I made Vogue 8696 - A sewing tale of woe

Hello fellow sewers and welcome to the first post on my blog. Isn't it  strange that I chose a tale of woe instead of a successful project to brag about, but I feel you can learn just as much or more from mistakes as successes
 I have collected a large amount of jacket patterns for some strange reason, but this very easy Vogue was calling my name as the one that I should make first. There was a series of bad choices made by myself to make this garment, and with 50+ years of sewing under my belt, I knew better. Suggested fabrics to make it with are wool double knit and fleece. I decided to do fleece for a casual, easy care version. Now you see there are 3 views and they all have a lovely flowing drapey front. On the top view C shown in white is the one that should be made in fleece. It is one layer, with no facings. I chose to do view A in which the front is completely faced and the back is lined with a regular woven lining. 

Fleece is a bit stiff and should not be made into anything flowing especially with 2 layers. As you see here this doesn't look much like the pictures on the pattern. When I first put it on, I was so disappointed. I looked 30 lbs heavier and there was no draping going on at all. The collar points stuck out like missiles so I cut them off. It still wasn't right so I decided to take the facings off, but this is one sided flleece and the wrong side is very obviously different than the right side. On this pattern, the wrong side is going to show on the collar when there are no facings. So I decided to give it away to Goodwill. I am so sad! I love the idea of this stylish jacket. Maybe I will do it in another fabric someday.


My advice is, if you want to make this pattern use a light weight, drapey wool knit, or a double sided fleece, and do not make the facings on the fleece version.

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