velosews

A sense of Spring – Vogue 8732

July’s Minerva Crafts UK make is Vogue 8732 – part of Claire Shaeffer’s custom couture collection. 


I can’t believe it. I made a couture jacket. Hence my excitement.

I’m not big on unlined jackets so the prettiness inside this jacket makes up for it.
The bias binding was all me-made.
The facing and hem seams edges are bound and I flat felled the side seams.
I cut the sleeve cuffs and pocket flaps separately to match the print. You can just see the buttons Vicki at Minerva Craft UK chose for me. Thanks again Vicki!
I love the shaping this jacket has.
Vogue 8732 is an impressive jacket. I wanted a petite version of this so I tested it and no shortening was needed.
I love trying on RTW jackets with lots of detailing and then realise the work that goes into this type of jacket. This time I thought to myself, “I deserve a jacket with lots of detailing”. 

And I promptly made sure I ordered a dark denim print to go with my black jeans Vogue 8774. This kit is still available at Minerva Crafts. 
This jacket is now another piece in my Minerva collection 🙂 This jacket has a wing collar (retro-ish) and the pockets are a bit 70s safari jacket style. Dad loved wearing safari jackets. ‘Look at the pockets‘ he’d say. I think he loved clothes and sometimes I think I take after him and his cheeky nature.
Testing this jacket was very helpful to get the shoulder fit right. The test jacket also gave me the opportunity to also see how well the pattern instructions helped me make this jacket successfully.
Placing the pocket welt onto the jacket front.
There are lots of guides and notches on this pattern to make sure you get the pocket detailing right. The more notches the better.

Claire Shaeffer’s hints are printed throughout the instructions. I read each step as I went. There was a lot to take in. So I read them a few times, just to get it right.
Sewing the pocket bag on the pocket. The pocket flap was already sewn on the pocket opening.
Having good marking tools and using a slightly different colour thread for the seams helped too. I unpick my work a fair bit and a different coloured thread helps me when I sew at night.
Here’s how the print worked out on the back.
I cut out each piece one at a time. When I cut out the body pieces, I made sure the print across the body was consistent across the front and back. 
A closer look at the back yoke and pad stitching on the under collar. All done by machine.


Then I cut the back yolk so the flowers were centered and balanced on my shoulders. I check my work as I sew.
WIP of the collar.

The top collar piece was cut so I had a flower was at the point of each collar point. All this cutting took time and a few sleeps in between sewing sessions.
Burrito view of the back yoke.
Here’s where I tried the burrito method to finish the back yolk. I had to unpick some of the centre back stitching so I could pull the jacket through. No dramas. I had my unpicker handy. We’re good mates.

Adjustments
– Forward shoulder adjustment on the front yoke, back yoke and sleeve head.


– Dropped the armhole base by 1.5cm. The sleeve base sat right into my armpit so it had to be dropped.


– Took out 8cm from the centre back pleat using a 4cm simple fold.

– Shortened the belt length so I didn’t use the full extended belt piece.


Did I follow Claire Shaeffer’s couture techniques?
Mostly. 
I do love to speed through my sewing projects. Give me an industry time-saving technique any day.
Yet one of the best things about sewing is learning new skills so I did use a lot of Clare’s couture techniques.
I didn’t hand sew the button holes or hand sew the pad stitching. I used the machine to pad stitch and make the button holes.

Would I make this again?
You betcha.

Go to Minerva Crafts

The fabric and notions are all from Minerva Crafts – fabric, interfacing, belt buckle and buttons. All you need to make this jacket if you don’t already have this pattern in your pattern stash. You can get this pattern from Minerva Crafts. And instead of making your own bias binding, order some to suit your taste.

The fabric was lovely to sew and it’s a great layer.

36 comments

  4. That is some gorgeous fabric!!! I really love this jacket. Well done! I feel like I will be referring back to this post when I eventually try this pattern myself.

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  8. Maria, your jacket is gorgeous. I love the fabric and the style, great job. I am very impressed with your cuff matching job. Fabulous as always.

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  10. Good for you for taking the time to follow the couture techniques. The jacket turned out beautifully! It was well worth the effort.

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  28. I love printed jackets, this one is really fun and will go with lots of things. Can't believe you matched the cuffs and pockets, great attention to detail! I think an unlined jacket is more work than a lined one and you know those insides are going to be seen, yours looks great on the inside too.

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