Here’s another piece for the PR Mini-Wardrobe Contest. (Will I actually make it to the finish line?) This pattern has appealed to me for a long time — it’s got easy lines, and that long tail in the back (which stretches around to the side fronts) gives it some extra interest.
According to the size chart on the pattern envelope, I should have cut between size 14 and a 16 (37 inch bust, 28 inch waist). I made a size 8, which is just about right. If anything, even that borders on the larger end of things, rather than the smaller. There are adjustments for petites; I had to double the amount Vogue suggested to shorten the sleeves sufficiently, though.
I made the jacket collar-less; I didn’t particularly like the look of the collar, and think the jacket will be more comfortable to wear in summer without it. I top-stitched around the neckline, too, matching the rest of the jacket. I’m not sure that worked — at least, the buttonhole looks a little odd fighting with the topstitching.
The directions are quite clear, except for the curious omission of adding buttonholes. Somehow they got lost between page 1 and page 2. This is unfortunate, especially since I, personally, like to be reminded of which side I’m supposed to put them. Bad editing, it seems, is becoming a Vogue trademark.
My fabric’s a turquoise linen with just a little bit of stretch. The buttons are JHB; mine are seven-eighths of an inch in size, though the pattern calls for three-fourths. I had considered going down in size, and had even ordered the smaller buttons, but realized that they would get lost in the massive expanse of the jacket.
However, this was the source of a serious miscalculation on my part. Instead of relocating the buttonhole location, I simply started them at the point closest to the edge of the jacket. This meant that the small amount of extra length leads out toward the sleeve. Net result? when the jacket isn’t buttoned, the buttonholes look a bit off — as if they were placed a little bit too far to the left. Which I guess they sort of were. I’ll have to watch that next time.
This jacket’s not lined, so I used a Hong Kong finish to give it a clean look inside. I’m happy with the jacket on the whole; but, in the end, it’s sort of neither here nor there. In spite of the fun tail, a great color and interesting buttons, it’s really sort of a plain, boxy jacket. I’ll wear it, I’ll enjoy it, but it’s sort of nebbish.
My Pfaff still doesn’t have a check spring, so I was fortunate that I was able to keep a very close eye on things and keep the thread tension where it belonged through this project. It’s really odd that the buttonhole function works perfectly when the machine is so hobbled . . . but I’m not complaining!
I remembered to sew an extra button inside the jacket. Replacing one of these buttons would be non-trivial.