I want to thank Bella Sunshine Designs for sponsoring today's post with a giveaway! Be sure to read down to the bottom to enter the rafflecopter!

When I saw the Gabriella's Winter Coat, I didn't even bother asking for a free copy to review. I put it right into my cart and hit purchase! You see, as soon as I finished up my Winter Wear Designs Provence Coat my eldest said, "Mom, I love it. Can I have one?" UGH. There wasn't a well matching coat pattern for the Provence in kid's sizes.

Then I happened to catch a sneak peak on the Bella Sunshine Designs facebook page and starting stalking the page. I KNEW I was going to buy it. Now I did have big plans to have this sewn up and under the Christmas tree, but that didn't happen. And sometimes, that works out just fine. Because it has been way too warm for winter coats. But thankfully, today was the perfect, cold, wintery weather to show off a nice warm coat. I only wish there had been some snow on the ground to really add some "winter wonderland" appeal to my photos. Oh well.

So on to the actual sewing! The Gabriella's Winter Coat comes in sizes 6 months through 12 years. And surprisingly, my daughter fit right into the size 7. I REALLY appreciate that a height measurement is included in the size chart. It made it super easy to know which size to make.

This pattern is not for someone looking for a quick sew! For starters, the pattern requires 35 pages to print! WHEW. That's a lot of pages for a kid's coat. BUT, there are a lot of pages because this coat has a lot of pieces. There are main pieces lining pieces, interfacing pieces and facing pieces as well as that great partial circle back, so print them all. BUT, read my tips at the end. You might be able to save a little sewing time (or not)

My main complaint with this pattern is there's no cutting layout for this pattern. With this many pieces, it really would have been helpful to know in advance how to position the pieces to save the most amount of fabric. That said, my pieces fit just fine on the fabric estimates in the pattern. I did take some short cuts on my fabric. I didn't use any of the hem facing pieces (gasp). But I could have cut the facings if I wanted to.

Let's take a second to talk about my fabric for a second. My lining is a no fuss, cotton flannel from Joann's. You might recognize it as the same lining in my WWD Provence Coat. But I'm sure we can all agree that the show stopper here is this gorgeous Cotton Fleece from Purple Seamstress. This is another one of those steals I grabbed on Purple Seamstress without knowing what I was going to make with it. I had actually pulled it out of my stash to use as a snuggle blanket while watching a movie in my family room. It was so fuzzy and warm. So when I opened my fabric cabinet and was looking for the right fabric for this pattern, I couldn't find what I wanted. And this was a really big problem, because after my black Friday fabric binge, I promised I wasn't going to buy anymore fabric (at least for a while). I was so frustrated, I went to sit on the couch in the family room. And then bam, there it was, saying, "Pick me, pick me". You bet I did.

So on to the sewing. This pattern is VERY detailed and includes lots of professional finishing touches. You'll see terms like understitching, stay stitching, grading seams, and bagging a jacket (including the sleeve hem!). If those terms sound new or scary, don't worry, you'll be walked through them every step of the way.

I do wish there had been a better explanation of "how" to attach the lining to the front facing. There is an angled area that requires sewing 2 opposite angles together. There is a proper way to clip the seam to make it all lay flat, but this was not included in detail in the pattern. But all in all, the instructions are quite good and even without that, you should still be able to get a beautiful finished result.

True story, when I was clipping the seams on the front, I cut my actual fabric! WAH!. But thankfully I was able to cut out one of the large unicorns from my scrap fabric and appliqued it onto the front. Whew. With the applique stitched on, I couldn't add the 6 buttons the pattern call for. Thankfully 2 buttons seems to be doing the job just fine.

I actually didn't like the look of the lining. The front bodice lining connects to the facing in such a way that there is a tiny little sliver of fabric that has to be replaced in the front lining skirt with a nice straight rectangle. I know why this is done this way, but I think it would look nicer as all one piece across the front.

So, what shortcuts would I use next time (and can you try to save time)?

I would again skip the facings. I like the look of the lining peaking out and it saved me a ton of time. But if you want it to look professionally finished, include the facings.

I also wouldn't interface the entire front. I'd interface the top portion of the front facing only so that the skirt of the coat can swing more freely in the front too. I feel like the center front hangs just a little too stiff.

Finally, I don't know if it would save any time, but I'd probably redraft the bodice lining to be 1 piece, Rather than a princess seam and then redraft the front skirt to be one piece also. Its such a silly thing to care about when I didn't do the facings, but that little strip of fabric annoys me, LOL.

AND, don't skip on the pockets. I skipped the pockets on my WWD Provence Coat and I regret it every time I put it on. I was sure to put the pockets on here and they look fabulous!

All in all, I'm super happy with this coat and more than a little bit jealous myself! And of course, I've got 2 other little girls asking, "So Mom, when do I get my coat?" I definitely need to fill my time with a few quick sews for the blog before I tackle another one of these projects that takes an entire weekend day (or several evenings).

Now for the raffle! Complete as many entries as you'd like to register for your chance to win a FREE copy of the Bella Sunshine Designs Gabriella Winter Coat. Good luck!




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