Grainline Studio Tamarack Jacket, without bias trim

When I saw Grainline Studio's Tamarack Jacket pattern, I though it would be perfect for Spring in the San Francisco Bay area. And since Spring really starts here in about mid-January, there would be no waiting to wear it!

I chose a wonderful border print floral cotton poplin from Mood for the jacket.  I have been wanting a border-print floral jacket for a while, so this was the perfect opportunity!  Because the print ran lengthwise on the fabric, I knew that I wouldn't be able to follow the recommended cutting layout. Consequently, I bought a lot of extra fabric--the pattern calls for 3 yards, and I bought 5.5 yards--but it turned out to be just enough. I had lots left over due to the fabric width, but very little of the border itself.

Once I read the directions for sewing up the jacket, I realized that I had created a small issue for myself in that the jacket is made with a bias trim edging, which in this case would disrupt the lovely pattern on the fabric. Therefore, I decided to make it without the bias trim, and I am outlining my process below in case anyone else out there wants to do the same thing.

The details 

After some experimentation I decided to make three quilted “pillow” pieces- the two arms and the body sewn around the edges and turned with the quilt batting inside them (like a pillow!), quilt, and then assemble the quilted pieces into the jacket and add the pockets. 

Seams and cutting 

The first step in making my "pillow" pieces was to add seam allowance to the pattern pieces where bias tape was originally to go.  Once I had done this, I cut out the fashion fabric, and then cut the batting pieces larger than the fashion fabric pieces- that made it easier to baste them together. I also found that pressing the batting and the fashion fabric pieces together with an iron made them stick together a little, and made the basting go more smoothly.

Sleeves

First I basted the batting to interior sleeve piece. Then, I placed the exterior sleeve piece on top of the interior piece with right sides together, and stitched the seam at bottom of sleeve with a half-inch seam allowance. I then pressed the seam to the interior piece side, and under stitched it so that I would have a nice clean finish. Next, I sewed the remaining seams with a quarter inch seam, leaving an opening to turn.  Then I trimmed and graded the batting to my basting line and graded all seams, clipping where necessary. Finally, I turned the piece to the right side, pressed, and stitched shut the opening that I used for turning.

Body

Again, first I basted the batting to the interior body pieces. Next, I sewed the interior shell together at the sides, using a half-inch seam allowance and leaving an opening in one of the seams for turning once the body had been assembled. Then I sewed the exterior shell together in the same way, but with no opening for turning, and pressed all of my seams open.

To complete the body "pillow," I laid the exterior body over interior body, with right sides together. One section at a time, I stitched:

The back neck, with a half-inch seam

The armscyes, with a quarter-inch seam

The front neck, with a half-inch seam

The front opening, with a half-inch seam

The body bottom, with a half-inch seam, being careful to match up the side seams.

Then I turned the entire piece through the opening in the interior side seam, being careful to get nice corners (I used a point turner) and pressed the piece. Finally, I stitched the opening used for turning shut.

At this point, I marked my jacket pieces for quilting, as I thought it would be easiest to do it prior to seaming the shoulders, while the jacket could lay flat. I followed the following the pattern instructions to mark it.

Shoulders

I pinned the exterior shoulder pieces together with right sides facing, and sewed them using a half-inch seam. They were a bit fiddly- I found it easiest to open each shoulder up into a “tube.”  After sewing, I pressed them open and trimmed the batting away from the interior pieces at shoulder seam, and pressed that seam under by half an inch.  I then basted interior shoulder seams closed, leaving me with a finished but not-yet-quilted body with no sleeves.

Quilting

At this point my pieces were all completed and ready for quilting, and I quilted per pattern instructions.

Attach arms

Once the quilting was done I attached the arms following the pattern directions, but using a quarter-inch seam.  I sewed around twice because the pieces were sort of thick.

After the sleeves were attached, I simply followed the instructions for the pockets.