Jean Jacket Done! Well Almost...

I finally finished the lining this afternoon!  It was quite a bit more handwork than I usually do on a piece.  But I only have the buttons and buttonholes to do now.  But basically its done.  Phew!

Here's a couple more pictures of the lining and a closeup of the front.

Getting Close!

Wow, I'm almost done inserting the lining.  I think a closeup of how the piping and lining looks is called for.  So here it is.   I'm really ready for this project to be done.  Please pardon how dark the pictures are.   I was so excited at getting this much done and it actually looking decent that I just had to take pictures and not wait for daylight.  LOL.


 

This next view shows the lining sewn in, by hand I might add, on both sides.  I just need to finish around the neckline and then buttons and buttonholes. I'm hoping to have it completed in the next couple of days. 

Okay...I know what you're thinking.  Sewn in by hand?  What is she thinking?  LOL.  Well its sewn in hand because of poor planning on my part.  I just didn't really think it through when I thought it would be easy to add piping and lining.  Gah!  I probably would have been able to bag the lining by machine had I not wanted to insert piping.  Oh well, just all it practice for the Chanel style jacket I'll be making next.

Jean Jacket - Lining

Finally started with the lining.  I'm sure I'm not installing it in any kind of accepted order since there wasn't a lining for this pattern.  LOL.  It's going to be in Belinda order!  Its attached at the bottom hem area.  The hem of the jacket itself is sewn and the top-stitching along the sides.  I have one sleeve inserted even though you can't see it from this picture.  Once I have both sleeves installed to my satisfaction, I'll start working attaching the piping and lining along the sides. I sure hope this jacket is going to be wearable after all of the work I've put into it.  Now that I'm getting closer to completion, I'm getting a anxious about how the finished jacket will look.

Quick Piping Tutorial

Okay...This is just going to be a quick and dirty tutorial on making the piping.  There are already lots of "real" tutorials for making piping out there.  I really wanted to show my first use of my Darr Piping Ruler.  Let's start at the beginning.  LOL.  The first thing I did was cut enough bias strips of my fashion fabric to equal about 3 yards (I always make more than I think I'll use because of potential screwups boo boos).  I then sew the strips together and trim the excess.  Press the seams open.  Take your cording and wrap the wrong side of the fabric around it.  I took the time to pin the whole thing because my hand-eye coordination isn't great.  LOL.  This picture shows me sewing the cording.  Well...kinda; I'm taking the pictures.

Now I've sewn all of the cording and placed it on my cutting table.  This great little tool allows you to rotary-cut or mark your choice of 4 different piping seam allowances.  For my application, I chose the 3/8 inch seam allowance.  Just place piping on the mat and align the groove of the ruler for the seam allowance you wish to use.

And cut away! Look how perfect that seam allowance is!  I just love it.

And here you see about 3 yards of gorgeous piping for the inside of my jean jacket.  Oh, I do have a suggestion that is not in the instructions.  LOL.  If you have a cat that loves to play with strings, I suggest you shoo them from the room until you're done cutting.  You can give them the scraps from cutting your lovely, neat piping.

Leopard Jean Jacket - Sleeves

I've got the shoulders sewn together, top stitched & sleeves attached at the armseye.  I've even sewn the buttons onto the fake pocket flaps.  Here's a picture of the jacket so far.  No collar, side & underarm seams or lining yet.  Its been very straight forward and easy to construct.  The only tedious part is the top stitching since there is so much of it.  But by using a hump jumper of some folded cardboard, I had no problems stitching over the bumps created by the seams crossing each other.