This is Vogue 1290.
The copyright date on the pattern envelope is 1993 (can you tell?), but I probably bought it in 1997 when I was given a new sewing machine as my graduation present.
The pattern is for a shirt, jacket, dress, coat-dress and trousers. It’s been in my possession for around 14 years and, despite the fact that I love it to death, it remains uncut. There’s a Vogue 40% discount promotion in the UK at the moment, and I’m actually contemplating re-buying this pattern because the size I have is probably a little on the small side for me now. Yes, I do realise that it’s completely bonkers to buy a second copy of a pattern that I haven’t made in fourteen years. No, that won’t necessarily stop me.
I dragged this pattern out of its box because I’m going through another one of those phases where I think that I will somehow magically be a much more stylish person if I simply give the entire contents of my wardrobe to charity (not the shoes, obviously) and start again. This pattern was clearly bought during another one of those phases.
I think I mostly bought it for the coat-dress (view C), which I’d intended to sew in black velvet as per the pattern envelope. It’s likely that I realised how much I hate sewing velvet before I attempted to make this, and changed my mind. I might have enough taffeta in the stash to make a pretty evening version, but I don’t tend to be invited to the kinds of occasions that would make a taffeta coat-dress a necessity in my wardrobe.
I do love the ruffled sleeves and the giant collar, although they already look rather dated. And if I didn’t need a pair of giant “novelty georgette” trousers in all those years of being a goth, I probably don’t need a pair now. Probably.
But if I made this outfit, clearly I could swish around stately homes in the sunshine, my coat and cuffs billowing out behind me as I strode elegantly through the grounds. Which I think has just hit the nail on the head of why I have so many garments in my wardrobe that I never wear. I fall in love with the pattern envelope, or with the fabric, and make things for an imaginary lifestyle that I’m never going to have. (I do this with knitting, too.) And then I wander about in jeans and t-shirts all the time, feeling scruffy.
So, it looks as though this pattern’s going back on the shelf.
I still might go ahead and buy the bigger size though, just in case.
Your post made me laugh – I love the idea of swooshing around a stately home now you have this outfit! I totally know what you mean about aiming for stylishness, but ending up in jeans and a t-shirt, AGAIN. Maybe one day we will change our lifestyles … One day!!
I have this pattern too. I have made the coat dress in black velvet. It is hanging up in front of me as I type! I didn’t add the collar but I did add black lace ruffles around the cuffs. I also faffed a bit and made a lining for it and it became a coat. It is probably my most favourite coat of which I have many….
@Clare – I do this all the time! I’m apparently very easily seduced by pattern envelopes and pictures of knitting!
@Mich – I have a bit of a thing about coats. I’m not sure how many coats one person needs, but I’m sure the number’s always one more than I’ve got now… 😉