Vogue 8601

After much more angst on my part than it was worth, the jacket is done.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure it is my new favorite thing ever. The wool for this jacket came from the Pendleton Mills Outlet store, and it is so lovely and soft. (Thanks, Mom!!)

The pattern is Vogue 8601, alas now OOP, although it only just came off the "clearance" section of the website, so there are probably a few copies left in the drawers at your local fabric store. I'm wearing it with my New Look 6816 silk pants and Gertie's Portrait Blouse.

The pattern itself is quite good. Drafted well and the fit is typical for Vogue. In fact, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble at the fit stage if I had just made my "usual" Vogue alterations instead of trying something new that didn't work at all. The pattern includes a lining, which I think is excellent, and the instructions were very good, although I did deviate from them somewhat.

Of course, no tailoring instructions are included in the pattern. I used my favorite tailoring book, following the instructions for the fusible method of tailoring mostly (although I hand taped the roll line - much prettier on the outside). Sherry's RTW SAL was also very helpful. Here you can see that I block fused the bodice pieces and added hair canvas shoulder support.

I didn't have any fusible hair canvas, so I used this tip of Sigrid's and stitched my sew in hair canvas to some lightweight fusible interfacing. My machine doesn't do the serpentine stitch, so I settled for a wide, long zigzag. It seems to work fine.

In back, I added a muslin stay. You can also see the undercollar tailoring, which is an on grain strip that stabilizes the stand portion of the collar as well as adding structure to the roll line there.

I'm fairly pleased with the outcome as this was my first attempt at RTW style fusible tailoring. It was definitely faster than doing all of the shaping by hand (it took about half the time that my hand tailored coat took), and it still has a nice tailored look and feel. The only things I am not thrilled with are more about my inexperience with this method.

The back (I LOVE the tails!) doesn't have the structure that I would like. You can see how the side back collapses under the arm. That ease is necessary to a comfortable fit, but the wool I used was so lightweight it doesn't hold up. I should have block fused the back as well as the front. On the other hand, the tails have a beautiful drape and flow since I left them unfused.

All in all, I am thrilled with how it came out. I can see why so many sewists get "addicted" to sewing jackets. Although I am generally a quick and dirty project oriented seamstress, I love this jacket so much, I'm already planning the next. After a few tops and some pants...