Here We Come A-Caroling...

...or a-wassailing if you prefer. I thought it would be fun to share a little coat pattern for the holidays. I think I've featured this coat here before, most recently on my Mother-in-law's doll Noni. But here it is again.

This little number would be perfect for the season if you've got a girl who wants to go caroling... well, maybe not in the hounds tooth I've made it out of here, but perhaps in a nice fawn or wine color.

Can't you just see your girl singing from door to door, begging for wassail... wait, does anybody drink that anymore? Hmmm... I expect that's why they changed the name of the song. But anyway here's the pattern.

Bear with me now, I'm a knitter not a seamstress but I'll explain the way I did it the best I can. Keep in mind this pattern is not lined so if you want a lined coat you'll have to cut out extra pieces as needed, also I make very small seams (1/8 to 1/4 inch) so keep that in mind and cut the pieces larger if you need to. If the picture above is not of a decent size you can also find the pdf HERE (just remember where it says 'left back' on the body it's supposed to say left front - I corrected it in the picture I've posted above) Here we go...

Capelet Coat for Blythe

Cut out body and sleeves.

Position sleeves correctly (the F and B indicate front and back and should be positioned so they match with the front and back of the body).

Sew sleeves onto body, right sides of fabric together.

Sew sleeve cuffs

Sew sleeve tops (indicated by stars). Please keep in mind that the tops of the sleeves will make up part of the neckline.

Cut 2 of front capelet

Cut 1 of back capelet

Sew front capelet to back capelet along the top, with right sides of fabric together (indicated by open circles).

Sew all sides (except at the neck) on both the capelet and the coat (indicated by solid dots).

Cut out collar

Fold collar in half the long way, right sides together, and sew the short sides together. Snip corners and turn right side out.

Sew capelet to coat, wrong side of capelet to right side of coat, leaving about 1/2 inch of the coat out past the collar on both sides.

Now sew the collar to the capelet and coat matching the sides of the collar to the sides of the capelet (not the coat)

Fold down the raw edge of the collar and sew the remaining raw edge of the coat neck under (lift the capelet up and sew under all of it to do this). You're basically just going along the same seam again with the raw collar edge folded down.

And that's pretty much it. I hope you all enjoy it. I know I usually say go ahead and do whatever you want with the pattern but because this one is based (albeit very very loosely, and with a LOT of modification) on a coat that my mother made me as a child, this one's going to have to be for personal use only. Have fun!

Oh, if you like the hat and want to make that too, it's not one of mine, it's on Ravelry HERE. This is a brilliant little pattern. IIRC I knit it using two strands of Patons worsted wool yarn in black, on size 8 needles so I could match the needed gauge.

Oh and one more thing... a recipe for Wassail. Given to me by a friend long ago.

 Wassail

1/2 gallon apple cider

1 can pinapple juice from concentrate

1 can orange juice from concentrate

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tbs whole cloves

1 sliced orange

 add rum to taste

Put in a large pot and allow to simmer, serve warm.

Happy Holidays!