Vogue Jacket/Coat and Dress V1537

Here she finally is, my finished Vogue 1537 in Olive Green wool. I’ve been dragging my heels all winter with this one but she’s finally done! When I made my first version of this coat it was LOVE. In fact I still love it…. I just can’t button it up any more. But I might in future so it’s staying put in my coat cupboard.

If you remember, originally I wanted a pass at this coat after seeing someone make a wool version on pattern review. You know I like to break the rules and was happy to find a like-minded rebel. It’s of course designed for lighter weight fabrics but who cares about that. Here’s my second wool version!

I used my altered pattern pieces with lengthened sleeves and no wrist tabs. And just like before there’s no hem vent. Shame on me AGAIN for not adding one. But you can easily move in this gently boxy coat without one. Plus it does line up but I was victim to the wind which was WILD. I had to choose between all my hair over my face or the hem not matching for the next photo.

This is my 9th piece of outerwear I think? But second full length coat. And because I made it from wool coating I had to add some extra steps that weren’t in the instructions to prepare the fabric. First you have to decide how to prepare your wool. I like to steam shrink everything by hand with a garment steamer or iron. Other people take the risk and machine wash. And some don’t prep at all. With the horrible rain that UK Autumn/Winter experiences, I prefer to get all shrinking out of the way.

Then I interfaced all the body with medium woven interfacing and the facings with a thicker canvas style interfacing. I decided not to pad stitch the interfacing in place, and used fusibles this time around because although my coating is thick, it’s not the kind of pile you could easily hide all the stitches in. Fusing such large pieces makes me wish for one of those big iron presses that tailors have. You can see I also use bright basting stitches to hold things in place… my idea of fun (I’m so wild, you can’t stand it).

When it comes to pressing seams I use a clapper and pressing cloth to hold the heat in the wool and avoid shiny marks from the iron plate. I also use a pair of manilla envelopes under the seam allowances to prevent a seam line mark on the right side of the garment. Then rather annoyingly when I was giving the coat a final press, I totally forgot this and pressed the long back seam creating a shadow/dent. I bet you didn’t even notice it in the photo, but I know it’s there. Hopefully it will fade with time and another steam.

Its a really lovely pattern with a great dress included. Vogue patterns are filled with nice designer details for a super polished finish. And I love the 60s vibe of the collar. You’ll see this design has large patch pockets but unfortunately I was about 30cms short of fabric to add these to mine. Instead I used the scraps of wool to make hip level welt flaps, for pockets which are lined and functional. Given how thick the fabric is the welts turned out nicely but I prefer a patch pocket for easier carrying of keys/phone/mask.

The fabric is from Montreux Fabrics (now sold out), from their stall at Knitting and Stitching Show Harrogate. It’s a very thick pure wool coating with an interesting variegation of thread colours. The finished coat is only a little bulky while being pleasantly very warm – my orange version was much thinner. I’m really pleased with the colour out in the world… in my sewing room it looked a little drab. A word I try not to associate with! The lining is rather the star of the show. This cat print satin (also sold out) was provided free of charge from Rainbow Fabrics as a preview of their A/W collection in exchange for an Instagram story. When I saw it alongside the coat fabric the colours paired so beautifully, with the navy and mustard cats popping against the olive.

So now I can be warm and dry again until nice weather returns to the UK.