The crash!

I'm sure no one is crazy enough to be sewing along with me, but if you have the Cabrera book there is a huge error (or at least an area of potential confusion) on page 117!  BEWARE!

This is the beginning page of "The Lining".  Of course he has you toss out any patterns you might have and start from square one.  Using the existing back, side and front pattern pieces one adds extra fabric pretty much all around.  The glitch comes with the front lining piece which must overlap the front facing.  The illustration indicates just the 1/2" overlap.  To make this happen, however, one must add at least an extra inch.  In fact, there's no reason to add even more and then trim off the excess at the sides and armscye.  

Alas, I added only 1/2".  To make things even worse, I put in a double piping chest pocket, which probably took at least an hour to make.   In the end the whole mess was too small.  There was no room for a seam allowance at the side seam.  

Back to the drawing board after considerable swearing.  Oh, and did I mention how much I hate working with poly acetate lining material.  

The slippery slope

We all know the feeling.  You're dutifully following the instructions and then things start to get a little crazy.  The coat fronts are moving along nicely, and then Mr. Cabrera tells me to throw out the facing pattern that comes with the pattern, and just wing my own.  Oh man, this is the slippery slope.  Do you play it safe, or proceed into the unknown? 

 I decided to trust the man and draft my own front facing.  This is a critical component of the jacket since it becomes the outside lapel.  The front edge of the facing is cut perfectly straight on grain, and then steamed and pressed into a gentle arc to match the front of the jacket.  If one was using a striped fabric, the stripes would be perfectly parallel to the edge of the lapel.  Makes sense.  Once the facing is sewn to the jacket front, the seams are trimmed, pressed open and hand sewn back onto the twill taping.  This controls the bulk at the point of the lapel and at the curve at the bottom of the jacket front.  With the facing attached I breath a sigh of relief.  Nothing is screwed up.........yet. 

Last of the pad stitching

OK, moving along.  The next step is to pad stitch the lapel area.  I was really dreading this for some reason, but it wasn't difficult at all.  I think all the practice on the plastron paid off.  The pad stitching begins along the roll line in parallel lines.  This time, however, the pick stitches will be on the fashion fabric, so an attempt must be made to make them as small as possible.  Fear not, it's not hard to do.  Plus the stitches will be on the back side of the lapel.  After a few rows, maybe an inch into it, the lapel is rolled over into the position it will take on the jacket.  Holding the lapel in position the pad stitching continues in rows until reaching the seam allowance.  The lapel will now have a natural tendency to roll towards the body when the jacket is worn.  Magic! 

The seam allowances of the canvas must now be gingerly cut off.  Talk about nerve wracking.  One slip of the shears and hours of handstitching are down the drain.  Once trimmed, 3/8" twill tape is hand sewn onto the canvas at the seamlines.  A strip is also placed next to the roll line and cross stitched into place.  There's a whole lot of zen going on here.  

Attaching the jacket fronts to the canvas

I've cut out the jacket fronts and back.  Each front is made up of 3 sections with horizontal pockets.  I'm a little concerned that the pockets might want to sag, so I've inserted a 1" strip of wool canvas at the top edge of each pocket.  This is being held in place with pick stitching.  I saw quite a few jackets with pick stitching on my most recent trip to NYC.  My fabric is quite coarse so the effect is very subtle.  It would be more pronounced on a finer fabric.  There is a good tutorial by Kenneth King that can be found online.  To keep the stitching straight he suggests using a strip of low tack masking tape.  It really couldn't be easier.  I used 2 strands of embroidery floss.  

The jacket fronts are then placed onto the canvas.  The lapel roll lines should be aligned and there should be a 1/2" margin of canvas visible around fashion fabric.  Once things are in position the the whole thing is systematically basted together.  There are 8 specific stitchlines done in an ordered sequence.  While basting, one is smoothing the fabric ahead of the basting stitches.  It's very rewarding to see things coming together.  

The basting lines are positioned so that the jacket fabric can be folded back.  This reveals the edges of the pockets, which are diagonally stitched to the canvas.  Let's take a break before round 2 of pad stitching begins! 

When UPS delivers great stuff

Thank God for the internet!  Living here on the coast of Maine isn't ideal when I'm looking for real tailoring supplies.  I occasionally get to NYC, but even then can't always find what I need.  When I picked up the "guts" of my sport coat at Steinlauf and Stoller, they only had one choice for undercollar melton.  It was navy blue and already fused to French canvas.  I passed.

 A Google search led me to B. Black and Sons, in LA.  These guys don't do quilts!  They were extremely helpful.  My goodies arrived yesterday.  Wool blend undercollar felt in gray and  dark olive, 100 yards of 3/8" white cotton twill tape and a box of real tailors chalks, in colors no less!  I can't wait to try it all out.  

Guys who do (and DON'T) pad stitch

Why are these guys on today's post?  Because I bet none of them has ever pad stitched anything in their entire lives!  Maybe I'm dead wrong, but after spending hours with a needle and thread it seems highly unlikely. 

 

Pad stitching is a method of joining multiple layers of fabric so that they act as one, while at the same time maintaining their individual characteristics.  In short, it's the opposite of using fusibles.  The layers of the plastron are pad stitched together in alternating rows of diagonal stitching.  I used red thread in hopes that it would show up in my photos.  Mr. Cabrera is very reassuring about this whole process.  None of this is visible in the finished jacket.  He suggests stitches of about 3/8" but discourages too much fussing.  "DO NOT spend time measuring your stitches.  Just get a general sense of the size, and proceed."  I love this kind of direction!  

The outside of the canvas ends up covered with rows of diagonal stitches.  The inside flannel becomes  peppered with small stitches.  I tried to do this as loosely as possible so as to not make bulky ridges between the rows.  I still ended up with a ridged effect, but I'm not going to agonize over it.  I loved every bit of this process.  At times, I think I enjoy hand sewing more than running things through the sewing machine.  There's just a certain "connectedness" to the fabric that I enjoy.  Plus I feel connected to the entire history of garment construction as both utility and art.  Turn on the radio, or put on a LONG opera and pad stitch away.  

After a gentle pressing the canvas will be basted to the jacket front.  Oh Boy! 

How to stay busy while the fabric is at the drycleaners

My linen has been renamed a "tablecloth"  by the cleaners, and it will be ready in about a week.  In the meantime I'm moving forward by "preparing the canvas."

 Canvas is the name given to the understructure of the jacket.  It's composed of layers of different interfacings intended to give the jacket shape and also reduce wrinkling and stretching.  The process is described step by step by Mr. Cabrera.  A base of wool canvas is cut 1/2" larger than the jacket front piece.  A piece of hair canvas is cut to a specific shape and placed over the upper chest.  This is known as the "plastron" or shield.  Over this is layered a bias strip of French canvas.  My French canvas from Steinlauf & Stoller is a fusible, so I substituted another layer of wool canvas.  The whole mess is then covered with cotton flannel and basted into place. 

 

Of course, it's possible to buy a ready made jacket front for about $10, but to have something custom made is completely intoxicating.  I loved every bit of this process (even though I totally screwed up my first attempt!)  The next step is pad stitching the plastron into place, and that deserves a post of its own.