Red Coat part 2 - cutting out and a book recommendation

The Harris Tweed fabric needs steaming to check it will not shrink more. It has clearly been fulled well before I received it.  I have altered the pattern so the front bodice facing, cut from Harris Tweed  goes down to the bottom hem. This means two pieces need cutting out that are longer than any of the other pieces and their placement needs will mean that the suggested cutting layout cannot be used. Unlike most other patterns some of the bodice facing pieces are in Harris Tweed! 

my facing modification - apologies a very dull day and there is shadowing despite all my efforts but I think it shows what I did.

I have two cutting out rules - one is check twice or even three times,  cut once, the other is to not do any cutting out until all pieces have been pinned on. The right side of each piece needed marking too in this case too. 

The interfacing. 

Each outer piece of the coat was also cut in knitted fusible interfacing. This can be difficult to find. I suggest an online search for ‘fusible interfacing fine tricot’ and add uk if you are in the uk. I keep some in stock in both white and black, the latter that I used here. Some places will send samples and you can then decide if what you get is fine or medium! 

The lining. 

I love the look and feel of silk lining but that does not make life easy as it slips so much! I decided to cut each lining piece with an inch seam allowance, rather than 5/8” as silk can fray. This later caused me extra work! I also cut the 2 sleeve heads/rolls in silk. 

Before each pattern piece was removed from the fabric, the outer matching notches needed clipping  or marking as well as internal matching marks. I like to do tailor’s tacks as I find them accurate and they will not rub off accidentally during making. I use different coloured threads for different markings, eg I did the button and loop markings in green threads. 

Pattern on the lining 

So with all pieces cut out the next task was to apply the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the coat pieces. I do this by placing the outer fabric wrong side down on a linen cloth on the ironing board, place the interfacing fusible side down and then use a hot dry iron over a piece of Teflon sheet starting on the centre of the pattern piece trying not to move or stretch the interfacing too much. Once this is done I turn the fabric over so the public side is on top and the slightly fused interfacing is in place. Then using a hot iron over a silk pressing cloth I go over the whole piece again. This is not a fast process but it is one that works well for me. (As an aside if you use a silk pressing cloth, check it is silk! I had a nasty surprise when I tried a new one- it melted and was clearly nylon!) At the very least try fusing the interfacing to a sample before doing the main coat pieces.

Once all the pieces are cut out I overlock all the edges with my Elna overlocker / serger. I used a three thread wide stitch and just skimmed the edge of the pieces. If I knew an edge was going to heavily trimmed back I did not overlock that, but there were few of these. I also overlock the lining pieces. 

I was pleased that my careful pattern placement meant I had enough fabric left over for a skirt with this same matching lining. 

I always refer to a couple of books when making a jacket or coat. Both I have had for a long time. The first is this one

book cover

This was published in 1995 and takes you through from Choosing Your Pattern, Selecting Patterns and Notions, Fitting your Pattern to The Best Sewing Techniques - which is probably my favourite. Lots of photos as well as very clear diagrams. 

An example of the content 

Sadly it is out of print, but worth looking now and again as copies to come up in the usual places. 

Now  on to the construction