I’ve just started on my Claire Shaeffer Custom Couture Collection Jacket from Vogue Patterns, V8621. This is my first challenge to myself for the New Year! The pattern gives wonderful couture hand sewn instructions and the jacket itself features:
- Keyhole Neckline
- Waist Seam
- Bound Buttonholes
- Welt Pockets
- Raglan kimono sleeve
According to the instructions I measured at a 14, I wear a 6 in RTW clothing. When I looked at the amount of ease in the pattern I knew I’d need to go much smaller. I often have this problem with Vogue patterns as the size is often too large, with ridiculous amounts of ease included. I went with Nancy Zieman’s fitting advice from Pattern Fitting with Confidence (I borrowed it on my kindle) to measure from just over the bust, armpit to armpit to find my true size. My measurement was 13″ which is equivalent to a size 10, so that is the size I cut. Worked like a charm. I made my toile out of muslin and transferred all the pattern info to the muslin so I can use it as my pattern. The only thing I needed to adjust was taking in the shoulder seam slightly and I’ll be adding a bit to the label, maybe 1/2″.
So far so good. Now I need to order fabric, I really thought the fitting would take me longer, but I’m usually a pretty typical size. The fabrics I’m thinking about are Corn Maiden, a naturally grown Romanian Hemp in a bird track pattern for the main body and either using a Natural Hemp Silk Charmeuse and dyeing it myself or splurging on this beautiful Garnet Peace Silk for the interior. Still trying to decide how much I want to spend making this jacket!
Here are swatches of the fabrics:
I’d love some feedback, let me know what you think!
14 responses to “Claire Shaeffer Couture Jacket- Part 1,Toile”
I just commented on my journey with this jacket on the rtw fast site. I used a yummy peachy-winey wool. Make that top buttonhole perfectly! Tailor tacks everywhere. This is such a gorgeous piece, I say splurge on the peace silk-it will be killer. Can’t wait!
I’d love to see images of you’re jacket, the fabric sounds lovely. I may have to go ahead and splurge on the peace silk:) Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!
I like the cerise because the style is so severe that the color will juice it up.
The color is beautiful, isn’t it! I’m going to order some swatches first before I decide.
I’ve always loved this pattern! I love the garnet silk! Gorgeous! I’m not an expert on fitting, but in the photos on you, it appears that there is a little too much fabric radiating out from the armpit. Maybe a length adjustment is needed? Or raise the arm hole a bit?
I love this pattern too, I’ve been wanting to make this for awhile! I do love that garnet color, I decided against it for this project but may use it for something else:) I think in the pictures you’re probably seeing the underarm gusset or it may just be the angle of the pics?
Great project! Thanks for the fit information and muslin. To echo other’s here, I too have loved this pattern. As for fabric, it really depends on how and where you will wear. The cerise is gorgeous, but the other fabrics are beautiful too. I’ll look forward to seeing what you choose! I don’t think you can go wrong with any of your choices.
Thanks! The wear-ability was a big factor for me. I did decide on the more neutral fabric(corn maiden) with a copper silk lining I found on etsy since I wanted it to be more versatile and match the rest of my wardrobe. I’ll add an update soon! Thanks for checking out my project!
This is a very cute pattern! I agree that the fit looks just a bit off. Just from the pictures it looks like the waist might be sitting a little below your natural waist and like the fit just above the bust might be a tad tight. It doesn’t look tight when your arm is down but maybe you want a little ease to have range of motion? A little ease might also be good because the fully constructed jacket with lining will fit a little bit tighter than the muslin. Vogue (and most pattern companies) usually does add too much ease but some of that ease is there for movement and to compensate for lining. I can’t wait to see the finished product!
Thanks so much for the tips! I am working on adjusting the fit a bit more. I’m going to do some adjustments for sloping shoulders (I think maybe that is what’s causing the underarm wrinkles) and going to adjust the length since I’m short waisted. It’s really comfortable in the upper body but too tight in the waist so I’m planning on increasing that too. Just waiting on my fabric to arrive, really excited to start sewing!
[…] I’m still working slowly on my Claire Schaeffer jacket, Vogue V8621. I got my fabric in last week from Near Sea Naturals, Corn Maiden for the body and from Fabric Treasury on Etsy , a beautiful Copper Sienna Ahimsa Peace Silk for my lining (I was waiting on the silk from India) and finished my thread tracings for about half of the pattern so far. You can see my earlier post on the jacket here. […]
Have you seen Sarah Veblen’s
book on fitting? It is excellent and has 650 photos explains fitting issues.
I haven’t seen that one, I’ll have to check it out! I used Nancy Zieman’s Pattern Fitting with Confidence for my jacket,which was really helpful, and the Craftsy class had great tips for fitting the jeans :)
[…] my first main look, the jacket and jeans, before it gets too hot to wear them. The jacket, V8621 Claire Schaeffer, was started last year around this time and quickly became a UFO. Mainly because it’s […]