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Making a Jacket: Part II

comments (0) June 6th, 2008

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Ann Steeves, contributor

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Attach the back and front at the shoulder seam, taking care to align the princess seams.

Reinforce the shoulder seam by sewing a selvage strip of silk organza or chiffon in the seam.

The top seam allowance has been clipped and lies flat. while the seam allowance on the bottom has not, and makes ripples.

Attach the back and front at the shoulder seam, taking care to align the princess seams.

Photo: Ann Steeves

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Now that the lining is assembled and ready to go, it’s time to start on the shell of the jacket. For this project, I used soft herringbone flannel I had in my stash. Wool flannel is a wonderful fabric for seamsters of all skill levels. It has great drape, looks great on, and is very forgiving of mistakes.

Assembling the Shell
I assemble the jacket in much the same manner as I did the lining: I make the back first, and then the front, then I attach them at the shoulder seams. Since this is a shoulder princess-line garment, it’s critical that you line up the shoulder seams as precisely as possible. I like to line up my front and back princess seams starting about two to three inches from the raw shoulder edge. This ensures that they line up at the shoulder seam, as you see here. With a very soft fabric like this, I also reinforce the shoulder seam by sewing a selvage strip of silk organza or chiffon into the seam. This stabilizes the seam without adding any bulk.

Attach the back and front at the shoulder seam, making sure you align the princess seams precisely.

Reinforce the shoulder seam by sewing a selvage strip of silk organza or chiffon into the seam.

Next I sew the back and front together at the side seams. When you’re sewing curved seams, like a princess seam or a side seam on a fitted jacket, make clips in your seam allowances to the stitching line at intervals. This allows the seam allowance to lie flat and reduces bulk. You can either make V-shaped notches in your seam allowances or, as I do, make a straight clip to, but not through, your stitching. Here you can see the difference between the seam that has been clipped, on the top, and the one that has not, on the bottom. The one on the top lies perfectly flat.