It’s FINISHED

At long last, here is my 80s coat. The dress form doesn’t really do it justice – she’s developed a slight lean and she doesn’t have enough shoulder to make the sleeves hang well.

Here’s the pattern envelope for comparison. It’s Vogue 1767 from 1986, by Claude Montana. I haven’t found any other pictures of the exact original garment, but there are plenty of 80s images that are close. Montana did lots of wide brightly coloured coats with huge shoulders, often worn over an all black outfit.

One of the great things about the Vogue Montana patterns I have is that the back views have plenty of detail. This one has lots of topstitching and a little back vent which is surely purely decorative. And the sleeves have cuffs that actually unbutton; again I can’t see that getting any use but it adds some interest.

The front closure has one feature button with a bound button hole and then the rest of the buttons are hidden under a fly, which was fun to construct. I went with plain black buttons as I think the fabric colour makes a strong enough statement on its own.

I couldn’t get lining to match the shell fabric so used grey for the fly lining in order that it wouldn’t be obvious if it peeked out. I used a green quilting cotton for turning the bound buttonholes and the welt pocket but that wasn’t a good enough colour match for the fly.

The buttons are backed with smaller ones on the inside. I need to brush that blue chalk off the buttonholes! The fabric generally resisted marking: chalk vanished after only a day or two and my air erasable pen didn’t last an hour, but the buttonholes seem to have held onto the chalk. I can report it shrugs off blood though: I accidentally stuck a seam ripper into my finger and bled all over one of the sleeves and it pretty much wiped straight off.

The patch pockets are huge. Annoyingly they’re attached over the side seams so have to be added quite late on.

And slightly to my surprise the pockets are lined to the edge. I expected them to have a self-facing, but even if the pattern had had one I wouldn’t have had enough fabric to cut it. Getting this design out of the three metres I had was a real struggle. I had to cut the sleeves slightly off grain and there was no chance of doing a ‘with nap’ layout.

No such problem with the main lining fabric: I still have quite a lot of this bright pink satin left over. I always intended it for this green wool but originally had a very different pattern planned which would have needed a lot more of the satin.

The lining is sewn in by hand along the hems because there’s not a lot of it, what with those deep front facings, and I forgot to leave a gap in one of the sleeves for turning. And I regretted it; I’m so much slower doing it that way. I managed to break a hand sewing needle in the process too, something I don’t think I’ve ever done before. Back to the machine next time.

Here’s my coat chain. Another surprising thing about this pattern is that there’s no neck facing, so I hope it holds up. The neck seam is a bit lumpy on the inside despite lots of trimming and pressing because the satin has so much less body than the wool. No one’s going to see it though.

Hopefully I’ll get some photos of it on me soon. Right now I’m really pleased with it but have only tried it on inside the house. I’ll report back on how it really wears in due course.

56 thoughts on “It’s FINISHED”

  2. I always love and enjoy seeing your work, but this is absolutely STUNNING! The shape, the color, the lining, the quality of your sewing! I can’t wait to see you model it with your other sewing plan results. I followed this project especially closely as I’ve had this pattern since it came out but never dared make it. You have hit this one “out of the park”!

    1. Thanks! It’s a very well drafted pattern, although the order of construction could be improved to make the sewing easier – I had to temporarily rip out one of the sleeve seams to get the top stitching neat on the other one for example. I’ll try and post about that.

  5. Love your new coat! Great color; very cool style! I am sure it will look fabulous on you as you have the height to carry it. Look forward to seeing photos of you wearing it!

  10. FABulous coat! I love the solitary statement button and fly button placket. Very cool. Your bound buttonholes are beautifully crafted!

  11. Looks great. All of the bound buttonholes look so neat. Interesting that the entire front is doubled – no lining and wide facing on the inside.

    1. Thanks! Yes, I wondered if it would make the coat pull to the front with all that weight but in fact it sits fine. The original was only half lined in the back which is probably why the design has such deep facings. But it makes it a fabric hog for a short coat.

    1. Thanks! I loved your dress with the v shaped inset by the way…I’m very tempted to make that pattern myself. It reminded me of an Alexander McQueen design for Vogue (I think it was branded as Givenchy but it was when he was designing it) that was on the Pattern Vault blog.

      1. Oh, thanks! I hadn’t seen that Vogue pattern before but yeah, I can see the resemblance. I can definitely recommend the pattern, it was well-drafted and explained, and a quick make, in case you’re looking for instant gratification.

    1. Thanks! Very pleased with how the lining worked out in the end. Now I need to find some small child who would like the remnants of it for dressing up though, because I can’t think what else I’ll do with a metre of pink satin!

  18. So beautiful! So many fabulous details, the buttons hidden under the fly, the bound buttonholes and the top-stitching on the back. By the way, I can’t remember the last time I saw a coat chain?

    1. Thanks! I always put coat chains in to mine because I find them so useful. I have definitely had RTW coats with them, but that was probably 20 years ago. And my husband’s very heavy wool overcoat didn’t come with one, come
      To think of it.

  23. Absolutely brilliant. It was worth the time you took over it. What a fabulous first project of the year!

  26. Amazing coat and technical work! I bet that keeps you warm on cold, damp days. And, it should bring a ray of sunshine on drab days too. Glad you finished it. We should flit about town in our 80s coats one day (I am pushing for a vacation in Scotland… which is closer than Florida).

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