A Great Coat for Great Weather
This coat belonged to my husband’s grandfather! Gary Cooper wore one like it in The Fountainhead, which was made in 1949, so I would guess this is from the 1950s.
There should be a weaver’s signature on this label – maybe it has faded over the years.
Tailor’s label
Close-up of the fabric. I think the button is plastic.
It is only one layer of handwoven wool, with a partial lining in the shoulder area. I wear it on the rare occasion that we get an actual cold spell – it is so warm and great at blocking the wind.
Weavers in Donegal, you can be proud of your work!
WOW! Lucky you!
It is an amazing coat. I’m glad it has held up so well, but I think I would wear it even if it had moth holes – around the farm, anyway.
Love the coat and the history! Glad you’re keeping warm.
HAPPY NEW YEARS…..SINCERELY ANDREA:))BLESSED
Thank you!
How great that you still have this and wear it! My husband and I have Donegal tweed jackets from our honeymoon 23 years ago and they still look great, too.
Did you go to Ireland and watch the weavers work?
We saw weavers working in an exhibit but I don’t think it was an authentic work space. Still, I know just enough about weaving to be really impressed by these tweeds!
Wonderful coat. And thank you for the close up of the fabric – very interesting to see. Quality really lasts.
You know we weavers have to see a close-up of the fabric! I am never bored in church or jury duty, if there are lots of cool fabrics to look at and figure out the draft! 🙂
I honestly thought I was going to read that you made the coat. 😉 I would wear it too; it’s fantastic!
At first I laughed aloud at your comment, because I know my limitations when it comes to sewing! Especially handwovens, which are subject to unraveling on the edge. But then it made me think deeper – using this coat as an example, and copying the ways the tailor dealt with those raw edges – it just might be possible for me to make one like it some day. So thank you for making me think outside the box I put myself in!
On the subject of sewing handwovens, from what I’ve read you can overlock/serge/zig-zag each pattern piece before you start sewing and that prevents the unraveling. Or you could weave in strips, kimono style and reduce the number of raw edges. When you think about how many centuries old the weaving tradition is, there must be techniques available. I kind of like the idea of making a Viking style tunic and decorating it with inkle weave. When I’d wear it is a whole other question…
On this coat, most of the pieces are really straight, but those sleeves are pretty curvy! It looks like they used four pieces for each sleeve, and they didn’t do anything special on the seams except leave a generous half-inch allowance. The sleeves are lined too, and I just noticed that only the front half of the sleeve is cuffed – with a small, separate piece of cloth! They used welting on all the other seams. If I ever do try to sew handwoven fabric, I will be studying this coat – and using a serger, like you said!
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I have a coat someone gave me..has a tag like that..I’ve been trying to find out more about it..I wish I could post a pic of it here..??
I will be happy to post it for you. I emailed you!