I’m going on with the sleeveless jacket from the book Monsieur Couture pour homme by Maud Vadon. I’ve already sewn the 4 front pockets – which you can see in my previoux post. Now i’m ready to assemble all the inside and outside pieces together.
Wenn sewing the side pockets, I had already sewn the front and the side pieces together. So, I sewed them with the back, first along the side edges and then along the shoulder edges. I also sewed a collar piece and the bottom band.
I made a try-on with my husband just to check if it fitted him and I realized that the jacket was going to be too tight at the waist for my father-in-law. As this jacket was supposed to be a surprise, I had just one measurement to choose the right size : my husband had manage to measure the bust size on one of his father’s jacket while visiting him. First I felt quite bummed but then I thought I could just insert a gusset on both sides of the jacket to solve the problem.
I went on quite the same way I did for the weltpockets. I cut a slit and sewed two fabric rectangles along the edges of the slit
I went down in the kitchen to reheat my coffee and one minute later, I found myself nagociating with the cat who had decided to start a nap on the jacket. I eventually managed to make him nap on the lining so that he could still be happy and I could continue working on the vents.
I turned the rectangle inside the slit and topstitched aroud the slit.
To close the gusset, I sewed the to rectangles right side on right side together which makes the gusset look like a tiny pocket. I flatten this « pocket » and pinned it in place. I topstitched thetop and the bottom perpendicular to the vent. Then I had to press to flatten the vent and give it a better shape as the fabric is bulky and a bit limp.
When I was finished with the two gusset, I sewed the front zip to the front pieces. It has to be sewn to the outside fabric and will be sewn to the lining later. I got extra carefull to pin the two half of the zip the same way on both sides.
I checked if it was working and looking right, because it’s always good to check on the way when you’re sewing.
I then assembled the lining pieces : the two fronts, the two sides, the back and the collar. The lining pieces are the same as the outside pieces. When the lining was ready, I put it right side on right side on the outsideof the jacket. I pinned the two bottoms together and sewed them together.
Right side on right side, I sewed the front edges from bottom to top. The bottom stripe had to be folded in half. I pinned the fabric making sure that the seams were matching and sewed. The zipper was now enclosed in both outside and inside fabrics.
Next I sewed the edges of the collar together, which kind of closed the jacket.
Turning the jacket inside out is the part I always find funny. I grabed the fabric through one of the armholes and pulled it all out.
Then, there were just the armholes left to sew with binding. To make it easy and be sure that the fabric would not slide, I first pinned the outside fabric and the lining all around the armholes together. Then I took the bias stripe and layed it on the edge of the armhole. I took a pin out and pinned it again securing the three layers of fabric together. I went on the same way all around the arm opening.
After sewing, I turned the free egde of the bias inside on the lining and pinned it in place. I made the last stitchline …
… and the jacket was finished !
My husband agreed to be my model for somme photos with the jacket. He made sure to test my work, checking if the zipper were working correctly. He quite immediately pointed out that the two front pockets were not symmetrical. I exactly know when this innacuracy happened, but it was too late. I didn’t want to unpick almost my whole work and resew it. The positive point is that I learned something and therefore will improve my skills. And if my father-in-law is annoyed by this asymetry when I give him the jacket, he could still wear it to be warm when he gets the trash can out.
I’m happy that I made a pattern out of the Monsieur Couture pour Homme by Maud Vadon. This sewing book is very well made. The technical drawings alone are so precise that you don’t even need the written instructions to understand how to sew. I find the other patterns interesting and I think they are all easy to adapt to one’s tastes. I even have for to sew one of the bag patterns from this book as a gift for next Christmas.
Thank you for coming in the B&r studio today!
See you soon,
Didine
Boudiboudaille & Rikiki 