Vogue 8605, Remodeled

I absolutely love this pattern!



I've always known the style wasn't for me but I made it once before in a winter knit.




Well,I've worn this to death, but in the house only for warmth. It was just too roomy.

I know this style looks wonderful on tall thin women but since I'm 5'4 1/2" tall and not quite slim,it just didn't look right. I eventually altered it by raising the underarm by about 2" and also taking the same off the sides and the sleeves. It then became quite cute,IMO.

I was just stash cruising one night and I came upon a remnant piece of coat weight orange linen, the same linen I used for this trench coat).Well it hit me like a ton of bricks! A new and improved version of V8605!

Here it is and I LOVE it! (Although I wore it to a meeting today and didn't get any comments,positive or negative!)



I not only changed the depth of the armhole, took 2" off the sides and under sleeve but I changed the collar to a wing collar;




I took away about 1.5" of the center front as there was way too much fabric there;

I eliminated the back seam to save on fabric




Added a sleeve band to make the sleeve a bit longer



I faced the hem to add a bit to the length of the jacket.





And I made my own version of "bound" buttonholes. To see how I made these, look here on my other blog.



A few close-ups of design details;

(the pockets)


(the top-stitching)


(the buttons)


(behind the buttons and buttonholes)



Because this jacket is unlined, I used a pretty batik from my stash to make a Hong Kong finish on all the seams. This was great fun and is really easy to do. It takes a little time but is well worth it.
There's an article in the current issue of Threads about Hong Kong finishes. If you don't get Threads, I have a tutorial on Diana's Sewing Lessons.





I also broke down and sewed in shoulder pads. This style really doesn't look well on sloping shoulders ( which I have).

I wore it with my Marci Tilton skirt which, my husband pointed out and I tend to agree, doesn't do much for it.Now I have to make something to wear with this ,my new favorite jacket.





What do you think?

See more pics here!

More later from