New Neighborhood Group - Pattern Works

 

Jacket 7 - Finishing

The finishing steps are mostly completed by hand.  The jacket undercollar is cut from pre-made collar fabric.  This is a combination of wool felt for the right side and hair canvas pad-stitched to it for the wrong side (Picture 7-1).  

The hair canvas was applied on the bias, so when I cut the under collar, I had the bias grain line on the pattern follow that of the canvas.  The seam allowances on the under collar are removed.  This is a little tricky and I later had to adjust the under collar to fit the upper collar.  After the under collar is trimmed it is folded and steamed on the fold line using a ham to shape it (Picture 7-2). 

With the under collar prepared and after a break of several days to contemplate fell stitching, I attached the under collar to the upper collar.  This is where my less than precise trim of the under collar caused some issues.  It was a little too close to the outer edge of the collar and showed when the collar was rolled into place.  I tried to fix this with a lot of steam to shape the placement of the under collar.  Ultimately, I picked out the fell stitches and reset the under collar along the front edge.  The other fit issue was at the corners where the collar joins the neck/shoulder edge and flows into the lapel.  The under collar didn’t quite cover the seam allowance of the upper collar and some raw threads kept popping out.  I fixed this with a lot of tiny stitches and some Fray Check.  This problem came from two errors: (1) I trimmed the under collar too close at the neck edge; (2) I had graded the collar seam by reducing the collar seam allowance which put the short layer on top.  I should have trimmed the jacket neckline seam allowance which would have put the longer layer on top and given me more coverage at the corner folds of the upper collar.  It looks ok from the right side and no one should ever be allowed to look under the collar! 

I had read up on grading seams before I trimmed the front seams.  The advice was to trim the seam allowance closest to the body to the smallest amount and trim other seam allowances in layers.  I did this on the front – it was easy to tell which side of the front would be closest to the body.  I was less sure with the collar.  In retrospect, the neckline seam allowance of the jacket is closer to the body than the collar seam allowance when in the wearing position.

The collar is on after some self-infected difficulties.  The neckline seam of the lining and facing are slipped stitched in place.  It all fits nicely together.  I had been concerned about needing to open the lapel seam at the top where it joins the collar if it didn’t fit.  So, I didn’t back stitch with the result that those seams began to pull open from all the handling.  More thread and tiny stitches to complete those seams.

The lower hem is easy because of the early preparation of the jacket fronts and back.  Before assembling the fronts and back, I applied the hem interfacing using catch stitches along the hem line.  All I had to do now, was turn up the hem along the interfacing, press, and catch stitch in place.

Now for the buttonholes.  This could be a make-or-break point for the jacket.  I am using machine made buttonholes.  I am not confident in the quality of my bound buttonholes, but I am confident that my sewing machine makes great buttonholes.  To start, I decide to do a refresher on making machine buttonholes.  I found an article by Louise Cutting at Threads which was very helpful. (https://www.threadsmagazine.com/project-guides/fit-and-sew-tops/making-pretty-buttonholes)  In addition to the usual care in placement and choice of size, she suggested using water-soluble stabilizer under and on top of the buttonhole.  I have used paper stabilizer under buttonholes to help keep the zigzag stitches even.  Using water-soluble stabilizer for buttonholes was new to me and worked well.  She also suggested using a small amount of Fray Check between the “legs” of the buttonhole on front and back.  This keep the fabric from shredding as the buttonhole is opened.  This also worked well. 

I did eight practice buttonholes to test size and thread (Picture 7-3). 

The thread I used to construct the jacket seem too light for the buttonholes; black sewing thread was too dark; the Tire Silk Threads #50 in color #66 black-brown (Superior Thread) was the best match when used with black sewing thread in the bobbin.  My husband liked the keyhole style but the ones I made using the actual jacket button (1 inch or 25mm) as the measurement produced a buttonhole that was tight.  I found a slightly larger button (27mm) in my collection and use this for the sewing machine to measure the buttonhole length.  The button slipped through the latter buttonhole easily without too much extra space.  So, the buttonholes are 27mm in Tire black-brown thread on the right side and black sewing thread in the bobbin for the wrong side.  I made three buttonholes on the jacket – two on the left front and one on the right for the inside button with Solvy stabilizer on top and bottom.  (Picture 7-4)

The lining is slipped stitched in place at the cuffs and lower hem.  Placement of the lining on the lower hem took some fussing so that the lining length matched the jacket and fit smoothly.  Finally, the buttons are sewn on – the four outside buttons I did on the sewing machine and the inside button I did by hand.

Finished!  In my next blog about the jacket, I will have a picture of the completed jacket and some final thoughts on the construction and tools I used.

*Note - This is the 7th in a series of posts by Sandy Herman about making a man's tailored jacket.