Reversible Wool Winter Jacket: OOP Vogue 2571

Would you believe this winter jacket has been ten months in the making?  Actually, mostly planning, procraftinating and sourcing supplies.  Although, there were hours and hours of basting and hand-stitching involved as well.  Anyway, I'm thrilled with how this project turned out and it can be put away until the first snow flakes arrive.  Right now, we're living through a wave of "extreme heat".  

The pattern used for this project is out-of-print (OOP) Vogue 2571.  I stumbled across this pattern when I was contemplating a jacket made from a quilt.  And then I changed my mind and started thinking that a wool jacket would be more practical for this part of the world during the colder months.  

This lead me on an epic journey to find suitable and affordable fabric for the project.  Fabricland's 2023 offering of coating fabric was a disappointment.  All of the selection had some percentage of man-made fibres (polyester mostly) and did not feel warm enough for surviving a prairie winter.  And there was much the same at Marshall Fabrics.  Although, Marshall Fabrics did have some 100% wool coating options, these were out of my budget range.  And then I happened to check out the coating fabric selection at Winnipeg Sews and much to my delight there was a wonderful selection of wools.  

I chose this cream coloured wool for one side of the reversible jacket and the gray and cream coloured wool for the other side.  They're both wool and are warm on their own.  Together they make my dream winter jacket.  

These wools were previously owned and collected by Winnipeg Sews to be resold.  The gray and cream coloured wool came with a tag attached from Victor Woolen Products Ltd. dated 1984.  I couldn't find wool of this quality in the local retail shops when I was searching for coating fabric.  I feel very grateful to work with these wools.  

I am also grateful for this knit binding that I used to finish the edges of the jacket.  The cream and gray trim was a perfect match with the wool coating fabric.  All thanks is going to God.  I did have buttons selected for the cream side.  And for a time I was determined that this jacket would have hand-stitched buttonholes.  The original plan was to sew the binding by machine.  

And then, after much procraftination, plans changed.  I wasn't happy with how the trim looked when I tried to stitch through all the layers on the sewing machine.  Briefly, I thought of doing a rolled hem on my serger.  That did not look nice.  In the end, I decided to stitch only one side of the binding by machine hiding one of the gray stripes.  And then I hand-stitched the other end in place.  What I ended up with is the gray stripe on the gray and cream colour wool and the cream stripe on the cream wool side.  It was a lot of work and I lost count how many times I poked my fingers with the needle but it was worth it.  I love how it turned out.  

The toggles were ordered online after more disappointment with the options found here locally.  These are leather toggles made in Italy and the quality far exceeds anything I found here.  In the end, I didn't make the buttonholes or use the buttons considering if I would actually use this as a reversible jacket.  I prefer the look of the gray and cream side.  

The pattern is a keeper, although I'm not sure if I will make another anytime soon.  Love the fit most of all.  I did give myself a little more ease in the back by fanning out the pattern piece from the bottom hem.  I'm thrilled that this also fits comfortably over the scoliosis back brace and the hood hides the bump out the back brace creates in my clothes.  There are generously sized side pockets on both sides of the jacket and love the design of the hood. 

Project details

Seams:  2.8 straight stitch

Seam finish:  Serged

Fabric:  4 metres

Closures:  5 leather 7" toggles

Foldable Knit Braid:  5 metres

Pattern:  OOP Vogue 2571, circa 2001

Additional Tools and Supplies:  Cutting table, measuring tape, measuring gauge, fabric scissors, tailor's chalk, hand sewing needles, variety of threads, thimble, pins, pin cushion, Janome sewing machine, thread clippers, walking foot, Janome serger, iron, ironing board, clapper, sleeve ham, tailor's ham, tailor's pressing mitt, tailor's wax and tea.  

Happy Sewing!