, exclusively using the Built by Wendy sewing patterns. The styles are cute and modern, plus I like the idea of sewing basic wardrobe pieces.

I worked both from her book, Sew U, and from the Simplicity patterns, and much prefer the Simplicity patterns. They have more detailed instructions that helped me as a beginning sewer. For example, in Sew U, it talks all about pant pocket placement and how important this is, but the pant pattern doesn't provide a baseline to work from.. The Simplicity pant pattern however, outlines exactly where the pockets should go.

Almost complete is a wool coat from the coat/jacket pattern.

The exterior is basic navy wool felt coating and the interior is a fun yellow/navy plaid, also wool. I went with traditional peacoat buttons, the ones with anchors on them. The only things left to do are tacking down the lining seams and hand sewing the lining hem.

As requested, here's the Built by Wendy coat in action.

Specs:
Pattern: Simplicity 3966
Fabric: Wool coating from Mood. Note: because wool felt is not woven, I could have gotten away with less than the pattern requires.. like 2 1/2 yards rather than 2 7/8.
Lining: Woven wool plaid from Alfred's Fabrics.
Buttons: Basic peacoat anchor buttons

A couple things I'd change if sewing this pattern again: Cut a smaller size and maybe move the pockets forward. The pockets are in the side seams, but feel like they are further back. The coat is big on me; it could go down a size or two. It has no shaping, but it could be a good pattern to try out added shaping.

Sewing this was pretty straightforward, but the thick fabric was tough for my lightweight sewing machine. I broke 2-3 needles in the process.. all on sections where sewing through many layers.