Q&A October

Hi all,
I'm deep into wedding sewing at the moment, so am not quite keeping up with the construction and question notes here. Pls have patience.
Claire and Susan, I appreciate that you've been finding some of your answers by just reading past posts and making use of the internet tutorials out there. Several members here have written excellent tutorials while constructing jackets and coats too - be sure to look at their blogs and use the search function on their blogs.

I can think of several relevant tutorials on the blogs of (in alpha order):

Ann and Els (The Sewing Divas)
Kathleen (Fashion Incubator)
Summerset
Tany


From Claire- Lapels - this pattern has separate lapels (instructions say to cut 4, interface 2 and stitch 1 interfaced piece with 1 un-interfaced piece then turn right side out) - All the example pictures shown so far have a front piece that includes a lapel all in one piece, so to follow the sewalong techniques, What on earth do I actually do with my pieces ?

If your lapels are separate, but together with the coat front piece they look like a coat front that is all cut together, it's perhaps a design issue, but also possibly just a fabric use issue. If the coat front is large (double breasted comes to mind) and the collar is oversize, it's entirely possible the seam is there just to make the cutting layout and the fabric usage reasonable.

In the case of the jacket I'm working on, the collar had a "collar stand" piece - surely a design issue. Anyway, I just interfaced both the collar stand and the collar and seamed them together, then proceeded to pad stitch the roll lines. I would suggest that you think it through and make the decision on how to interface based on what the pieces look like. Where is your roll line? Is it on the seam line? on the lapel side of the seam line? on the jacket side of the seam line?

You can interface separately, stitch the pieces together and then pretend the seam doesn't exist and proceed with your shaping padstitching per Paco's tutorial (which is probably what I'd do, but it's dicey saying that without seeing your pieces).

From Lisette:
I was going to interline my cashmere/wool blend fabric with cotton flannel but the added bulk in the lapel (notched collar) worries me plus I have a welt pocket that extends along the side front and the front and according to Marji I should interface instead of underline. What do you recommend? I'm leaning to just interface with the fusi-knit and forget about the flannel...Can I still padstitch with this method? Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need a push to move forward!!

Going back to the information on cutting, and interfacing/underlining etc -
I'd recommend underlining the side fronts, side backs, back, sleeves. The front gets fully interfaced - so it's supported and doesn't need the added underlining. It's also, to a point with most coats, overlapping at the CF along the buttons, so underlining there for warmth is not necessary.

You're right, you don't want flannel underlining in your collar and lapels. Around the welt pocket, I'd stitch the princess seam, mark the welt pocket, cut the flannel out of the side front (your fronts are not interfaced yet) and fuse an interfacing where the welt pocket goes, make the welt pocket, then catch stitch the flannel interlining back to the edges of the pocket seam allowances. Then I'd apply the hair canvas to the front and proceed. There is a good argument for simply cutting a box out of your hair canvas too around the pocket and catch stitching the edges, although if it's not too much, I'd be tempted to just let the interfacing sit on top of the pocket, between the pocket and the lining.

Lindsay T asked about interfacing the front of a collarless jacket.
Louise Cutting dissected an Armani jacket some years ago and wrote an excellent article in Threads on the front shoulder stay he used (it's not the on-line article about an Armani jacket that Marci Tilton wrote). If you have that issue, please speak up. I have it, but it's buried right now and, with the wedding sewing, haven't been able to find it.

Anyway, the gist is, cut a shoulder stay pattern from your front and side front just as we did with the lapel jackets - EXCEPT - the CF line, which would normally be on straight of grain, is placed on true bias. As Louise explained, this puts the neck edge, that you want to stabilize and keep from stretching, on the straight, which then acts as a stay, and puts the area across the front on the bias, which allows for more comfortable movement. Quoting Louise (from a conversation, not necessarily the article) "ingenious."

For your coat LindsayT, you definitely want a shoulder area stay across the front and back. And you want the interfacing to extend into the sleeve seam allowance.