Hello 2016! From, Vogue 8346

A while back, I fell as usual for one of FabricMart’s sales and in a greedy frenzy, snapped up 8 yards of coating. Vogue 8346, with it’s flared hem, seemed like a good way to start using it up. Between work, school, and marathons of binge-watching Person of Interest on Netflix [Jim Caviezel – enough said], I finally finished this baby after one month!

I started with a muslin – surprise! – sz 10 with no changes. The first change I tried was to shorten the waist by two inches, but moving the flare up was not flattering. Then I tried one inch and half an inch and finally gave up. Unfortunately, I didn’t catch what really needed fixing until after I cut into the actual fabric. Muslin fail!

It turns out sz 10 is snug for me in the waist but way too big above the waistline. The shoulders were about an inch too far out and the armholes were gaping. Next time, I will have to try cutting a sz 6 or 8 and grading to 10 at the waist.

For a quick fix, I took an inch off the shoulders and 5/8″ from each side seam grading down to the waist before reattaching the sleeves. It was not an elegant fix, I know, but it did make a big difference!

I also made side seam pockets for the first time. Who knew they were so easy?

Is it bad that the lining is my favorite part? It just looks so awesome peeking out.

Do you see that horizontal seam in the lining? 2 yards was not enough to cut out all the lining in one piece so I had to piece some of it together. I had literally added more of this fabric to my shopping cart before I realized I had big enough scrap pieces to make it work.

Speaking of lining, this lining is not bagged – it hangs freely. I wish I would have known before I got to the last step because all my edges are raw and fraying on the inside, so I don’t know how long this coat will last. I did try stitching the lining to the coat but I guess they don’t match up exactly so it made the hem look wonky – undo!

Last but not least, for some reason, the pocket hangs past the lining. I saw this mentioned on someone’s Instagram post about this pattern as well. She reshaped the pocket. I tacked the pocket to the side seams because my phone is a huge Note 4 and cannot afford smaller pockets.

How do you like that blind stitch hem? I used the blind hem foot for the first time and it was smooth sailing.

And that’s a wrap! It’s not perfect but I love this coat. I should have tried harder during the muslin stage, but my patience has improved a heck of a lot already. Yay for progress in the new year 🙂

Also, in 2016, I want to remind myself that I don’t have piles of fabric in my stash. Those are piles of $$$ that don’t have any value until I turn them into something. Here’s how much I ‘made’ from de-stashing for this project:

Material	Store	Cost	Comments
Vogue 8346 (Sz 10)	Joann	$5	Easy to follow instructions!
Midnight Navy Wool/Acrylic Brushed Coating	FabricMart	$22 / 3yds 60% off	Pros: Pretty color, warm Cons: Little scratchy pieces here and there, frays
Rayon Challis Tulip Rayon Fabric, Red & Black	Hancock Fabrics	$13 / 2 yds 50% off	Soft, doesn’t wrinkle much
Sew-on Snaps	Joann	$5

Grand Total: $45

With the remaining one yard of this navy coating, I have this goal in mind:

With the four yards of black coating, I have this stretch goal in mind:

So look out for those!

Thanks for reading!