Project Jacket Vogue 8933 has now finished!

Hurray! I've finished my jacket and of course worn it twice already. Just see how happy I am with!

This is a very picture heavy post! So, here are lots of photos of me wearing the finished coat and thankfully it was ok weather to go outside and take photos!

Am I pleased with this jacket? Yes, very much. It's taken me a long time to make it, about 3 or 4 weekends plus sewing some evenings whenever I could get the chance, but it's really been worth it. I feel I've produced a good quality garment and as a bonus, really surprised myself at how well I've done it and how it's turned out. I think a big part of that was due to slowing down and taking my time as well as using a good quality pattern, Vogue 8933 and good quality wool fabric.

This coat is heavy! I'll say that you don't really sew a coat like this, you construct it. I added 2" to the length of body but it's turned out quite a long jacket. I narrowed the shoulders and got rid of the puffy sleeves and it's worked out well.

Now for more of its innards! There's a lot of hand sewing. A lot! I added some orange piping between the facing and the lining and that's worked better than I ever expected as this is the first time I've sewn piping. I bought No.1 piping cord, satin bias binding, used a piping foot and it was a relatively easy process. I like how the inside of the jacket looks. The only bit I didn't like was where the facing meets the hem, so I hand sewed some black sating bias binding over the raw edge.
   

You can also see how I did the hem- machined black satin bias binding along the hem and then hand sewed it.

There's a close-up of the hem showing the best-of-my-three hand sewn thread bars connecting the lining hem to the fabric, just so everything stays in place. I applied interfacing to all of the fabric pieces which took aaaaaaages! There's nothing fast about making outerwear.

Nice close-up of the big collar. I like big collars! On the inside, I didn't pipe all around the neck. I quit while I was ahead! I added a hanging loop, a detail I need. The front closure is by 4 large snap fasteners which are a devil to sew on as I kept sewing them on in the wrong places! It does make a neat closure though.  

I'm off to find an easy pattern!

Will I make this jacket again? Maybe. Did I enjoy sewing it? Absolutely! It's a lovely jacket to wear and very warm. I feel I need an easy-make just now though! Anyone else got plans for sewing jackets and coats?