Vogue V9096 Wool Jacket

 

Vogue 9096 comp

When the Vogue patterns were on sale recently I fell for this pattern of a raglan sleeved loose-fitting coat. I had some beautiful pure wool in my stash that had been donated by a friend a few years ago and I thought that it would be ideal for the garment. I decided to make view C but without the strong contrasting right front. The fabric is labelled “Spots” but my husband and and I both preferred the “wrong” side which is checks so that is the side that I decided to use.

I cut out the Large size which is for a 16-18 as in the past I have found Vogue patterns tend to come up on the large side and as I have narrow shoulders compared to the rest of me I did not want to be swamped by the coat. I took care to match the checks as it is a particular “foible” of mine that it is most important to match the design when using checks. As I thought the sharp corner on the hem edge of the left front was jarring, (you can carry asymetry too far) I curved it to match the curve on the right front.

Although it is not included in the instructions, I used Weft Insertion Vilene ref no 401 fusible interfacing on all the pieces of wool fabric. This gives substance to the garment, a longer “life expectancy” and helps to provide a professional finish.

The lining is a copy of the fashion fabric pattern pieces and the jacket is then lined edge-to-edge. This does not provide any room for ease in the lining such as a pleat at the centre back. As I believe that I will be wearing the jacket sometimes whilst driving it is essential to provide for movement in the shoulder, upper back and arms. When cutting out the lining fabric I therefore incorporated a pleat in the centre back and also in the length of the sleeves.

Like Goldilocks and the three bears, to add some structure and definition to the edge-to-edge finishing I auditioned some piping from my stash. First I tried some “thick” piping covered in Black Satin, that was too bulky so I removed the piping cord to give a flat bias trim. Still not right. Then I tried ready-made narrow piping in Rusty Red, better, but the colour was not a sufficiently good match. Finally, I covered the ready-made piping with the Black Satin bias – just right. I made the piping and basted to the entire outside edge of the coat. Around the neckline/collar, down one front, across the back hemline and up the other front before re-joining at the centre back of the collar.

I stitched the lining together with the adaptations mentioned above and then attached to the jacket in accordance to the instructions, leaving a gap in the back hemline to facilitate turning through to the right side. I tried another fitting with the raglan shoulder pads installed and checked the length of the sleeves. I turned up a 2 inch hem on the wool fabric and having reduced the sleeve linings by 2 inches. A big sigh! All along whilst sewing the jacket I had thought that the shaping of the shoulders might be a problem and I was right. The silhouette was very 80’s – talk about power dressing – I looked like and American football player!

There was nothing for it but to make an alteration! Those of you that know me also know that I detest alterations and having to make one on a garment that was so near completion is a real pain. I unstitched the hem lining and removed the shoulder pad, restitched a new shoulder seam by shaving off approximately ¾ inch before returning to the original seamline. Now there was no need for a shoulder pad to fill out the excess fabric and the jacket silhouette though no perfect was more in proportion rather than an upside down triangle.

A final press, stitched the hem on the sleeves, closed the gap in the centre back hemline where I had turned the coat through and the garment was completed. At present, like the pattern there is no closure but that may well change at some stage in the future.

 

Vogue 9096 completed