Next up off the tailoring rank – Vogue 8739, A wardrobe collection with a jacket, dress, pants and skirt. I’ve got my beady eye on the Jacket – the line drawing effectively waved a red-flag in front of me…
Such interesting (and challenging) lines! To make this a ‘proper’ suit combo, I’ll be teaming it with a matching skirt, but not from this pattern. The other garments in this co-ordinated pattern aren’t really my cup of tea, although the model looks fabulous in all of them. But that’s what models are paid to do I guess! I’ll figure out which skirt a little later on – think it’s time to diverge from my usual Burda 8155…
I’ll be making it with a gorgeous 100% wool fabric from EmmaOneSock – chocolate brown with grey and orange flecks in a chevron like pattern. I must admit I’m a little worried that it won’t be quite drapey enough for the dangly bit at the front. Especially as the pattern calls for either lightweight double knit/linen, or tropical wool, neither of which could be used to describe my fabric. But it will be nice and warm for winter, which is the aim. Why I’ve decided to make a winter suit during the height of summer is beyond me!
The pattern is lined – but I’m going to line just the sleeves in some left overs of the most buttery of silk charmeuse’s from D’Italia that was used to line this dress.
The reason being is I want to make a feature of the seams by taking a leaf from Laura Mae‘s beautiful book and giving colourful rayon binding a whirl (thank you, mattiecakes):
Whacking together the toile for this jacket was just as I expected – challenging! A total of 5 sharp corners were required, and I’ve always struggled with these in the past:
I tried two differing ways to doing these sharp corners – firstly I back stitched then removed the fabric from my machine when the point was reached, rearranged and pinned the fabric then took it back to the machine to attempt to continue stitching. Secondly I tried rearranging the fabric with the needle still down before lowering the foot and continuing on in one continuous stitch.
The visual result clearly says the ‘pivot and continue’ method (on the left) trumps the ‘remove, rearrange and continue’ method:
The drafting of the sleeves were not filling me with confidence. The notches did not match (I checked back with the pattern twice!) and the upper sleeve was a good 28mm longer than the lower sleeve – yuck!
I attached one sleeve from this pattern (on the left side of the photo below) and the other from Vogue 8333 (on the right). Ignoring the fact that I still need to adjust the seam between the sleeves and jacket bodice, you can see immediately that the sleeve on the left is larger, more obviously so at the cuff where it gets a little ungainly:
Side views of each sleeve tell the whole truth, showing the cumbersome circumference of the V8739 sleeve against the well-shaped and nicely fitted (yet badly set in – too much easing at the front, serves me right for rushing!) sleeve of V8333 on the right.
I’ve done a better job of setting in the V8739 sleeve along the back (on the right of the photo below) than the V8333 sleeve, but otherwise the rear of the jacket looks to me to be well fitted.
I like the length of the peplum as it currently is (my bodies length between my waist and hips is longer than what most patterns account for) so I’ll add an additional 1.5cm.
Considering I cut a straight size 14 when usually I require a larger size to accommodate my shoulders, I had to make relatively few changes to the bodice:
– changing the curved centre back seam to a straight seam
– taking in the long diagonal seams at the back by 0.5cm each side
– taking in the front princess seam above the bust to reduce the gaping
– moving the sleeve seams in towards the body to get a better visual line
The seams at the front are so tricky that I’m really not sure how one would do any kind of bust adjustment on this if needed.
And currently I’m loving seeing all the waist-level peplums around at the moment, perhaps I’ll have to pull together a summer peplum so I don’t have to wait to get in on the action! The dress below is a favourite of mine from 2009, but similar styles are still popping up at the moment all over the place:
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| Victoria Beckham, Elle Macpherson and Mary J Blige in the Victoria Beckham ‘Carmontelle’ Dress in Cashmere. |
poppykettle 
It looks like a lot of work but this jacket is going to be incredible!
I hope so! Although what possessed me to start making a winter thing in the middle of summer is beyond me…thankfully we've got a couple of cool days ahead do I can cut it out :P
This will be amazing! I think you are right to want the narrowest sleeves possible. Narrower sleeves always make your waist look thinner! Something about the sliver of space that can be seen between your arm and your torso.
Thanks Karin – I had thought so also on the slim sleeves thing, so it's nice to see others do too!
You've done well making this muslin – with fitted jackets, a must to do. Sleeves are awkward things and the slimmer the better – as previous comments. At least you'll have something in the wardrobe ready for our chilly winters (can't wait!!!) Too Hot.
Your making a 'winter' jacket in 'summer' because in your neck of the woods it could possibly be 'winter' tomorrow!!!! From Sunny Brisbane….* the jacket looks brilliant!!!
You're doing great, and I agree the slimmer fitting sleeve of Vogue 8333 is a more flattering look to my eye too.btw, the notches on the two sleeve pieces won't match up probably because there is supposed to be a fair amount easing of the upper sleeve into the lower sleeve at this point; the extra fabric is needed to accommodate the bending of the elbow when you are wearing the garment. When you are sewing with your good wool the fabric should ease in a lot more smoothly that with the more rigid fabric you are using for your muslin… Hope that helps! :)
Thanks Carolyn – I'd always wondered about that as they don't usually 'match' but it's never been this significant of a gap on past projects. I'll have to go back and read through the instructions properly to see what they say about this. Most appreciated!
these silluet is really on fashion right now.. xx
How do I get the pattern since it is out of print??