The Hapi Coat

I finished the Polynesian Pattern #116 Hapi Coat today, and it is really an easy pattern, that somehow took me longer than it should have.

I tried to find some more information about this particular pattern company, and only could determine that these patterns were printed in Kaneohe, Hawaii, in the 1950s and 1960s, perhaps even into the 1970s. The pattern numbers listed in the vintage patterns wikia go from 106 to 209, so this appears to be one of the earlier patterns.


These patterns also have a very homemade look about them. The instructions appear to be typed on a typewriter, hand-drawn and the pattern pieces are on the same paper, and not tissue.

And the Hapi Coat? It's origin appears to be Japanese, and is known as a happi coat and is more often made of cotton, and also often has elaborate embroidery.


I made mine out of a cotton/silk/poplin blend that I purchased at fabric.com, and found it wonderful to sew on. I hand-washed it (and by hand-washed, I mean machine washed on the delicate cycle) because it had some slight shrinking after my 4" square test piece was washed, and I line dried it. I made it with French seams because it does fray quite easily.


Most of the pieces are rectangles, so I only had to trace the front and back piece, and adjusted them slightly for width, just so the 2 pieces fit side by side on the 44" width. A slight miscalculation though, because it now actually doesn't go all the way around me. Hmmmmm. I do know someone who it will fit, so if that someone is reading this... well... surprise!


I also didn't make the belt because I'm stingy with my fabric, and I think I have enough left over to make a blouse. If I have enough from that, I'll make a matching belt. Do you want to see it?

So, there you go. Next up I think will be a skirt that I will do a better job fitting. And those clovers I've teased you with? Well, let's just say there were some lessons learned with the stretch denim, and a bias cut waistband experiment (don't). So fixing is in order.