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Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Preparing For The Upline Jacket Sew Along

The sew along for the Sew News Sewn Square One Upline Jacket will begin on October 26, just a little less than 2 weeks away. The initial post is always about fabric selection and pattern preparation, but there are a few aspects that I wanted to go over just to help you prepare in case you will be joining the sew along. And, if you aren't it's good information.
I am going to be making the longer version of the coat for the sew along, but rather than the buttons that are shown on the pattern, I am going to insert a center front zipper just as I did for the jacket that's in the magazine. A couple of things to consider regarding the zipper; 
1. In order to extend from the top of the collar to about mid-thigh, it will be a rather long zipper and possibly longer than you can find at your local fabric store. 
2. For sitting purposes, the zipper should be a 2-way zipper. In  other words, you need to be able to unzip it from the bottom as well as the top.
You may need to order your zipper. Janet Pray of Islander Patterns recommends Pacific Trimming. She especially likes Riri Zippers. The zippers can be customized to fit the length of your garment. Just click on the links to find a zipper for your project.
In the next couple of pictures, you can see the inside of my jacket. It's fully lined.
The pattern instructs you to underline the fashion fabric, so the seams will be showing on the inside of the jacket. I like for my garments to look just as finished on the inside as they are on the outside, so I did a full lining. I have a couple of tricks for linings that we will go over, so be sure to plan on lining your jacket. 
The lining that I used for my jacket is actually a warm lining.  
The fabric that I will be using for my sew along jacket is a lovely piece of wool. I will be underlining the fabric, but not as instructed in the pattern. A little note on the fabric. The fabric was actually a gift from Becki of http://beccabeckstuff.blogspot.com/. She emailed me and said that she had a little something that she wanted to give me. To my delight, the beautiful wool pictured below was in the box when it arrived. She said that as much as she loved it, it was just too heavy for Houston, TX. Wow, was I ever thrilled! The lining fabric I had. In fact, I had intended to use the fabric with the Spearmint coat from Lolita Patterns, but it was such a perfect match, so my plans changed.  
You may remember that I underlined the skirt I did for the Decades of Style Arches Skirt. Just click on the Sew News Sew Along tab at the top of the page and you'll find all the links to the sew along. 
If you would like to underline your coat, be sure to purchase cotton batiste, and the finest quality that you can find. Please do not use quilting cotton or muslin. Silk organza also makes a lovely underlining. Adding the underlining will give the garment body, make it warmer and it will also wear much better with an underlining. 
I have not finished the Spearmint coat. As I said above, plans changed on the lining. Fortunately, I had a wonderful piece of silk that matches the fabric.
It took a little searching, but I did find buttons. The only problem was that the buttons weren't exactly right for a coat. So, what to do? The thought occurred to me that  I might be able to add a pearl to the center. I found the pearls that you see laying beside the buttons, and..... 
 success!!! In about a week, I should have the coat finished.
If any of you have suggestions on links where zippers can be found, please leave a message and I will be glad to let everyone know.

12 comments:

  1. This is gonna be so beautiful!!!
    I'm so glad that you are putting that fabric to such good use, I really think it will be nice and cozy.

    As for zippers, for a big project like a coat I would only go with a riri zipper from Pacific trim. You are going to be wearing this for years and you want it to zip and unzip smoothly and look fabulous.

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    1. I cannot wait to get this together! So many times I have pulled that fabric out, always putting it back as the project just didn't seem perfect. Thank you soooooo much!!!

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  2. I've had good luck with www.zippershipper.com. They have lots of choices for zippers... it's where I got the zippers for my SBCC denim jacket for my entry to the Pattern Hacking sewalong.

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  3. This is beautiful Rhonda. I would like a jacket like this...I'm considering a cotton velveteen, but not sure what I might use for the lining. What would you recommend for the Houston weather? I was thinking a silk taffeta, but I am cold natured even here.

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    1. I am coming to Houston the end of this month. Would you like to get together and do a little fabric shopping? I'll be in Houston on Saturday, October 31st.

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    2. Yes ma'am, that will be terrific! Please email the time.

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  4. This is going to be lovely - and I really like your button solution.

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    1. Thanks!
      It was a real chore to find something that worked. Necessity is the mother of invention!

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  5. The pearl buttons are lovely! And your wool fabric... what a gift!

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  6. Thanks!
    I just couldn't believe it when I opened the box and found this lovely piece of wool. It really was a wonderful gift.

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  7. Zipperstop are the best I've ever come across-they're licensed suppliers for YKK and will re-size/modify even heavy duty coat zippers to your requirements. I don't buy zippers in Australia anymore (Australian zippers are famously rubbish 🙄).
    PS I'm down with the flu at the moment and medicated to the eyeballs and have been enjoying binge-reading through your backposts. Thanks for making my currently hideous state so much more bearable 😄

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