Happy Coats on (virtual) Parade

I have been head-down for a few weeks, concentrating on some magazine publishing deadlines after the official Sashiko Happy Coat MAL period ended, so it’s been a bit quiet on my blog and socials. I have not finished my fourth coat a s you can see below (sigh), AND I still have a bit more work to do before I clear the remaining deadlines I have to meet😬, ...BUT I took a day off from all that to put together some pics of some of my faves when it comes to YOUR coat projects (which was difficult, as there were so many to choose from), and give you a snippet of what’s coming next...

Firstly though, thank you so much ❤️💞 to Tammy Canavan-Soldaat, Theresa Pearson, Niamh Holcroft, Fiona Kelly, Lize Hendriks and Chantal Martens as moderators of the Scheepjes Facebook groups who did such marvellous work helping everyone during the MAL and are continuing that same hard work with the current amazing 🤩 Meadow Bag MAL project by Natalia of Outstanding Crochet! (I am so tempted to make this bag, but absolutely have no time!!)

It’s been quite a ride to see so many versions of my coat design develop. I love the colours. So many colours!! Here is a patchwork of Happy Coat colours: Pinks and greens are so pretty!

From left to right, top to bottom:

1. Bodice embroidery by Sandrina Martens : Our Tribe Lilla 2 / Alpaca Rhythm in Bop

2. Bodice embroidery by Sylvia Opdam in Our Tribe Jellina Creations / Alpaca Rhythm in Paso

3. Collar and Bodice by Lise Svensson in Our Tribe A Spoonful of Yarn /Alpaca Rhythm in Twist

4. Coat by Mariana Muller in Our Tribe It’s All in a Nutshell / Alpaca Rhythm in Jitterbug

5. Coat by Angelique Pietens in Our Tribe in Energise / Alpaca Rhythm in Cha Cha and Vogue

6. Bodice embroidery by Ruth Lambert in Our Tribe A Spoonful of Yarn / Alpaca Rhythm in Polka and Smooth

And here is a striking moody set of colours I love too:

From left to right, top to bottom:

1. Bodice with embroidery by Dieuwke Visser in Our Tribe Iris Garden / Alpaca Rhythm in Bop

2. Sleeve with embroidery by Ruth Lambert in Our Tribe Blackberry Black / Alpaca Rhythm in Bop and Robotic

3. Swatch with embroidery by Eveliens Lab in Our Tribe The Curio Crafts Room with A Spoonful of Yarn / Alpaca Rhythm in Cha Cha

4. Bodice with embroidery by Ann Coppens in Our Tribe Canadutch / Alpaca Rhythm in Twist and Jitterbug

5. Coat Collar by Ullas Kreationer in Our Tribe Simy 2/ Alpaca Rhythm in Boogie and Smooth

6. Bodice with embroidery by Dalma Bacskai in non-Scheepjes yarns

There are just so many possibilities!

Resi Roben-Collard was a fellow experimentalist and made her coat in Scheepjes Colour Crafter Velvet (7 balls for a size L) which has come up an absolute treat! (Scheepjes Bamboo Soft in Cream and Plum for the embroidery.) It’s a really interesting flecked fabric in this yarn, and btw, a great fit and I want those shoes...

Coming back to the coats made according to my original plans though, here are some striking coats that took my fancy:

Such a sunny set of hues in this coat by Angelique Pietens. (OT in Energise with AR in Tango and Vogue for embroidery). Angelique told me she adapted the pattern to her 180cm frame using the extra information in my MAL Prep blog post number 2 - YAY!! Definitely a happy coat!

And I love the precision embroidery stitching in this coat by Gaëlle Kthulhu and how it glows! OT in Canadutch and AR in Twist & Hip-Hop. Wonderfully done – 2 photos: one laid out flat for the front, and the other modelled by Gaëlle in her lush garden!

Ruth Lambert made this amazing green-blue coat as her first Sashiko Happy Coat and is part way through her second AND third coats exploring a monochrome black and white theme as well as dipping her toe into the Stonewashed/Whirlette version. It does get addictive! This one is OT in A Spoonful of Yarn with AR in Polka and Smooth for embroidery.

Apart from the hard-working group moderators, there are actually three people I would like to shine the spotlight on for helping so many others in the groups, and I think deserves all of our appreciation! Ruth is one of these lovely ladies, along with Mirjam Anaars and Dieuwke Visser.

When I was scrolling through the groups checking for people who needed help, I often found Ruth or Mirjam had already been answering a bunch of questions, particularly in the Dutch group where language was presenting a bit of a barrier. Such a great community spirit simply to help out, and I knew that they knew what they were talking about because they both had completed my coat pattern well before the MAL started!

And then Dieuwke came along out of nowhere, seeing some of the language problems in the groups and offered to translate the MAL blog posts into Dutch so more makers could benefit from the extra information! Hats off, kissy face emojis 😘 and applause 👏👏👏 to Dieuwke, Mirjam and Ruth!!!

You have already seen a snippet of Dieuwke’s coat in the second composite photo. Here is a bigger pic of her multi-coloured make so far, being well admired by her very cute dog! Hee hee!! - I bet he is thinking "how can I get Dieuwke to make one for me!?"

Mirjam’s project was worked in the OT Happy in Red with Paso and Bop embroidery: completed without all the extra help – this is actually the first coat I saw finished after pattern release and has a special place in my heart. Doesn’t it look glorious in the sun!?

And on to the last few coats on "parade"...

Sylvia Opdam’s coat: very nicely modelled showing how the fabric moves (OT in Jellina Creations with AR in Paso and Cha Cha). Jellina Creations really enriches that red!

This stunner is made by Lisa Marlow and I think those bold pink buttons finish it off beautifully! (OT in A Boy and Bunting, with Jitterbug and Calypso for embroidery.)

And this gorgeous coat below by Lise Svensson - who isn’t a sucker for green-blue?

It might be the pisces in me dreaming of the ocean depths, but I think blue and green should totally "be seen" together...

I love this photo and the careful finishing detail of sewing in the collar tag. Lise is also considering coat number 2 as the Stonewashed tweed-look version. Why not!?

Can you imagine an actual parade of Happy Coats!? That would be like those colour-runs that very energetic people do, just probably in slower motion...!!!

So... what’s coming next?

I know some of you will be looking for another project to sink your hooks into and I have a couple of other intermediate level garment patterns I have already published that you might like such as the Rabbit Alice Sweater or the Arcadia Dress.

The exciting news is that I will very soon be releasing a new garment design called the Dizzy Lizzy Dress that is intended for the young girl(s) of your life and uses one of Scheepjes’ most popular yarns: Whirls and Whirlettes. Here are some sneaky WIP pics:

... lots more info on that another day very soon..

As always, you can find the Sashiko Happy Coat pattern on Etsy and Ravelry,

Scheepjes Retailers worldwide can be found here:

Some handy shop links:

Wool Warehouse (in the UK)

Caro Atelier (in the Netherlands)

Jimmy Beans Wool (in the US)

Knotty House (in Canada)

& shopping at Yarns For All helps to support a small Australian business in my local city of Perth Western Australia (a good option if you live in New Zealand - they ship worldwide).

Happy stitching!

Susannah (Peppergoose)

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