Slaying the dragons in jackets

Ok, so I cut out the jacket, now I have to put it together. Remember I said it was just like a blouse?  Well it is…mostly.

Using the numbers on the pattern pieces, I first find the two number ones.  They’re on pieces one and two, the two front pieces.  I match up the two ones and the first seam is joining these pieces together –front and side pieces.  

Next I find the two number twos.  They are on the side pieces and the back piece.  Same thing - match up the twos and sew the seam.  

At some point I need to add pockets.  Burda uses single welts, I used double welts – I just like the look of double welts better.  This is a good time to do them, while the jacket is still a more or less flat piece.  I’m not going to go into detail on the pockets; there are numerous excellent tutorials on line so I’m not going to re-invent the wheel.

Once the pockets are done I go back to sewing by numbers.  The number threes join the shoulder seam.

Here there is a slight confusion here, because there are no number fours. 

At this point there is a slight variation from a standard blouse.  This jacket has a two part sleeve.  It’s quite common on jackets and gives a sort of kink in the sleeve similar to a natural bend in the arm.   

This doesn’t actually present any major challenge.  It’s just an extra seam.  Going back to sewing by numbers I match up the number fives and sew the seam.   

Now the sleeve is in one piece.  Matching up the sixes and sewing the seam creates a conventional looking sleeve.  I usually press it at this point, using a very firm sleeve shaped cushion.

The next number to match is seven, which brings together the sleeves and the body.  The upper sleeve piece also marks the point that the sleeve joins the shoulder seam.  As a third guide point, the diagram of the rear of the jacket shows seam number five matches up with seam number two. With three anchor points fitting the sleeves is quite simple.  Suddenly the project looks like a garment

Assembling the garment and doing the pockets took about two hours, and I’m very slow at making the pockets (probably half the sewing session was spent on the pockets)

I left the project for the rest of the weekend and went out diving instead as I’m still undecided about the lining and the weather was clear for the first weekend in ages.