Vintage coats: Vogue V1738, Vogue V1669 and Simplicity 8509

Vintage coats are always beautiful, elegant and stylish. And... they are never 'outdated' because most models are timeless and very classy. It is now the perfect time to make and wear a vintage coat. There are beautiful sewing patterns and woolen fabrics for sale at the fabric shops.
We will discuss three sewing patterns which stand out in terms of elegance and style!

Vogue V1738
Vogue V1738 is a sewing pattern that will keep you busy for a while. But that's a big challenge. The model is based on the era circa 1948.

The fit excels in shape and model. This is mainly due to the princess lines, the large (detachable) shawl collar, the pleat that runs into the back at the waist (box pleat) and the beautiful finish of the sleeves. The model is strongly fitted.

The recommended fabrics are: wool or crepe wool and the lining of silk or lining fabrics. You also need muslin fabric for extra lining and non-woven for reinforcement and thickening.

The coat is the epitome of vintage style. It is a beautiful coat to make but it is only wearable if you wear a thin blouse or turtleneck with skirt or pants underneath.

Note: the sleeves are short.

Vogue V1669
Vogue V1669 is a very beautiful and elegant coat. The coat stands out because of the puff sleeves, the beautiful pockets, the special collar and mainly because of the lines. This is based on extra pleats in the back piece and the skirt and the top of the front piece.

The very vintage coat will be a big challenge because the front is completely different than what you are used to. The sleeves also consist of two parts and have a bit of a puff sleeve shape. The sleeves are nice and long, which you rarely see with vintage coats.

Fabric recommendation: light wool fabrics, tweeds. Do not choose heavy (woolen) fabrics because the pleats will be too thick. In addition, you will need a contrast fabric, canvas horsehair lining (this is often used for hats) and lining material.

The jacket is suitable to make if you already have a lot of sewing experience. This is indicated by Vogue stating: ADVANCED/PLUS DIFFICLE.

Simplicity 8509
Simplicity 8509 is a sewing pattern for wide vintage jackets in two variations. Model A. is a long coat, Model B. is a short coat.

This wide coat is easy to make, unlike the above mentioned sewing patterns. The coat is nice and wide, has three-quarter raglan sleeves and a beautiful shawl collar. The original sewing pattern is from 1950 and therefore has a real fifties look. But you can always wear this coat because the model is quite timeless.

We have made the jacket from green 100% woolen fabric with a contrasting color lining: bright red! The coat is wonderful to wear, but please note: the jacket has no closures. You can still make these yourself use a belt. The coat neither has pockets. You could also make these yourself, or just take a handbag with you. If you're making pockets yourself, make them invisible, because making these on the outside will take down the character of the vintage jacket a bit.
Model B. does have a front closure and welt pockets on the front panels.

Summarized:
Vintage coats are not only a big challenge to make but also often to wear. This is mainly because the models have different proportions than modern jackets. The sleeves are often short and based on the fact that women often wore long gloves.

In addition, the coats are either very strongly fitted or very wide. The first is because the corsets were still part of the standard clothing basics at that time and the emphasis in clothing has been on the waist for years. The coats were also extremely wide to combine with clothes that had more volume or layers. Think of the fifties skirts often with tulle skirts underneath.

Moreover, you mainly only see vintage jackets in woolen fabrics, tweeds and thicker flannel. High-tech fabrics did not yet exist at that time and the coats were therefore only to be worn in good weather conditions (no rain or snow!).

Finally, keep in mind that if you are going to make a very fitted vintage jacket it will have to fit well. The fabrics are not elastic and you have little options to make it a size more or less. This is not a problem with the wide jackets. If the jacket does not fit exactly, this will not be noticeable because the sleeves are often raglan sleeves and the jacket may be over-sized.