Leather Jacket Sew Along

Last fall, I participated in a fun sew along on line at artisansquare.com.  This was my first time sewing leather - actually it was faux leather.  I have never sewn real leather.

Here is the pattern I used:

It is from BURDA Style magazine October 2009.  It is a petite sized pattern.  I cut size 21. 

This project held a few firsts for me.

    * sewing a material which will have permanent needle holes
    * using fabric glue
    * bagging a lining
    * using lapped seams
    * attaching a collar with a collar band
    * pressing a fabric which will melt if touched with the iron
   
    Some of these things posed bigger challenges than others for me.
   
    sewing a material which will have permanent needle holes

    This was especially difficult for me.  I like to baste before I sew.  I also often take seams apart and resew them until I am satisfied.  Two things which helped were binder clips and IDT.  IDT is a feature on some Pfaff sewing machines, which feeds fabric from both the top and bottom as you sew.  It is like a built in walking foot.  But by far, the biggest help was using lapped seams.  With lapped seams, I did not have to sew reverse curves together in the princess seams. I simply laid one piece over another and sewed.  Well, it wasn't really that simple.  I marked all the seam lines as the pattern pieces were cut.

    using lapped seams

    The pattern calls for lapped seams, which I really liked sewing.  See how the backing of the fabric is a white color?  I was worried that the white would show if I used lapped seams, so I made some test samples and found it would not be a problem.  I experimented with  thread color, stitch length and presser foot pressure, and the sample to the right is what I set my machine up to produce.  I used contrasting thread for my samples to make it easy to judge the right tension, and I really liked the the look of the olive color against the red, so I went with it for the finished version.  I did have some stray white fibers peaking out of the seams in some places.  I used tweezers and sharp embroidery scissors to trim them all back.

    Once I decided to use lapped seams, I had some work to do.  The first thing was to decide which seams would be lapped and which would not.  For example the sleeve back seam was sewn right sides together.  Once I decided which seams were lapped, I had to decide which was the underlap side. Since Burda patterns do not have seam allowances, I had to add seam allowances to all underlapped pieces as well as those wich would be sewn right sides together.  I did this by marking the pattern pieces with dashed lines on all edges which I did NOT want seam allowances added.  When I cut the fabric, I used a rotary cutter with a gauge set at 2cm (5/8in) to add seam allowances where I wanted them.  I did not add seam allowances to my pattern pieces.  After the pattern pieces were cut, I marked seam lines on the right side of all underlapped seams by tracing along the edge of the pattern piece with a chalk wheel.  I did not mark the seam lines that would be sewn right sides together.  Now, I realize I could have cut all pieces with 2cm seam allowances and trimmed them off the overlap side just before sewing, but I think the extra legwork made my pattern pieces truer and the sewing went quicker. The sewing was actually a joy.  Having the seam line marked on the underlapped side, I just lapped the pieces right along that line and edge stitched them together.  Additionally, I drafted the lining from the pattern pieces, subtracting the facings, and converting seams to darts.  This was easily done since the pattern pieces did not have seam allowances.
   
    What did I learn?

    I learned how to bag a lining.  I had read how to do it a number of times over the years, but I never did it by turning the whole assembly through an opening in the sleeve.
   
    What would I do differently?

    I was challenged by the collar.  Since I was not able to baste, I have two rows of stitching holding the band to the jacket - One for the inner band and then another for the outer band.  Next time I sew this type of collar on faux leather, I will use glue to hold the inner collar in place.  Then I will have one line of stitches showing where the outer collar band is attached.  Another thing I will do differently involves the zipper seams.  Again, I have double stitching in some areas around the zippers which would be eliminated with the use of glue.  Normally, I baste and then remove those stitches, but this type of fabric is incompatible with that method.
   
    *Use fabric glue to baste where necessary
   
    What I will definitely do again?
    *use binder clips
    *mark underlapped seam lines
    *make samples to determine stitch length and presser foot pressure
    *use low heat and a thick press cloth and press test samples
    *draft a facing for the peplum
   
  This leather jacket sew-along was a fun project for me.  The encouragement, advice, and praise from all of the women on artisan square was wonderful.  It was like having a bunch of friends in my sewing room with me as I went along.

Here are some pictures of my progress

The first thing I assembled was the full back.

Then the fronts with their zippers, the side seams and the shoulder seams...

Next came the collar...
 

...then the sleeves and the lining.

Here I have it turned inside out to show the lining.  I used a silk print I found at the Vogue Fabrics booth at last year's Sewing and Quilting Expo in Worcester.  (I will not be able to machine wash it. I'll just use a steamer on the inside and a damp cloth on the leather.)



If you look closely at the sleeve seam, you can see how big the opening was that I used to turn the lining to the inside.



All finished and ready to go out on the town!



But first I need to finish my coffee!

The shoulders are a little too wide, but I am happy enough with it to actually wear it.  Overall - pretty decent fit for ZERO pattern alterations!!
Now to make a skirt....