[wendy]

Hello! I’ve recently acquired some beautiful merino suiting and would like to make a light coat. The cut of the Lisette Butterick pattern is exactly what I’m looking for but, as I understand, it’s intended for heavier fabrics. Could I get away with sewing it in the suiting or would I be better off finding a different pattern? I really like Liesls instructions, which is why I’m favouring the Butterick pattern. I don’t have much experience with coats and would welcome any advise!

[Liesl Gibson]

I see no reason why you couldn’t use a lighter weight fabric for this pattern. It think it will be great!

[wendy]

Perfect, thank you! Should I be using a thinner shoulder pad since the coat will be much less bulky?

[Liesl Gibson]

I forget what it calls for–1/4″, maybe? In general, you don’t want to reduce the size of the shoulder pad because it will cause the shoulders to droop more. The shoulder pad is there to give the jacket structure, and if you reduce/eliminate it it might not hang correctly because extra room was built into the shoulder to accommodate it. Does that make sense? I’d suggest looking for a soft shoulder pad (or making one using the instructions here: https://oliverands.com/community/blog/2015/03/lisette-b6169-moto-jacket-sew-along.html) I should do a blog post about this topic since we do so many coats!

[wendy]

A blog post is always welcome! I’ll check out the tutorial before I start. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply!
It’s 1/2″, by the way. 🙂