Couture Jacket Class -- 6

It's been a while since my last jacket post. Like I said in an earlier post, the jacket is not done. I repeat, the jacket is not done. I hate that it's not done; that bugs me. So, to kick my butt into gear, here is another synopsis of what I've done.

The last update I gave you showed the lapels being pad stitched. Here is the final lapels after the padstitching but before the facings. After this we did another fitting. The coat is only basted together at this point.

I ended up taking in the center back and side/back seams about 3" overall in the waist. The chest and hips we pretty much left alone. I permanently stitched the seams and then graded and clipped the seams.

Here's a lovely photo taken by Paulette which is showing how much of a mess I make compared to all the other ladies in the class. I was busy grading and clipping. Gee, thanks Paulette. After this, I catchstitched all the inside seams to the interfacing. I thought I took a picture of that but I guess not.

Then, we move on to the collar. This has a lot of padstitching too. There are three specific parts of the collar. The first is the roll line. You, of course, want that to roll down the neck. Second, you want the main part of the collar to roll around the neck. Third, you want the tips of the collar to lay flay against your jacket.

Here is one of the corners.

Here it is on the table after I finished padstitching it. It wants to roll the right way.

Before I attached the facing I had to choose buttons and do my welt buttonhole. I chose self-fabric buttons because I want them to be neutral. The one on top looks cheap and shiny because I used one layer of fabric. The bottom one, which I'll be using, uses two layers of fabric.

My welt buttonhole wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. I used my Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing and The Complete Book of Sewing Shorts Cuts by Claire Shaeffer.

You can barely see it in the fabric unless I hold it open.

Here it is from the back.

Next up: Attaching the collar and the sleeves.