One of our more popular series of do-it-yourself posts has been our ongoing adaptation of commercially available patterns in the Alabama Chanin style. Among the patterns we have reworked are: a dress from an Anna Sui Vogue pattern, two variations of a Vogue dress from Vena Cava, an open-sourced jacket pattern from Yohji Yamamoto, and other varied pieces.

This series first began as a part of our ongoing Makeshift conversations that explore the intersection of design, craft, food, DIY, and fashion. With this series, we look at makers of all sorts and embrace open-source knowledge, materials, and patterns to create new conversations and collaborations.

We know that it takes skill and patience to complete a garment from another designer’s pattern; however, personalizing those garments—bringing your own body shape, style, and design sensibilities to existing patterns—is sometimes the only option for creating garments that truly fit your life and lifestyle. (You will find much more on this idea of customizing a wardrobe in our upcoming book Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns—which is now available for pre-order.)

We are excited to resume this important experiment with a Vogue coat pattern. I’m in love with the results.

SUPPLIES

Vogue Pattern V8 860
*3 yards of 60”-wide 100% organic medium-weight cotton jersey for main color (for double-layer garment)
*2 yards of 60”-wide 100% organic medium-weight cotton jersey for contrasting color (for double-layer garment)
Button Craft thread
Optional: 4–35mm crochet snaps
Basic sewing supplies: scissors, pins, needles, ruler, rotary cutter
Alabama Stitch Book, Alabama Studio Style, or Alabama Studio Sewing + Design: All three of these books contain the basic sewing and embroidery techniques we used to make our version of this coat.

Note: We omitted the lining since the double-layer cotton jersey eliminates the need for a lining.

Follow the Vogue instructions exactly as written, omitting lining and buttonholes. We reduced the 5/8” seam allowances on every pattern piece to 1/4” by removing 3/8” from every seam. Reduce necklines, armholes, and hem by 5/8”.

Hand-sew all seams with a straight stitch, leaving a 1/4” seam allowance, using a double strand of thread on our Alabama Chanin medium-weight cotton jersey. We felled our seams for the coat above, but that is a matter of taste and desired style. If you choose to use a floating seam, we suggest reducing the seam allowance or trimming around all seams after completion to reduce bulk.

Leave hem raw.

DESIGN CHOICES

Fabric weight – 100% organic medium-weight organic cotton jersey
Main fabric color – Black
Contrasting fabric Color – Peacock
Button Craft thread – Navy #13 and Black #2
Knots – Inside
Seams – Inside felled
Binding stitch – Clean finished

*This garment was made in a size 8. Yardage may vary for different sizes. We also doubled the listed fabric amounts to make this garment in a double-layer thickness. Please reference the pattern carefully when determining your own required materials.