The Finished Jacket

One month after starting the jacket is finished, and I love it.  Taking the time to make and remake the toile and then cut the pattern to fit ensured a well-fitting jacket.   Having the lining quilted to the jacket, and the chain weight, make the jacket hang beautifully.  It feels structured and yet it's very comfortable, almost like a cardigan.  The silk lining is soft and light.  The style can be worn dressed down or dressed up, so I'll get a lot of wear out of this jacket.

Finishing

The lining is stitched to the body by hand, then tiny pick stitches sewn along the inside of the lining to keep the lining from peeking out along the edges

A chain weight is sewn along the lower edge, so the jacket hangs nicely.  At $.70 an inch it's an expensive addition, but the jacket just wouldn't be complete without this touch.

Buttons are sewn to the front and sleeves.   A few stitches are added inside the sleeve vent to ensure the sleeves stays closed

Tiny darts are taken in at the waist.  The darts are only on the lining, not on the outside fabric.  The darts will be sewn by hand, and then the outside fabric will be shrunk using a steam iron to give the back of the jacket a gentle curve in at the waist.

Attaching the Braid

The braid is sewn to the body and sleeves with a row of hand stitching on each side of the braid.

Double Buttonholes

The jacket is finished with double buttonholes - a hand sewn buttonhole on the outside, and a faux bound buttonhole on the lining side.  This gives a nice finished look to the buttonhole on both sides.

First the buttonholes are sewn by hand with silk buttonhole twist thread.  The thread is run through beeswax and then ironed.  A length of thread is also run around the inside of the buttonhole, then slightly tightened and tied on the inside to keep the buttonhole from stretching in future.  

Then on the lining side, the buttonhole is finished with a faux bound buttonhole.   

Choosing the Trim

12/2/19:

We're going with braid, so I'm removing all of the fringe and making new pockets with braid at the top.

11/30/19:  

I've basted on fringe and braid and let the project rest while I decide what to use for trim.  So far I'm definitely liking the braid more than the fringe.

11/27/19:  

The jacket is finally to where I can pin on trim to try out different arrangements.  I'm not sure if this will have fringe, braid, or both.  Lining is only pinned on along the edges, as I'll need to hand sew the trim to the body before I finally attach the lining. 

Making Fringe

1-1/2" strips of lining were cut on the bias, and joined to create one long strip.  2-1/2" strips of fabric were then cut.  Often  this would be cut on the bias, but the weave of this fabric looks much better if the fringe is taken only from the horizontal (weft) threads.  The lining strip was then sewn onto the fabric strip, then the fabric strip folded in half and a line stitched just along the fold.   The fabric was then trimmed to 3/4".  Trimming after the fabric has been folded and stitched makes it easier to get a nice straight edge.  And last, all of the vertical (warp) threads are carefully pulled away, leaving the fringe trim to be sewn onto the garment. 

Pockets

The pockets have been cut out to match up with the pattern as much as possible, the edges turned and hand basted, and the lining sewn by hand.  The pockets will be sewn onto the jacket by hand.  Here I've hand basted fringe trim around the pocket edge to try out the look.

In the end I decided on simple braid at the top of the pockets.  The braid was sewn to the pockets by hand before the pocket was sewn on to the jacket front.   There is no interfacing on the jackets, just the lining, and they will naturally droop a little with wear - which is intentional.  

Edges

The edges and hem all around the neck, front, and lower edge, are pressed and trimmed and stitched using an invisible catch stitch.   The same is done with the sleeve hem.

Assembling the Three-Piece Sleeves

The three-piece sleeves are cut to naturally curve with the arm.  Pictured here is the back sleeve, under sleeve, and front sleeve.  Once joined the sleeve fabric and lining are quilted.  The sleeve upper seam is joined, the lining seam is joined, and the sleeve is attached to the body.  The sleeve lining is then hand sewn to the body lining 

Assembling the Front

The lining of the side front is quilted to the fabric.  The front interfacing is quilted to the fabric, and stay-tape hand sewn down the front.  I will make the buttonholes on the right side before I attach it to the side front.  I've been practicing buttonholes but not yet ready to make one in the real fabric.

The side seams of the fabric are machine sewn, then the lining is hand stitched together.

This fabric is somewhat challenging - it has weight and easily distorts when pulled in one direction or another, the pattern is uneven, and it unravels easily.  I normally just pin pieces together before sewing, but with this one taking the time to hand baste the pieces together first is well worth it.

Assembling the Back

The back and side fabric pieces are stitched together, then the lining pieces also stitched together, pressed and laid flat.  This is still in a big rectangle.  The sides, shoulder and neck will be trimmed away later.

The quilting lines are basted.

The quilting lines are sewn, using a light thread in the bobbin to match the lining.

Once the quilting lines are sewn the top and bottom thread are pulled to the inside, between the lining and fabric, and tied in a knot, so there is no visible knot or back stitching.

Next I'll repeat this on the second back and side piece.

Transferring pattern markings to fabric

Now that the pattern pieces are laid out and the fabric has been cut into rectangles big enough for at least 1" on all sides for the seam allowance, I start transferring the pattern markings to the fabric.  Basting stitches mark the outline of the piece, the quilting lines, the right side of the fabric, and other markings.  This part is going to take a while.  Next time I'll buy spools of threads in different colors to denote the different types of markings.  

Cutting the Pattern

The fabric has a noticeable horizontal stripe which needs to be matched up before cutting.  The nubby texture will be somewhat forgiving and doesn't have to be matched precisely like a plaid, but the lines need to be pretty close.  I'm using the heavier rose-colored thread that runs through the fabric as a guide and making light pencil markings on the pattern pieces to help line them up.

With regular home sewing the pattern pieces include a 5/8" seam allowance, and you can nestle the pieces close together before cutting.  With this method I'll be cutting rectangular shapes for each piece.  Markings are transferred, the lining attached and quilted, and then the excess is trimmed away (using a 1" seam allowance) when ready to fit the pieces together.  Cutting these rectangles and matching the fabric lines will use a little more fabric so I need to be very careful about pattern placement.  I'll have enough fabric, but none to spare - especially as I want to use some of the fabric to make fringe.

Lining

The lining fabric arrived today, a pretty vintage silk found on Etsy

Notions

When spending this much time on a garment you want every little detail to be just right

To get the right buttonhole thread I sent away to Superior Threads for a sample chart to order just the right one.

The braid was purchased at M&J Trimming in New York, in 2016.

The chain to weight the hemline was purchased from Susan Khalje Couture

Making the Pattern

Now that I'm happy with the fit of the toile, I take it apart and use it to cut out a new pattern and transfer all the markings to the new pattern.  I'm using Pellon Easy Pattern for the new pattern, but dotted pattern paper would also work well.  I'm also using the original pattern as reference to make sure all markings are transferred, and to double-check that I have the sizing right before I start cutting my fabric.

A major difference with this construction method is that the pattern does not have seam allowances - the side edges of the pattern are the actual seam lines.  I'll need to add seam allowances when I do the final cut of each piece.

Making the Toile

The past two days I've been making a test garment called a Toile.  It's usually made of muslin so often called a Muslin.  The way this jacket is constructed it's difficult to make any alterations once you've started cutting and sewing, so it's important to have the Toile fit just the way you want.  Then I'll transfer the Toile to pattern paper before cutting the jacket fabric.  Doing this prep work first will let me start cutting and sewing with confidence that the finished product will fit.  It will also make it easier in future if I want to make another jacket using this pattern.

The Couture Cardigan Jacket

I'll be making a classic Chanel-style jacket using couture techniques, with this book and accompanying DVD as my guides to construction. The jacket is made using mostly hand stitching, and the construction is unlike any garment I've made before.  It's important not to rush this, and I've resolved to just go slowly and follow the steps.  If I feel myself starting to rush to finish that will be a good time to take a break and return to it another day. 

The pattern is Vogue V8804 by Claire Schaeffer.  The garment can be made as pictured or varied in many ways depending on fabric, trim, buttons, pockets, length, colors.  

The fabric is a silk tweed purchased at B & J Fabrics in New York in 2016.