If you ever looked at hand made felt and thought "this is the most interesting fabric I have ever seen", you may have wondered if you could cut and sew it like any other fabric from the fabric shop. The answer is YES. In fact this fabric can be planned in the creation of yardage to have perfectly finished edges that will line up, when your pattern pieces are cut, to have natural finished "hems" and center fronts that do not need facings or stitching. Magic, right?
I am a long time sewing fiend, creating many of my own clothes and even coats. I have a few favourite patterns that fit nicely. Using my patterns, I measure the pieces and multiply by the shrinkage factor to estimate how large the felt fabric needs to be to shrink back to the correct size for my pattern. I have created an Instructional PDF to help you take your pattern and enlarge the felt yardage enough that it is easy to cut all your pieces and sew your new felted coat. The Instructional PDF also gives you tips about where to finish your edges so that the hems are "done" through the felting process.
This PDF is NOT a complete coat workshop. It does not show how to create the felt. It is designed for felters that know how to make a sturdy finished felt fabric, but do not have the confidence to leap into the project of making the correct amount of yardage to create your coat.
I hope this helps you create the coat that you want to sew. There are lots of tips about sewing coats. Read through it with your seamstress (if you are not sewing it yourself) before starting to create your yardage. She may help you understand what will be needed in your yardage.
You can pick up your own copy of the Making Nuno Felt Yardage PDF HERE.
If you are looking for the COMPLETE workshop (full description of how to make this Nuno Felt fabric and how to sew it) I will be working on that project in a month or two... please check back!