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Steps involved in making a Waistcoat Jacket

A) Required Items:

1) Sewing machine, with cotton line (different colours – grey and black used here).

2) Sewing pattern.

3) Jacket material (pure cotton, silk cotton, wool cotton) for front and back of jacket.

4) Inner lining – can be satin material. Think of complementary colours for lining and front of

jacket as well.

5) Interfacing material for front side of jacket. Choose approporiate colour.

6) Buttons.

7) Scissors, needles, pins, unpicker, marking pen, rotary cutter, cutting board, marking roller,

thimble, cotton wheels.

8) Material carbon copy transfer paper

9) Steam iron and ironing board

10) Measuring tape

B) Glossary:

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1) Under stitch - used to sew the folds on seam lines to one side, this gives the seam a more

defined shape.

2) Stay stitch – used to create a temporary stitch line that is easily removable.

3) Back stitch – this should be used at the start and end of any standard stitch.

4) Baste stitch -

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C) Sequence:

Photo 1 – Measure chest, choose correct size from pattern supplied and cut out pattern for back and front, including

jacket front material (x2), jacket back material (x2), interfacing for front piece (x2) – which is cut 1cm smaller, and the

lining (x2).

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Photo 2 – Fold material for front of jacket piece and pin along the line of grain. If material is poorly cut, then

approximate the line. Line up edges when pinning as the idea is to cut two pieces at the same time. Ensure that you are

cutting the correct side of the material.

Photo 3 – Material and pattern for jacket

grain direction of the material in your positioning.

material (as pinned in Photo 2).

Line of material grain

direction

jacket Front piece. Pin the cut-out pattern to the material, taking account of the

grain direction of the material in your positioning. Position pattern piece so that grain line is parallel with edge of

Line up pattern piece to

be parallel with edge of

material

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out pattern to the material, taking account of the

Position pattern piece so that grain line is parallel with edge of the

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Photo 4 – Material and pattern for jacket back piece. Pin pattern to material, fold double, as per Photo 2. Align pattern

according to grain line as per Photo 3.

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Photo 5 – Use rotary cutter to cut out material along pattern edges. Position cutting board underneath before using

rotary cutter.

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Photo 6 – Back (left side of photo) and front (right side of photo) pieces of material as cut-out. Use as cut-out

pattern/rotary cutter to cut lining, interfacing and primary material all at the same time.

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Photo 7 – Fold lining material in half, line up hems (as per Photo 2) and position front/back pattern pieces so that grain

line is parallel with material edge.

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Photo 8 – Use rotary cutter to cut out lining pieces.

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Photo 9 – Jacket Front pieces (x2). Cut interfacing to a size 1cm smaller than front material. Use steam iron to attach

interfacing to jacket Front material. Note that black coloured interfacing has only one glue side which can be used, so

check that interfacing is on correct side before using steam iron. Steam iron to be applied carefully to interfacing

material.

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Photo 10 – Re-attach paper pattern to front/back material (by pinning). Use marking roller and carbon copy transfer

paper to transfer dart lines (as shown) to material.

Dart lines

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Photo 11 – Install material carbon copy transfer paper between back sides of jacket front material.

Dart lines transferred to

back of material

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Photo 12 – Mark out lines of welts onto Front jacket piece.

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Photo 13 – Move material carbon copy transfer paper as required to correct position.

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Photo 14 – Mark out darts with marking roller for jacket Back piece (with transfer paper installed).

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Photo 15 – Insert material carbon copy transfer paper in-between lining and transfer dart lines to back of lining.

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Photo 16 – Fold material along line midway in-between the two dart lines and pin. Insert perpendicular pin at end of

the two dart lines.

Photo 17 – Use straight stitch with Tension = 4, Stitch length = 2.5, Stitch width = 0 to stitch from start till finish of the

dart line. At the start, apply backstitch, at the end, bring stitching as close as possible to the edge and leave loose for

tying off by hand (see Photo 16).

Start (apply

backstitch) End (leave loose

and tie by hand)

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Photo 18 – Completed dart line.

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Photo 19 – Repeat for all 8 pieces of material.

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Photo 20 – Use steam iron to fold inside pleat out, towards centre back position.

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Photo 21 – Pin the two straight sides of the lining and the jacket Back material.

Photo 22 – Use straight stitch backstitching for lining and sew along line which is 1.5cm from material edge to join the

two pieces. Use similar sewing machine requirements as per Photo 17.

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Photo 23 – Use same stitching as per Photo 22 for jacket Back pieces.

Photo 24 – Pin the shoulder seams of the Jacket back to the Jacket front. Important to pin the correct sides to each

other.

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Photo 25 – Use straight stitching to sew back jacket piece to front jacket piece.

Photo 26 – Use same stitching as per Photo 22 for jacket Back pieces.

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Photo 27 – Use same stitching as per Photo 22 for jacket Back pieces.

Photo 28 – Use iron to fold all seams open.

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Photo 29 – Cut out 2x welt pieces and fold back.

Photo 30 – Pin both welts.

Fold welt along this

line and pin the two

sides together

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Photo 31 – Sew “closure lines” on both short edges of welt.

Photo 32 – Re-pin welts and use iron to go over permanent fold lines.

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Photo 33 – Turn over jacket to the inside where welt positions are marked out.

Photo 34 – Use pins and pin through jacket to opposite side at welt line.

Welt line

Pin points

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Photo 35 – Pin welt to jacket front.

Photo 36 – Pin both welts to jacket front. Separate the lining from the jacket material.

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Photo 37 – Sew welts onto the jacket, using a single stitch, 5mm from the welt line. Use backstitching on ends.

Photo 38 – Use iron to press welt onto jacket front.

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Photo 39 – Positioning of the two welts.

Photo 40 – Pin entire length of jacket lining to jacket front, except at arm cut-outs.

Cut-outs

for arms

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Photo 41 – Stitch entire length of jacket using straight stitch, 1.5cm from material edge. Leave out the arm cut-outs.

Photo 42 – Layout jacket in front of you (inside out), remove all pins, ready for next step.

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Photo 43 – Cut out triangle shapes along arm edges on both sides of jacket as shown.

Photo 44 – Cut out triangular shapes along neck line from start of curve to end of curve.

Triangular

cut-outs,

spaced at

approx 3cm

c/c

Triangular

cut-outs

along neck

line, spaced

at approx

3cm c/c

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Photo 45 – Turn jacket inside out by putting hand inside open end and drawing material through.

Photo 46 – Draw material through until jacket has been completely turned inside out.

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Photo 47 – Change cotton material to grey colour, setup material along seam lines and do “Understitching” to all seams

and inside folds. Ensure that all understitched lines are on the inside of the jacket and that the stitching goes through to

the inside fold. Ensure that the inside fold is towards the inside of the jacket.

Photo 48 – Position of all understitched lines should be on the inside of the jacket and should be as close as possible to

the existing seamline.

Inside lining

Outside

jacket piece

Understitch

line

Existing

seam line

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Photo 49 – There will be some parts of the jacket that you simply cannot get to, but you should be able to put in

understitch lines to at least 80% of the seam lines.

Understitch lines