photo via Hallmark Channel

— the following excerpt was published by IN KANSAS CITY

The Letterman Coat from ‘Holiday Touchdown’ is For Sale

If you fell in love with Alana’s unique coat in Hallmark Channel’s Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, we have great news: You can buy one.

KC-based designer April Madden brought together an Avengers-level squad of local pros to produce the coat worn by actress Hunter King, and now the coat is available to  the wider public for purchase.

Here’s how Madden explained the initial process:

• The film’s costume designer, Keith Nielsen, dreamed up the initial design.

• Madden stitched a prototype.

• Designer Sarah Nelsen digitized and graded the pattern in sizes XS to 2XL.

• Tailor Maret Miller cut the pieces and stitched the leather sleeves.

• Madden assembled the wool pieces.

• Tailor Chandler Vaughn stitched the pieces together and added the lining.

• Tailor Lucia’s Sarto hand-stitched the keyhole buttonholes.

Within that process are several intricate steps that go toward the lofty (but cheeky) $1,587 price tag. The leather sleeves, for example, are shaved down for ease of movement.

With the design phase complete, the final four steps will be repeated for each coat sold to fashion-forward Chiefs fans. You can buy the coats here.

Now, let's chat about the Pattern

I worked directly with Costume Designer Keith Nielsen and Designer April Madden to take the coat worn in the Hallmark movie and translate that into working production patterns. Utilizing my digitizer and pattern making software I first drafted a size small coat pattern based off the design of the original coat. We updated some of the style features to make the production more streamlined — including some of the style lines and pocket placement. It was both exciting and challenging to work from a fully constructed sample to make the garment patterns.

After the first set of patterns was complete in early Fall 2024, April Madden made the first sample to test the pattern. We worked in tandem to make pattern and fit adjustments. Meanwhile, Keith was busy placing orders for materials that the coat would be made from. He selected a gorgeous red cashmere wool and buttery soft leather for the sleeves as well as a custom knit ribbing for the cuffs.

Once the sample and first pattern was perfected, I graded the pattern into a size range from XS to 2XL. The patterns were then printed to oak tag paper (a sturdy pattern paper) on my plotter printer. Each piece was cut by hand with Xacto, color coded and assembled by size. 

These patterns were used by the rest of the team, and Maret Miller cut the garment pieces with them. Making sure your pattern is perfect is of utmost importance, as it guides and informs the entire garment making process. A mis-measurement or small error will effect everything down the line. 

It has been a great joy to see these coats come alive and know that a group of skilled and smart entrepreneurial women came together to make it happen. Thank you to the team for asking me to be part of this incredible project.

Interested in working together on a pattern making / design project? I accept commissions on a limited basis. Please get in touch via email at: sarah@sarah-nelsen.com.