From Quilt To Coat!

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How many of my Farmgirl friends have seen the fashion trend from last year – making a coat from a vintage quilt? When I first saw it (for $700 at Anthropologie, no less) I was stunned and expected it to burn out pretty quickly… but here we are, more than a year later and the trend is still going strong!

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A few times I’ve been tempted to make one for myself, but for some reason I’ve had this idea that I just wouldn’t be able to pull off that really awesome Bohemian look! So of course it held me back! (MaryJane could totally rock a quilt coat!!!)

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Fast forward to the end of 2024 when I received an Instagram message from a young woman that lives in the same town as me and someone had referred me to her. She wanted to know if I would be able to make a coat out of a vintage quilt that her grandmother had made. I replied that I had never made one, but that I had been wanting to give it a try and if she would send me some photos of coats that inspired her I would let her know.

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After looking over the picture she sent me, I determined that I could definitely make the coat. We set a date at the local coffee shop to meet and discuss it. In the mean time I pulled out a very old and tattered quilt that someone had given me to use for projects and I began to make a “mock up” quilt coat to take with me to the coffee shop date!

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Little did I know that this mock up coat would bring out this crazy thing in me… it was so much fun to make, so simple really, and when I had my sixteen year old grand-daughter model it for me (in her pajamas no less) I hastily went to the coffee shop and met Chelsea, my new best farmgirl friend! Smile!

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She tried on the coat I had made (for a mock up?, for me?, for my grand-daughter?, for fun? I still wasn’t sure where that coat was headed…) and as we sat at our quick coffee date (that turned to two hours) we talked about everything from her grand-mother’s quilt, to her vision of the coat that was to be a gift to her mother, to every other subject imaginable, talking fast and furious… and the whole time she hardly took her eyes off my quilt coat, sitting on the table between us. As we both realized the passing of time and things we each had to do that day, she suddenly grabbed her phone, asked if I had Venmo and could she buy the coat from me! She tried it on again and even modeled it a little around the coffee shop and we both agreed… the coat was made for her! She bought it, we laughed and hugged (like new Farmgirl besties do, you know) and went our separate ways.

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I immediately began the process of making the coat for Chelsea’s mother. I laid the absolutely gorgeous vintage quilt from her grand-mother on the floor in my sewing room and began to gather the courage to cut into it. It was incredibly difficult to make that first cut. This was an old quilt that had been preserved beautifully. I sent Chelsea a text and said “are you absolutely certain your mother isn’t going to kill you for doing this”?! And when she reassured me she wouldn’t, I made that first cut! And then I was off and running.

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Probably the best thing about making a coat from a quilt is that you have this great base to start with… a complete layer of outside fabric, warm batting, and a lining… already sewn together. So it is really just a matter of cutting out the pieces and sewing it up. I had found on the mock-up that I had made that I didn’t want any raw edges to show and I had bound the entire seams of the coat. Chelsea had loved that and wanted the exact same thing for her mother’s coat. She chose the same vintage red to bind her mother’s quilt that I had used on the mock-up. It really is just the best color!

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It came out stunning and the end of the quilt coat story is that our next coffee date was even more fun, Chelsea was positively thrilled with the coat, it made it to her mother in time for her 70th birthday and the photo that Chelsea sent me of her absolutely thrilled mother made my entire year!

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So now, some information for you. Because I know you want to make one for yourself!

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• Start on Pinterest by searching “quilt coats made from vintage quilts” (or go directly to my saved Pinterest Quilt Coat board here)
• Get ready to go down the rabbit hole!
• Follow links to blog posts and patterns (there are so many good ones).
• Find the perfect vintage quilt that you aren’t afraid to cut up (this is really the hardest part for me… emotionally!) There are a lot of what they call “cutter quilts” out there that are so tattered they really are beyond using. This is a great way to recycle them. Some quilters have literally made a quilt just to cut up and turn into a quilt coat! You could do that too!
• Read blog posts you find (through Pinterest) on other people’s experiences on making quilt coats. There’s a lot of great advice out there.
• I made my own pattern; however, I did purchase a few and one that was a great help to me and that I used parts of is called the Hovea Quilt Coat. I would highly recommend this pattern.
• And lastly… JUMP RIGHT IN!!! You just can’t go wrong!

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I hope you will give it a try! If you do (or if you already have), I want to see your pictures! Share with me at redfeedsack@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram @redfeedsack

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

Dori