Making a coat for my son

I made my son Stuart a peacoat years ago, maybe five or six years at this point. Long enough ago that the coat is showing its wear and the fit leaves something to be desired after a couple growth spurts. It was time for a new one.

Enter the Vogue 8940, a Men’s Jacket and Pants pattern, deadstock wool I’d bought for dirt cheap over the summer and leftover Radiance from a bridesmaid dress I made in the fall…suddenly I was really close to having everything I needed. Add in a bunch of buttons, some shoulder pads, new black thread (my machine really loves Superior Threads’ OmniThread), fusible interfacing and muslin.

You end up with this lovely jacket, ready just in the knick of time for my son’s first trip overseas as an adult…

I’m ridiculously proud of him for taking flight and seeing the world. (It was a secret little hope of mine when I dragged them to Asia all those years ago!) And knowing that he’ll be a bit warmer and wrapped up in some maternal love makes it all the better.

Pattern Name:Vogue 8940
Time Required: 15+ hours
Rating:  Advanced
Would I Make It Again?: Yes
What I Changed: I added an interlining of muslin to give it a little extra warmth and made bound buttonholes because they are so much classier.
Overall thoughts: It’s a great pattern and went together beautifully. I used a walking foot for most of the construction and specifically for the topstitching. This helped immensely to get it to lay nicely without any puckering. I also had to fiddle with the ease in the shoulders a bit, but on the second try got the sleeve in beautifully. I wouldn’t try this pattern as your first foray into coat-making, but if you’re comfortable with the construction techniques, it’s totally do-able.