I’m so excited to share my latest project with you. It has been a few weeks in the making, but here is my Eden Coat.
This month I was delighted to be asked to review a beautiful brown wool fabric from The Fabric Guys.
https://www.fabricguys.com/heavy-wool-fabric-wool-cotton-60-wide-plain-wool
This is a heavy brown wool fabric so will work well for jacket or coat projects.
What did I make?

I’m a big fan of Tilly and the Buttons sewing patterns, so after having the opportunity to try on a sample of the Eden Coat at a craft fair I visited last summer, I knew I had to make a version of the coat for myself.
The pattern includes two different coat options for you to make. You could make a practical raincoat or a warm and snuggley duffle coat like me.
The Eden Coat has a hood (which is a lovely size, not too small like in some shop bought coats), raglan sleeves, patch pockets and a helpful hanging loop on the inside to allow you to put your coat on a stand in style!
I decided to make the longer length coat and include toggle fastenings, as well as a metal teeth zipper. The zip is optional, but I wanted to ensure my coat was as warm as it could be, and that the breeze could not blow inside my jacket in the cold winter months.
The pattern
The pattern includes the usual easy to understand instructions you would expect in a Tilly and the Buttons pattern. The pattern is for improvers, rather than those new to sewing. I think this is correct as although the instructions include good clear pictures and hold your hand through each stage of the construction process, there are a few complicated steps such as inserting the zip and bagging out the coat so none of the seams are on display. If you are looking to make your first coat, I’d advise taking your time with these steps, and maybe asking a fellow sewer for advice if you get stuck.

The pattern is available as a pdf to download at home, or a printed version. I bought the printed version as I wanted to add this to my growing Tilly and the Buttons collection.
Sizing
I decided to grade between two sizes to make my jacket. I cut a Tilly and the Buttons size four at the top, grading out to a size five at the bottom. I decided to cut a bigger size than normal for a couple of reasons, one being I decided to quilt my lining fabric to make it extra warm and two because I wanted to have enough room to fit my thicker jumpers underneath for winter.
Techniques
I followed the instructions, apart from adding in a few minor alterations. To make my coat winter-proof I purchased a quilting wadding from a local shop and tacked this to my main bodice lining. I then drew diamond shapes across my lining in chalk, before using a regular straight stitch to hold the two materials together.

I used an anti-static lining fabric for the inside of my coat sleeves. I then added an interlining (between the anti-static fabric and the wool) to keep my arms extra warm. I used a plain cotton fabric for this which was actually an old bed sheet.
If you decide to add toggles on to your jacket, I found it worked well to temporarily hold my toggles in place using sticky tape and pins. My toggles had pre-punched holes which made it easier to hand sew them on to my coat.
The fabric I used
The wool fabric I was sent from The Fabric Guys is perfect for any coat project. There are a few different colours available on the website, but I think the brown I choose works really well with my animal print lining.
Would I recommend this project?
Yes, I am really pleased with my new jacket. I wore it out to the shops for the first time yesterday and felt like I wanted to tell everyone I made my own coat.
It took me quite a few weeks to make my project including a number of evenings and an hour grabbed here and there on the weekends, but it has definitely been worth it.
I’m sure I will be wearing my coat for years to come, so I’d certainly encourage others hoping to try this pattern to take their time too.
Keep up to date with my latest makes
I hope you enjoyed reading this review. I have also recorded a couple of videos about my experience of making the Tilly and the Buttons Eden Coat. These can be found on my YouTube channel if you fancy a watch (link below).
If you would like to keep up to date with my latest sewing projects subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLebXtybVIzPAhp0ys2RCeQ?view_as=subscriber or follow me on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/notes_from_the_sewing_room/?hl=en .
Until next time, happy sewing.
Becky