Vogue 1169 finished, for the second time

Remember I told you all in November that I was going to redo Vogue 1169, Rebecca Taylor suit. Well, I finished it a few weeks ago, and finally took photos. I have to say, I'm really pleased with the results.

The storyboard.

Because the skirt on my first attempt had major tummy puffiness issues, I decided to go with a pattern with similar lines. I used Vogue 8063, which I've made a few times. I added the skirt flounce at the back just like the skirt in V1169, so the only difference between my skirt and the pattern is that the front has three panels instead of five and the back has four instead of six. Less panels is fine with me. That meant less pick-stitching.

The flounce at the back of the skirt, and the pleat in the peplum of the jacket.

So here's the overall result. The jacket fits great. The skirt could use a slightly smaller behind filling it to eliminate the folds on the front. I'm working on that.

See how pleased I am? I'm practically giddy!

A quick note about the fabric: I found worsted wool an absolute dream to work with. I love it! I want to make everything of wool now. So lovely.

Some of the details of the suit that I love.

Covered buttons. You might remember that I had major problems covering buttons on my first attempt. That was due to the fabric, entirely. This time the buttons were super easy to cover.

The flounce I added at the back to match the original design.

Peplum and piping.

Pick stitching.

The pocket. Admittedly the piping is wonky, but I still love it.

I added lace hem tape to the wool before hemming, and using a tutorial I made a chain stitch to tack the lining to the skirt. I am really pleased with how that turned out! 

And the last detail I want to share is the waistband. I had some leftover piping from the jacket, so I decided to add it to the waist of the skirt. I figured it would help keep the waistband from rolling out to expose the lining. And it turns out it does. And I think it looks great.

And here you can see my bling pouf shoes.

So the low down on the pattern: it's not necessarily difficult, just fiddly and labor intensive. It's worth the effort if you love the design. One thing that I think is a bit odd is the look of the sleeves. I don't like the way they sit on my shoulders and arms. Perhaps I should have extended the shoulder of the jacket a bit so that the sleeve doesn't come so far in on my shoulder. Ahh. I don't know. 

All in all, I'm pleased with the result. And I'm glad to be finished. And I'm glad to present it to you all.

My next project is another labor intensive pattern, a Belleville Sassoon pattern from Vogue, V1162. I'm making it in a red satin, so it should turn out identical to the pattern. So exciting!