QuirkyPrettyCute: Albion for two

Unless you have ignored forums, blogs etc., you must have heard about the Albion pattern from Walden, the new male brand from Colette Patterns. The Albion is a very cool Duffle Coat and is easily adaptable to a female silhouette. You can make a nice and cosy winter coat or a lighter version for between seasons.

Now, I always get excited when Colette publishes new patterns. I was very happy that they made another male pattern. Mister Husband was, for once, very interested in that new pattern and we ordered it back in December, together with the Cooper bag. In the past, I had already made a Negroni for him and the design was very easy to follow, while still teaching me tricks.

I am also sure that you have heard about the Albion Sewalong and Contest that is happening at the moment. Back in December, I had already decided to participate to both. I was planning on writing a series of posts related to the fit, muslins etc but I did not have much to say, especially after all the information available online at the moment. So far, I have already seen a few beautiful versions in the Flickr group or on the facebook page. I feel kind of defeated before I even post my versions because I have a feeling that they would not compare. But I will still go ahead.

What about my version of the Albion?

Well! I decided to make a pair of them! One for mister, one for me! I thought that it would be interesting to pick the same fabric but use different details (bias binding, toggles, buttons etc). Both Mister and I also decided that we should have a shorter version for spring, made with a lighter fabric. The pattern for the version 2 calls for Canvas, cotton twill, denim or any other heavy waterproof fabric. That was actually the hardest part of the process. We both found it very hard to pick something.

- The canvas we found had very interesting colours but was very coarse. It was have been very uncomfortable at the elbows if we decided to wear it with short sleeves, or around the hood if it rains and the fabric rubs against the skin.
- Waterproof fabrics were not very forgivable. Using them would mean no possible error because the needle holes would always show.
- Denim was not my preferred choice because I didn’t want the Duffles to look like a jeans jacket.
- Other possibilities were simply too expensive…

After asking for help to the lady in the store, she showed us a beautiful beige denim. The drape was very nice and the fabric was neither too thick nor too thin.

As contrasting details, I decided early on that we would only us scraps for the binding of the seams. Mister Husband went for a very manly contrasting black. I went for leftovers of a beautiful Liberty fabric. For the toggles, I ordered a few centimetres of faux leather and some thin rope for Mister and cut out the patches myself. The toggle buttons were purchased on Etsy. For mine, I went for a bundle version. I found them in a little store when we visited my Grand Ma last month.