YSL Duster Jacket

Now THIS post is over-overdue, blowing the last two right out of the water on lateness.

I completed the jacket in April 2023. I didn’t do a proper blog post about it because I was putting it off until I properly finished the jacket (adding a patch pocket and re-sewing the buttons which I’d done without an appropriate thread shank). The patch pocket did happen, eventually, the buttons are still too tight, and here we are more than a year later dredging up what little I remember for posterity. Not the way this blog is supposed to work! It’s supposed to be my notebook!

The pattern is a YSL for Vogue Paris Originals circa 1979 - Vogue 1389. I think it’s so effortlessly cool, and Yves is one of the designers I’ve loved since I first started becoming ~aware~ of designers. I also had managed to find a Vogue Paris Originals tag separately, at our second hand craft store Nefelibata. A project I even now get giddy about just thinking about the possibility of making.

I really quite like this jacket, the shape is wonderful and the fit was great out of the package. The fabric is FUN. It is also not my most ethical/sustainable choice ever. for one thing, it’s a blend (not recyclable, even as little as fabric can be regularly recycled). For another, that blend includes 17% polyester. I made the choice for it because it was deadstock, because it completed a vision that I was quite sure about, and because I had not quite seen something similar ever elsewhere. I still feel good about the choice, as both this and the matching pants get a reasonable amount of wear both together and as separates.

Design-wise, this jacket did not present the challenges of interpreting drafting that the pants did. It nevertheless has a few interesting details. One: the duster moves comfortably thanks to long slits at the side seams. These are stylistically beautifully balanced imo. Two: the button holes are in the seam for the band, so you simply leave gaps for them. The look is very clean, other than the user issue where I sewed the buttons on wayyy too tight for this thick fabric and all the attendant layers at the placket, which causes a bunch of buckling when I do it up. Three: the cuffs are drafted and planned beautifully to give a lifted dimension to the fold-back (I’m not sure how to describe this really, but I appreciate it.).

For sewing, it was essential to plan robust seam finishes, as the fabric was fray-prone in a big way and an unlined jacket calls for cared-for seams. I opted for bias-bound, using a rainbow of my thrift store binding stash. I then hand-stitched down the facings, keeping the stitching entirely on the inner level of the weird double fabric.

Finally, much much later, I sewed on the pockets. I focused on getting placement exactly matched, so these were also hand-sewed for placement, then machine stitched for strength.

Pattern: Vogue 1589
Fabric: Core Fabrics Graphic Block Print Jacquard (but more like a double faced affair) - Black + Cream, 300 gsm, 83% Coton, 17% Polyester. Scrap quilting cottons for waistband inner and pocket bag front.
Notions: buttons (not a matching set) from the button box, Vogue Paris Originals tag from Nefelibata, thrifted bias tape, knit interfacing.
Measurements: 34 in high and full bust, 31 in waist, 39 in hip
Size made: Size 12
Next time: Use shank buttons. Or do thread shanks.