In December 2025, I received an email from a new client we hadn't worked with before. He wrote that he had a favourite overcoat he had picked up in a Charity shop in London over 20 years ago, however, the lining was 'on it's last legs', in a pretty sorry state with rips and holes but he loved the vintage birds pattern. 

After searching Google, he saw on our website we could design and print specialist lining and asked if this is something we would be interested in helping him with. I spoke with our team in Yorkshire who advised if we could get a big enough piece of the lining without too many major flaws they could digitally scan it, create a repeat image and print it for us.

And so the project started..

We received the Overcoat by post early New Year 2026, removed the lining and sent it to Yorkshire for assessment by the team. 

(above) The original lining removed from the overcoat.

Thankfully, we had a big enough piece and, after a few days they sent us a PDF of the scan which the client happily approved. 

"Could we make the Overcoat warmer somehow?" he asked. It needed to be able to cope with the Canadian Winters which at worst can reach -30 to -50'c! Definitely colder than Scotland (or is it..?) 

I had a think and got in touch with our quilting expert Vicky Gillibrand, Director of Caledonian Quilting in Bolton, Lancashire. We use their services for quilting fabrics for our Military tunics and other ceremonial uniforms where we need precision work. She advised they could quilt the lining with a heavier wool backing, slightly more investment per metre but would totally do the job for heavy Winters.

Once we received the custom lining from Inkspin, we sent it down to Vicky and her team at Caledonian quilted it with a beautiful diamond pattern (they call it a 5/8 box for those of you who like to know the technical names) but we call it diamond quilting! On return, we started to re-line the coat.  Whilst working, we realised that two of the vintage buttons were missing.  Trying to source buttons that were over 20 years old was a bit of a task but we found them in the end - It was a Spanish manufacturer! 

(above) the heavy wool backing on the custom printed lining before we closed up the bottom seam of the overcoat and finished the project.

With custom scanned and digitally printed lining, heavy wool backed quilting and a smidge of expert tailoring from the Shilling & Fitz team we brought this vintage overcoat back to an almost original condition and have beyond delighted the owner who walked past a charity shop in the 80's and fell in love with a tweed overcoat he knew he had to buy (insert love heart eyes emoji here)

What do you think??  

*Written content and images remain the property of Shilling & Fitz*