Today I’m bringing you some selfless sewing! My friend Amanda’s birthday was in late May and I wanted to make her a closet staple that she would be able to wear all the time. Over the past few years she has lost a significant amount of weight and has had to do multiple closet purges because of it. So I decided to make her a Deer and Doe Luzerne trench coat! I made this exact coat for myself around two years ago (pre-blog) and love it, so I was excited to return to the pattern and give it another go.
I didn’t want to ruin the surprise for Amanda as to what I was making her, but I obviously had to disclose that I was making her SOMETHING because otherwise it’s kind of hard to get someone’s detailed measurements without them being creeped out by your desire to examine their inseam or bust. I had thought about making her a trench coat for her last birthday or Christmas but just never got around to it. I wanted to order some twill to use for a cyanotype Kelly Anorak (which might happen if the sun ever sticks around here) and the only place that has the fabric I wanted (Robert Kaufman Ventana twill) was Fabric.com, which has steep-ish shipping to Canada so I figured it was a good time to also get some Ventana twill for Amanda’s coat and make it happen! I really like the Ventana twill because it’s super soft and comfy but has good structure and weight.
I’m so happy with how this Luzerne fits her! I didn’t do any fittings on her and was operating completely on measurements and my knowledge of how my own coat fit on me. I honestly wouldn’t change anything fit-wise after seeing it on her! I did a bunch of modifications to the pattern, but nothing crazy complicated. I don’t remember the exact changes (because I modified the pattern a couple weeks ago), but I know I graded between sizes, with the bodice being one size and the waist and skirt being a different one. I also lengthened the sleeves a little bit. This isn’t super relevant without me sharing measurements, which I’m not going to do because they’re not mine to share (same with the sizes I graded between), but I think the fit turned out great!
I super super love this pattern. I had been looking for the perfect trench coat for quite a while before Deer & Doe launched the Luzerne trench coat and I instantly knew it was what I’d been searching for! I think it has all the classic details that I wanted (although if I make another version in distant future for myself, I miiiight consider adding epaulets). I love the curved yoke, the button tab at center back, the two-piece sleeve, the tabs on the sleeves, the shape of the lapels, the double buttons, and the volume of the skirt. It’s just perfect and everything I had pictured in my head! Amanda was really happy with the garment and says it fills a big hole in her wardrobe, will go with lots of things she owns, and will hopefully be able to take her from summer into fall and be of use in spring! Everyone else who was present when I gave it to her said things like “it looks like the real deal!” or “it looks like something you could buy in a store!” which is very flattering and nice to hear (but also sometimes makes me feel like people don’t think about the fact that clothes in stores are still made by people).
The Luzerne is unlined, and the instructions tell you to bias bind all the seams that will end up being exposed. A few of the seams are not finished, since they end up being covered by bodice facings or by the back yoke facing, the edge of both of which do end up being bias bound. The funny thing is that when I made my own coat, I raaaaaadically miscalculated how much yardage I would need to make into bias tape in order to have enough for the coat (11 yards according to the pattern) and not only had loads left over from binding my own seams, I used the leftovers for THIS Luzerne and STILL HAD TWELVE METRES LEFT. What sort of strange and archaic calculations I was doing when I originally made the bias tape, I will never know, but it worked out because this lovely London Calling lawn from Robert Kaufman makes the most beautiful contrast bias tape and is super easy to work with. Since it’s a lawn, it’s nice because it doesn’t add as much bulk/weight to the seams – this is helpful when you have to sew over locations that have seam intersections, as well as when you have to bind areas like the waist seam where some of the bias bound seams terminate.
One of the other fun details included in the pattern is bound buttonholes! I actually put off starting the sewing on this coat for a couple weeks after cutting it out because every time I had time to sew I was too zonked to contemplate bound buttonholes, which is the first step of the whole coat. And it’s dumb because they’re not even that bad. Much less tricky than welt pockets, because the facing bit that flips inward ends up folding in to form the mini buttonhole welts and it’s very easy to control. The other cute little trick is that the windows on the facings are made by sewing the fusible interfacing as though it’s fabric (using the non-sticky side as the “right” side), flipped it through to the wrong side, and THEN fusing it, which encloses the raw edges perfectly inside the fusing! I always forget about this trick, but it’s super handy.
Now I don’t feel like I need to share my own Luzerne on the blog because it’s literally EXACTLY the same (same fabrics AND buttons), just in a different size! But I highly recommend this pattern – it’s a great introduction to some more elevated techniques like bound buttonholes and bias bound seams, and it’s such a staple in my wardrobe. I don’t think I’m ever going to be someone who would wear a classic tan trench, but this black one is just as classic and goes with basically all the things.
Next project(s): probably two different versions of the Deer and Doe Magnolia dress. I’m considering using it as the base for my bridesmaid dress for my friend’s wedding over (Canadian) Thanksgiving this fall, and I’m hoping to make a sleeveless version of the floor-length version and then try out a second sleeveless one except with a gathered floor-length skirt instead of the one included with the pattern. I saw it on Instagram when looking at the hashtag and think it’s such a great idea. Stay tuned for those adventures!
