Calling All Kids – Doctor… Detective… Scientist… Reversible Coat

After I finished doing a crazy happy dance when I received the e-mail from Alida, I started thinking about what I wanted to make.  I have two daughters, Arden is five and Hadley is two and half.  Both of them love twirly dresses and sparkles, but they’re more than happy to wear more gender-neutral looks, like Arden in her Knight Hoodie.

I love anything that has more than one use, so an idea slowly evolved to make a lab coat that reversed to a trench coat.  Besides being reversible, it does double-duty (or does that make quadruple-duty?) as dress-up while still being perfectly functional as a spring or fall coat when worn as a trench.

Hadley loves playing Doctor.  She “gave” Arden a Dr. kit for Christmas, but has taken ownership of it and gives everyone in the family regular checkups.  I’m a fan of this practice because she does the whole shebang and you get to lay back on the sofa while she check you over.  A little rest time while interacting with my adorable daughter?  Sign me up!  (Just watch out for the eye exam!)

She has such a great bedside manner!

To make the coat, I used See Kate Sew’s Bubblegum Coat as the base.  I have used this coat in other projects like the equestrian coat I made Arden for Project Run & Play – what can I say?  It’s really a great pattern and so versatile!  Plus I already had the size four cut and traced.

I made some modifications: I re-drafted a pointed collar, removed the waistband from the front pieces, narrowed the bottom of the coat, and added in-seam pockets.  Instead of doing the facings for the lining, I made two full-size layers.

I machine embroidered “Dr. D” on the pocket of the lab coat for our last name so it will work for Arden as well.  For the trench I added ties to the side seams the same width as the waistband.

The trench coat makes the perfect outfit for a tiny inspector, or maybe an explorer on safari?  I tried having Hadley wear my glasses, but they wouldn’t stay on her face – pretty comical!

Taking notes about her observations, or planning her next adventure…  What a ham!

Then it’s back to the lab coat for some fun with science.  Or, mixing apple juice and orange juice for the under four feet tall crowd.  We had the child-sized safety goggles from Arden’s Halloween costume as a minion a couple of years ago.

With a Daddy who holds a PhD in Physics the likelihood that one of the girls will have a profession in the sciences is pretty good.  Or maybe an Accountant like me?  Arden says she wants to be a fisherman, so it seems the possibilities are truly endless, just as they should be.

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