This is my next sewing project: the jacket from Vogue 1466, an out of print Donna Karan design. It may seem like the wrong time of year to be making a wool jacket but I am almost always cold even in sunny weather. It’s worse now I’m working from home as my work area is the chilliest room in the house. I want something a little bit smarter than a jumper or cardigan, but not as structured as a suit jacket. This design is unlined and can be made in boiled wool for a bit of give, which is ideal.
I was puzzled by one feature of the pattern. There are separate left and right back pattern pieces because there’s a back vent so one side has an underlap. But there are some other small differences between those two pieces. The shoulder line is slightly longer on one than the other.
And the one with the longer shoulder line is also slightly longer in the body. Neither difference is huge but it’s enough to be noticeable when sewing.
I can’t see any reason for the difference. There are no separate left and right pieces for the sleeves, nor the jacket front and side pieces. I can only assume it’s a mistake. When I traced the pattern onto paper I used the longer shoulder line for both pieces and the longer body length. I’m making a toile for this one so I should see if it’s worked fairly soon.
Catherine Daze's Blog 
It will be interesting to see how this makes up. I could only find one review on Pattern Review and it made no mention of this discrepancy.
Yes, the shortage of reviews of the jacket made me a bit worried, but I can’t see anything massively unusual about the pattern. Definitely making a toile though.
It looks like a small printing error. I can’t imagine any reason to make shoulders different widths.
Makes me curious about the process – it suggests to me that they adjusted one piece after a test and forgot the other! At least it’s easily corrected.
That should be a chic snuggly jacket in boiled wool. Please show the line art.
Thanks for the reminder! I haven’t got an image of the line art yet but I have been meaning to take a shot of my pattern envelope. I’ll put it in next week’s post.
Lovely design, I’m looking forward to reading how this goes.
Thanks!
That’s a interesting looking collar. I’ve come across a few envelope patterns that didn’t quite line up, like you said there doesn’t seem to be a good reason for them to differ! Always worth checking the pattern first 🙂
Definitely! The collar is two pieces; the front bit is attached with snaps and underneath it’s a mandarin style.
Great design, nice catch on the pattern anomalies. I’m always cold as well!
Beautiful jacket, and love the boiled wool idea. May have to hunt this one down! Sounds like a printing error- just had the same issue on that Donna Karan shirt, which had separate pieces for front and back.
Funnily enough I was thinking the same about that Vogue Donna Karan you posted about the other day! Love that shirt.
I think the difference in the length of the shoulder lines is to allow the longer one to be eased into the shorter one for a more refined fit along the shoulder line.
There’s certainly a lot of ease in the back shoulder seam – I took the longer option of the two mismatched back shoulder lines.