Herringbone Coat: In -Seam Pockets

Since the construction has come to the point where I can add the lower part of the coat, the panels of the "skirt" portion need to be assembled. For the most part this is pretty simple, since most of the seams are straight, but I thought I'd share a picture showing a few details of the in-seam pockets.  

First of all, each pocket panel is backed with a layer of cotton batiste. Since the lining fabric is somewhat thin, the batiste is there to take some of the strain of wear and lengthen the life of the pocket.

Furthermore, the pocket opening has been reinforced with a strip of silk organza to prevent it from stretching out of shape (this is on the other side of the pocket, so it's not visible above). I also added small squares of organza to the areas of the seam where the back seam allowances must be clipped.

Finally, after the pocket was finished, I cut a strip of cotton batiste on the lengthwise grain and used it to make a "stay" that connects the top of the pocket to the waist seam at the side-front skirt panel. This will uphold the pocket and pull it toward the front of the coat, where it belongs. Otherwise, it droops to a lump at the side seam . . . not flattering!  

Herringbone Coat: Padstitching the Collar/Lapels

Now that the stand of the collar is all filled in with padstitching, the "fall" of the collar, or the area that drapes down from the roll line at the back of the neck, can be padstitched as well. This design is a little unusual because the lapels are included as an extension of the collar. I had to do a bit of guesswork and try to adapt the instructions from my tailoring books as best I could, since this collar differs so much from all the examples I could find.

Before padstitching the entire collar, I went ahead and attached it to the coat. This is probably a bit unconventional, but I did it because I wanted to tape the roll line before padstitching the lapels, and the roll line extends from the collar into the front jacket piece. Some directions that I've seen show padstitching before taping, but since I wanted to ease the lapel to the length of tape, I thought taping the roll line first might be a better route for me (the second photo shows where the roll line is taped, from the shoulder seam to the break point).

The rows of padstitching run parallel to the roll line. In each corner of the lapels, shorter stitches are taken while the point is rolled tightly, so that the finished lapels will curl toward the jacket body.

After the padstitching was complete, I trimmed away the seam allowances and taped the edges to prevent them from stretching out of shape. I wasn't able to get the recommended plain-weave tape for this project but used twill tape instead. I used a fell stitch to secure it in place and found that it worked better than catch-stitching on the twill weave.  

The white towel under the lapel on the right has been
 dampened to help set the shape as the roll line is steamed.

Having the collar on the jacket body made it a little awkward to steam the lapels, but Erika of Swingin' It In Vintage wrote a post about tailoring a cut-on shawl collar that I found very helpful. My collar is seamed to the jacket rather than being cut-on, but I followed the same idea of using towels to protect the body of the jacket from excess steam, while steaming one lapel at a time (thank you so much for sharing this, Erika!). 

Now it needs the upper collar and the lower coat portion to be attached!

Herringbone Coat: Interfacing the Upper Coat

After completing the bound buttonholes, the next step is to assemble the bodice panels and start interfacing the main pieces of the coat. Here's a photo of the bodice front:

For the most part, I've been using the instructions from Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket , along with the tailoring section from the Reader's Digest (RD) sewing guide, to make patterns for and apply the hair canvas interfacing. To draft the bust dart that comes out from the armhole, however, I used the information from Marji's posts on the The Great Coat Sew Along, which can be found here and here (there is just a wealth of helpful information on this site! Thank you, Marji, for sharing this technique!).

The picture above shows the "shield" piece that supports the area between the shoulder and bust to help prevent it from drooping toward the body. After completing the bust dart and basting the shield in place, I aligned the markings on the canvas with the details of the bodice front and tailor-basted it in place.

 I don't have any pictures of the bodice back right now, but also I followed the instructions in the Tailoring book for interfacing the back with a muslin stay and taping the shoulder seams when attaching it to the bodice front.

Before adding the collar, I trimmed away the seam allowance of the interfacing at the neck edge and catchstitched the canvas in place. The interfacing seam allowances on the neck edges of both jacket and collar are not trimmed away in the Tailoring book, but in the RD sewing book they are. I needed to reduce the bulk somewhere to avoid having two layers of hair canvas going into this seam, so I decided to trim it on the bodice, but include it on the collar.

Now for padstitching the collar! It's visible in the picture where it's starting to "roll" now that I've filled in the stand.  

Herringbone Coat: Bound Buttonholes

Before assembling the main panels of the coat bodice, I made bound buttonholes on the center front piece of the coat. I put this step first because applying this type of buttonhole after the hair canvas is in place can create extra bulk. Plus, it's even easier to do this while working with single panel, rather than a whole bodice front. 

After making a few samples on my scrap material, I reinforced the center front buttonhole area with a lightweight, fusible interfacing. To form the buttonholes, I followed the steps for the "one-piece folded method" in the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Sewing. I've used this same technique for most of my previous jacket projects and have found that it works quite well. Now that the buttonholes are complete, they'll remain basted closed until the coat is finished, to protect them during construction.

Herringbone Coat: Preparations

Well, it's been nearly a month since my last post, and I've been inching along between Thanksgiving and other happenings, but my coat project is still underway. I took a few pictures along the way which I 'll be sharing over the next few days.

 After finally finishing the pattern details mentioned in my last post, I cut out the fashion fabric, lining material, interlining layer and interfacings.

 Since I'm interlining the coat with cotton flannel for extra warmth, I started out by backing each lining panel with its matching flannel piece. I did this by spreading the pieces flat and basting them together by hand to prevent the layers from shifting, as the lining material is very slippery.

At this point I also prepared the interfacing for the under collar. I thought I'd share a picture of this because it's such an unusual shape; not only does this design have a shawl collar, but it also features an oversized lapel. All of this is combined in one giant, bone-shaped panel. It's cut on the bias so that it will acommodate the contours of the neck and shoulders. The center back seam is lapped here to minimize bulk.

When I marked the collar/lapel roll line on the test garment, I also noted where the collar fell along the shoulder seam to help me plan the pad-stitching (the photo above shows the penciled "map" where my pad-stitches will be). The small section centered at the bottom is basically the collar stand, and everything above it falls on the opposite side of the roll line. Since the rows of stitching don't need to be spaced as closely at the "fall" of the collar (top center), I drew them a little wider in this area. In contrast, the spacing of the lines in the upper corners is much closer, as they will become the points of the lapels and will need a bit of extra stitching to help curl them toward the jacket body.