When Threads asked us to participate in this year’s Runway Sewn Your Way Challenge, I knew another jacket or coat would find its way into my wardrobe. Some of my favorite pieces to sew belong in the outerwear category, and I’m always looking for inspiration online. While scrolling through Pinterest, I came across outerwear from the Max Mara Spring/Summer 2021 runway show.

I decided to dive into my existing fabric stash to see if there was something that would work, while drawing from a few “inspiration” pieces from the runway show. I’m hoping to gather fabric and patterns to create a garment I’ll love wearing.

Color and fabric

My first inspiration was the color. I searched for fabric that was the color of deep caramel or toffee, like the color of the inspiration coat—not easy to find. One day, while on the Emma One Sock fabric site, I discovered a fabulous medium-weight denim in that color. I was sooo happy and snapped up about 2 1/2 yards. Since it was 62-plus inches wide, I knew it would be enough for any jacket or coat I will make.

I also found a coordinating wool jersey remnant in my stash, which seems to be a great match. It is a leftover from separates I made back in 2004. Sometimes, it’s good to hold onto your scraps. They may come in handy.

The possible lining for the denim and wool jersey combo is a silk georgette geometric print.

One of the other fabric ideas under consideration is the same wool jersey paired with a flocked glen plaid.

 

Garment style options

I love the bomber jacket style collar on this white Max Mara jacket, as well as the two-piece, cape-style sleeves. I’m not sure yet on the length, but I will decide throughout the process of making my garment.

Several more inspiring Max Mara garments, including this long belted robe coat, give me additional sleeve ideas.

Pattern inspiration

Since I want to make a coat instead of a jacket, I found a Burda Style pattern I like. I am an avid collector of Burda Style magazine with its inserted pattern “maps.” I don’t mind tracing the patterns in the size I want to make. Those patterns seem to fit me better than some of the other brands, and the adjustments I need to make are similar.

I’m going to work with pattern #101 from Burda Style March 2019. I like the clean lines and silhouette. It will allow me to add the features I want to use to create the look of the Max Mara inspiration garments. I’ve already created a partial test garment to try out sleeve and shoulder options, as shown in the main image.

 

Most likely, I will make knit separates to go along with the coat. The color will be determined once the coat fabrics have been decided upon. Let’s see where the inspiration leads me.

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