The Men's Potters Jacket Hack

The weekend long read.

Phew, 2024 is drawing to an end and I’m feeling more than ready for a 2 week hibernation and big reset! It’s been a mega year and I’ll be sharing some 2024 reflections in next weeks newsletter but first we have time to feature one last make.

I’ve been wanting to find a good hack for a men’s wool coat for a while and the journey to this finished piece started with the Jaime Jacket. It’s the closest pattern in the range to a men’s coat so this felt like a natural starting point.

However after two disastrous toiles I was stumped. The pattern wasn’t working. It’s drafted to be a casual jacket and it wasn’t going to be an easy fix to turn it into a smart coat. The armhole was about 3 toiles away from being perfect which didn’t feel like a good ‘hack’ but more of a total re-drafting.

I then had the lightbulb moment to start from a different place: the Potters Jacket. This is a classic women’s jacket pattern that already comes with a lining. There are no bust darts so I knew it wouldn’t look too feminine. I launched into the first (and last) toile and hurrah, it worked!

After a fitting on Mathew (my partner) I could see we needed to do a couple of adjustments but other than that it was more of less perfect. I’ve written up my make notes in full below so you can have a read if you think this is a project you’d like to do.

In terms of materials I used some heavenly wool tweed from the Cloth House. It’s a very beautiful fabric that has the subtle undertones of craftsmanship and luxury, which are great qualities when making a tailored coat. It’s a lightweight wool that drapes really well, particularly over the shoulder pads which helps to accentuate the cut. It’s paired with a luxurious lining which is nice and thick and stands apart from the usual synthetic linings I use.

This feels like a really good make to end the year on. After a wobbly start I feel like we’ve managed to show the Potters Jacket in a totally new light. It shows just how versatile the pattern is, being pretty much unisex and able to fit both the casual and tailored tick boxes.

Aside from sewing this lovely pattern we’ve been working really hard to launch the next Capsule Course in the new year! I’ll share more details soon so keep an eye out if you’re keen…!

Hetty
x

Main Fabric: Herringbone Wool Moss

Lining: Inlay Lining Green

Thank you to the Cloth House!

Gallery

Development Notes:

Sizing:
I measured Mathews shoulders across the back from shoulder bone to shoulder bone and this came to 47cm. I chose a size 20 at the shoulders and graded to a size 18 from the mid armhole. In hindsight I could have graded down further to a 16.

From under the armhole I recut the side seam to run parallel to the grain line which removed some volume at the hem. After a fitting I then removed a further 5cm from each side seam, removing 20cm in total.

I added length to the body and sleeves with the final measurements at:

Side neck to hem: 98cm

Sleeve length: 68cm

Fitting:
My first toile is photographed above and as you can see it's crossing over at the front. I slashed the chest open to let it hang straight down.

Shoulder Pad:
To add a shoulder pad I added 1cm height to the sleeve head. The blue line shows the original shape of the Top Sleeve pattern and the red line shows what I added.