This first of the Ella coats came into being after I made a felted coat for little girls. The striped pattern in the little girl's coat was inspired by the piled up mattresses in the Princess and the Pea story. I even sandwiched 3-dimensional green peas between the stripes. Because a felted garment must be made so much larger than the size it will become, I was able to wear the coat before it was felted. I was smitten with the fit of the unfelted coat and the first Ella Coat was born.

Ella is a body-skimming sweater coat for women with an A-line silhouette that is created by making the bodice first from the high waist to the shoulder. The advantage of starting here is that you ensure your coat fits perfectly before you finish the entire coat. A perfectly fitted bodice will ensure a beautifully fitting coat. Then pick up at the high waist and work the skirt, stopping when the coat is the desired length.

For a detailed tutorial on choosing colors for your coat, fitting the coat to your own body, adding beautiful details, including alternate ruffle edgings, consult the Ella Coat Knit-a-Long that was conducted through the Noni Blog.

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, picking up stitches within the knitted fabric, increasing, decreasing, knitting in the round, and some hand-sewing during the finishing process.

Gauge

18 sts and 24 rows over 4"/10cm in St st using worsted weight yarn on a size 9/5.5mm needle or size need to obtain gauge.

Yarn Requirements

Solid Coat

6-8 skeins worsted weight wool

Solid Coat with Colored Ruffle

Coat: 4-6 skeins worsted weight wool
Ruffle: 2-3 skeins worsted weight wool

Striped coats

2-3 skeins of color (A), 1 skein or 100-250 yds (91 - 230m) of every other color

Needles and Other Materials

Size 9 (5.5mm) 32" (80cm) or longer circular needles
Size 10 (6mm) needles
Size 10 J crochet hook
Row Counter (optional)
Locking stitch markers
Sewing needle and sewing thread
Velvet ribbon to line the plackets (2" (5cm) wide and twice the length of one placket)

Pictured Samples

Cover samples were made in Shepherd's Wool by Stonehedge Fiber Mill: the coat on the front cover was made in Plum with Lime Ruffles. The striped coat on the back cover of the pattern was made using the Ocean Coat strip pattern (see chart on pattern).

Ella wears clothes with no pockets to weigh her down and the Going Out Bag has the same sort of mentality. She loves to dance. She is all ruffles and flourishes.

In white, she could get married or lead the attendants to their places. In bright mossy green she'd draw every eye on the streets of New York. In mint with blushing petals, she looks good enough to nibble. In Lilac with beaded edges, she is sweet as Spring flowers. Add blue sparkle rivets to a white bag with white ruffles and she would be a bouquet for the bride. Add spikes or cabochon rivets and she gets a little more daring . . .

However you dress her, she is, in short, delicious, flexible, and can go anywhere, from gay frolic through the botanical garden, to the garden party, to cinema, to night club. She is even the best friend of girly little girls.

Take her out. She loves an adventure . . .

Click on the Additional Details tab below for more information about dimensions, yarn amounts, materials, and bag kits that include everything you need to complete this project.

Finished Dimensions

6 3/4" (17cm) across the top
3" (7.5cm) deep at bottom
7" (17.5cm) wide across the bottom
8" (20cm) tall from bottom to frame

Pattern Difficulty

Intrepid Easy/Intermediate: Requires knowledge of knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches within fabric, some hand-sewing to attach the bag to the snap purse frame.

Gauge

Pre-felted gauge: 20 stitches and 28 rounds = 4" (10cm) in St st with a single strand of worsted weight yarn.

Materials

An Elegant Hardware Kit with Feet is available for this pattern and includes:

1 Elegant Bag Frame 
27" (68cm) purse chain
Stiffener for the bag bottom
6 Noni Big 24mm bag feet
1 Noni Design label

Yarn Requirements

Solid Bag: 750 yds (685m)
Solid Bag with Beaded Ruffle Edge: 550 yds (503m) solid color and 70 yds (64m) of feltable beaded yarn

Needles and Other Materials

Size 8 (5mm) 24" (60cm) circular needle
Tapestry needle
Sewing Needle
Stitch markers

Pictured Samples

The white bag was made with Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool in White. The green bag was made with Tilli Tomas Merino in Moss with Moss Flurries just at the ruffle bind off. Unfortunately, both of these yarns are no longer available.