I made this chore coat out of the top bodice section of the Jean Paul boiler suit / jumpsuit pattern, from the French pattern making company Ready To Sew.

This was originally a wearable muslin, and while trying it on was fun, I was not into the idea of wearing a white/cream one-piece outfit. I’m nervous enough about wearing a jumpsuit that I’d better stick to my color palette I usually wear, to start. (I’ve never found a ready to wear jumpsuit that was long enough in the torso that I could fit it, so this will be my first one ever.) For the real version, I have some black silk noil that’s waiting to be washed.

But I did like the top bit a lot, even in cream. I've been plotting chore coats and it seemed like it could turn into one. (For example, this coat from IJJI with one big pocket is beautiful.) So after finalizing the fit adjustments, I cut the waistband and pants section off the muslin, and just kept wearing it around the house, ragged hem and all. It was just so pleasant, and eventually I had the thought that I’d better actually just turn it into a chore coat. I can always make a nicer version in a thick canvas sometime down the road if I want. I decided to add some length, and a second set of pockets.

So far, it’s fun to wear around as a layer around the house, but it's too cold outside for wearing it much out and about yet. Now that I have sewn pants, shirts and a coat, I can wear an outfit that's all stuff I’ve made, which is pretty exciting in a silly way.

Wearing the chore coat, blue silk noil top, and black denim Persephone Pants

Linen - Cotton blend. 2019-02-06 [3]

A couple people asked on instagram (hi!), so for those who want to turn their muslin into a chore coat, here’s what I did:

To begin, I tried cut the bodice off of the waist band, tried it on and measured from the bottom to where I’d like the new hem to fit. For me, this meant I’d be adding 20cm of fabric, including the seam allowances.

I measured across the front and back sections, added in the room for the plackets and seam allowances, and ended up with a bunch of rectangles:

Back: 51.5cm x 20cm Front with fold-over placket: 31.5cm x 20 cm Front without placket: 30.5cm x 20cm Front placket: 5cm x 20cm

Likely, yours will be different based on what size of the pattern you cut. I just measured my garment and not the pattern, but you could also measure the pattern and subtract the width of the back dart.

Then I eyeballed where I thought pockets might look good, and measured the rectangles for those:

Pockets: 19 cm x 24 cm (cut 2)

After pressing and cutting the fabric, I sewed in the following order:

  1. Sew plackets on center front pieces, using the same seam allowances as the original instructions.
  2. Sew the sides together
  3. Flat fell seam the new pieces to the bottom of the coat. I used a large, ~2cm fold over, so that the seam would be a decorative element on the back.
  4. Take a deep hem at the bottom.
  5. Attach the pockets, following the same sewing instructions as the original pattern when attaching the front top pockets
  6. Sew buttonholes and stitch on buttons
  7. Press everything