TWO KNIT JACKETS
BY PATI PALMER
I’ve been wanting a knit cardigan. I chose Tammie Pontsler’s Princess Shawl Knit Jacket for Palmer/Pletsch Butterick B7026. I love the design features of the jacket: shawl collar, a fashion-forward extra-long sleeve with hem, and the slanted lower front. I made two versions of the jacket.
As we announced in an earlier blog this year, Tammie Pontsler is the new Palmer/Pletsch pattern designer for Butterick patterns.
Tammie is writing the guide sheets with all the fitting and sewing techniques you have come to expect in Palmer/Pletsch patterns.
TWO JACKETS FROM VIEW A MADE WITH DIFFERENT FABRICS AND TECHNIQUES
I used View A for both jackets. The first is a navy double-knit. I fused interfacing to the front facing/collar and back facing. I used shoulder pads.
For my second jacket I used a black lightweight rayon/spandex interlock knit and made it totally unstructured like a sweater—no interfacing or shoulder pads. I will share some tips in this blog for each type of knit.
PLAN AHEAD! PLAN AN OUTFIT!
I like to make a garment that is part of an outfit.
The navy double-knit I bought for the first jacket went with fabrics in my stash.
I have a taupe ponte which I’ll use for Tammie’s pintuck knit pant pattern B7042, which is designed to coordinate with this jacket.
The rayon print will tie the solid colors together for a princess blouse, Tammie’s third pattern out late summer.
Many fabrics today come from jobbers who buy leftover RTW lots and re-sell to fabric stores. They usually don’t know the exact fiber content. I can often guess. I did a burn test. The resulting hard crust suggested nylon or polyester maybe blended with wool, acrylic or rayon.
TEST!
I pressed a piece to see if it would shine or be affected by steam. Then I did a seam test for needle size and type (universal size 80/12 was good).
I also tested stitch length for seams and topstitching.
I often sew double-knits with a longer stitch length like 3mm because it feeds under the presser foot better. I pressed the seam allowances to one side and serged them together, trimming to 3/8” or a little wider, which flattened the edges. From the right side I topstitched, testing stitch lengths 3.5mm and 4 mm. The longer looked better.
A note about my photos: Dark fabrics can be hard to photograph. Sometimes I lighten the photo so you can see better.
TOPSTITCHING
The seams that are topstitched are the front and back princess, center back, and back sleeve seams. Also the outer edges of the collar and front are topstitched.
PATTERN PREP FOR TISSUE-FITTING
Press the tissue. Trim pattern pieces to your size.
CREATIVE SPACE TIP
Now that I have a smaller sewing space than in the past, I’ve come up with Creative Space Tips. To prevent wrinkling, I like to pin pressed and trimmed tissue to my dress form.
CREATIVE SPACE TIP
In my bathroom mini pressing area where I work on a padded board placed over the sink, I pin the pattern pieces to a dry towel hanging on the wall behind me.
Mark the stitching lines.
Tape neck and armhole curves to stitching line, and clip inward curves to the tape. After clipping, pull on tissue to make sure tape is holding.
For princess seams, tape the concave seam between notches.
Clip to tape. Now it will be easier to pin front concave curve to the side front convex curve.
Pinning the tissue together for fitting helps you know how the pieces go together when you sew.
For the sleeve, follow the marked sleeve seamline and pin to the top. When opened, the sleeve cap edge will be a continuous line.
The front princess seam is pinned a little differently. Here is how to tell if this seam is pinned accurately:
Pin the point on side panel to the armhole edge of the front.
When side is flipped over the seam, the armhole edge is even.
Mark the circle where shoulder and collar meet on front and facing. Tape on both sides of the circle. In fabric, staystitch the corner and clip to the circle.
This will open and become be a straight line making it easier to sew front and back shoulders and back neck together in one continuous seam if you choose.
SHOULDER PAD TIP
If you are going to use a shoulder pad in the jacket, make sure to wear it while you are tissue-fitting.”
It is easiest to buy covered shoulder pads and sew them to the facing.
However if you have uncovered pads and you don’t want them to show on the inside, you can place them between the jacket and the facing. You will need to make the facing shoulder seam deeper at the armhole edge or the facing will be too large.
This illustration is from page 100 of our book Jackets for Real People. The inside circle (lining or facing) is smaller than the outer circle (jacket).
TISSUE-FITTING AND ALTERING
NOTE: Following our recommended sequence for tissue fitting, we start with the back, before making any adjustments to the front of the pattern.
FITTING THE BACK
I needed my normal high round back alteration so added 5/8” at center back, tapering to nothing at the armhole.
I had a gap in the back armhole and diagonal wrinkles from center back to sides. This is something new for me.
I needed to add a ½” -deep dart to the back shoulder for my roundness. Then I needed to make the back shoulder wider at the armhole so that it would match the front shoulder width.
This slide from one of our fit seminars shows the wrinkles but not the gap in the back armhole because the blouse has sleeves.
LOWER THE BUST CURVE
I needed to lower the bust curve 1½” on side front and front.
I drew a box around the curved areas and lowered them 1½”, filled in the opening and trued the seams. True the side front as shown. Otherwise, you won’t be moving the fullness down. See the pattern guidesheet.
For more on truing, we have very clear illustrations in the Palmer/Pletsch Complete Guide to Fitting.
The curve is now where I am the fullest.
Before and after photos of lowered bust curve.
If you need an FBA, always make sure the princess curve is at your bust before you measure the amount to add!
ADDING MORE WAIST AND HIP ROOM
I needed more hip and waist room. I cut matching strips of Perfect Pattern Paper 2½” wide.
I taped each to the sides with 1” extending at the armhole and 1½” at the bottom of each.
The first underarm pin goes into the original seam line at the intersection of side and armhole seams. I try on the tissue and slip the shoulder pad in place.
I’ve pinned the sides to my shape.
Now I can mark where the pins are and then trim leaving 1” seam allowances.
Both gap and wrinkles are now gone.
I also adjusted for my square/forward shoulder.
SWAY/FLAT BACK is the last alteration you do.
The center back seam was swinging toward my right side. I made a sway back tuck using the lines printed on the pattern and removed ½” length at the CB to nothing at the side seam. Now the CB and the hem are straight.
The finished back fits well. You can see the added shoulder dart. The shoulder pad added structure.
For the lightweight knit version I stretched the back to fit the front instead of sewing a dart.
A FINAL CHECK
Side seams have been trimmed and I try the tissue on again for a final check.
Now I slip on the sleeve.
The sleeves were a new detail for me. Very long with a long slit at the front sleeve hem. I’ll try them! I can always shorten them.
I can pinch an inch of tissue at my bicep so that gives me 2” of ease in the upper arm.
I love the sleeves! A fun change. And, I found out when you raised your arm, such as when you are eating, the sleeves totally fall out of the way….a surprise!
CORRECT THE PATTERN
My shoulders were narrower than the pattern. I set the sleeves in ½” at the shoulder.
I will fix the pattern so it’ll be correct for my second jacket. I will trim the ½” off the back and back facing as well as the front and front facing armholes, tapering to nothing at the notches.
This will save fitting time now that I have the width correct.
TIME TO CUT
CREATIVE SPACE TIP
I can cut in various places: on my bed and the floor as in high school and now on the kitchen counter with my gridded folding cutting board on top. This gives plenty of room for altering the long jacket pieces.
TIP
In knits, I often stabilize the neckline and sometimes the shoulder seams. See stabilizing tips in Knits For Real People pages 89 and 90. I am going to sew the same jacket in rayon jersey with no interfacing and I will stabilize neck and shoulder seams with SewKeysE fusible woven stay tape.
The interfaced back stay will prevent the neck from stretching.
When pinning the sleeves to the armhole I could see the shoulders would stretch because of the weight of the long sleeves.
I hand sewed non-fusible Stay Tape over the pressed-opened shoulder seam.
From Knits for Real People by Sue Neall and Pati Palmer. This book is a great reference for fitting and sewing with knits.
TEST THE INTERFACING
I used PerfectFuse Light to add a little body to the front and back facings. It adheres well to knits. Fuse with press cloth for 10 seconds.
If you want to prevent stretch, such as in the direction of the buttonholes, use the stable lengthwise grain. If not using additional interfacing, you can fuse just in the area of the buttonholes.
NOTE: Use black PerfectFuse Light on dark colors, so you won’t see the white interfacing at buttonhole edges. (But I like white for testing, at right,)
CUT THE INTERFACING
CREATIVE SPACE TIP
I like banisters! I needed to cut interfacing for the long front facings so I put my folded cutting board here.
To make the interfacing slightly smaller than the front facing, I cut across the bottom and up the side front.
Then I moved the pattern 5/8” over the bottom and side seam edges. The interfacing is now smaller than the fashion fabric and won’t fuse to the ironing board.
To make cutting the other end easier, I moved the cutting board around so I wouldn’t fall down the stairs!
STEPS TO PERFECT FUSING
Place fabric wrong side up on an ironing board or other pressing surface. Place pattern on top to check that the fabric is the same shape as the tissue. Moving fabrics often distorts them.
Scoot the fabric to fit the pattern before fusing.
With a press cloth start lightly fusing from the center to each end. Then go back and work your way from one end to the other lifting the iron as you move. You need some steam and about 10 seconds of heat to fuse.
FOLLOW THE GUIDE TO SEW THE JACKET
The guide is excellent. Tammie worked really hard writing it! Please read it!
I first basted all the pieces together and tried on the jacket to check fit. Then I sewed and topstitched the princess seams in the front and back.
Having sewn the facing/collar to the jacket, I trimmed and graded the seams, turned and pressed the edges.
GUIDE ALERT!
In step 37 change 1½” to 5/8”.
I pressed the collar and neck seams open.
I want to make sure the seams are fastened one on top of the other.
Pin the seams together at the neckline on the outside. You can feel when the seamlines are on top of each other. Pin in the well of the seams as suggested in the guidesheet.
(By the way, I have not sewn the side seams yet. I pinned 1” seam allowances in case the thick doubleknit takes up some extra room.)
Stitch in the well of the seam through all layers as shown in the guidesheet.
Hand stitching the layers together is another option that isn’t that hard.
Below I’ve shown two alternative hand-stitching options from our book Jackets for Real People.
This photo and explanation is on page 98 of Jackets for Real People.
This is another option shown in the book:
The sleeve vent and hem will be easier to finish before you set in the sleeve. Follow the order in the guidesheet! Be sure to leave long thread tails at the beginning and end of your topstitching rows so you can pull them to the inside and tie rather than backstitching.
The lower hem on jacket and sleeve are topstitched. I first serged the hem edges. I measured 1 ¼” from needle and placed painter’s tape on my machine as a guide. This helped keep my topstitching even.
GOOD LIGHTING: I love this little goose neck light I stuck to my machine. It is very bright—great for sewing dark colors!
PRESSING SEAMS OPEN
To open and flatten a seam in a doubleknit, use a pounding block/clapper. Steam the seam, then place the wood block on top. Leave in place and let cool.
Your seam will stay pressed open.
SECURE THE FACING
In this unlined knit jacket you need to anchor the facing or it will not stay put. The princess seams are sewn and pressed to one side. Seam allowances are serged together then topstitched.
We want the facing edge to cover the seam up to the seamline stitching.
The seam allowance will be trimmed off the facing. It should be 5/8” but I’d pin the facing down and make sure. Mark where the seam line is and trim along the chalk line.
Serge from the right side of the facing so the upper looper thread is on to. Cut on your chalk line.
Turn facing to inside and fold lapel to the outside along roll line to allow for turn of cloth. Smooth facing over princess seam from lower jacket to armhole. Hand stitch to princess seam to anchor in place.
TOPSTITCH OUTER EDGES
I placed a colored pin at the bottom of the roll line (arrow). This is also where the buttons will start if using buttons.
Below the pin I’ve rolled the seam to the inside slightly and pinned it to hold so only the jacket will be seen on the outside.
Above the pin I’ve rolled the facing over the edges so when the lapel is folded back you won’t see the seam.
Topstitch ¼” from edge using the edge of your presser foot as a guide.
JACKET NUMBER ONE FINISHED!
Doubleknit, back facing and front facing/under collar interfaced.
Added shoulderpads for structure to the casual knit jacket.
I love the subtle shaping in the back.
Now on to number two!
JACKET NUMBER TWO
When I first saw Tammie’s design I decided I wanted to use it for a sweater style jacket which I needed in my wardrobe.
I shortened the sleeves 1½” and made the slit opening 2½”.
I took a few photos while sewing to share a few more tips.
Cutting board back to the kitchen counter. My fabric is a lightweight interlock knit which has more body than most jerseys. It is like a doubleknit but lighter. It was 65” wide too!
I folded it in half then lined up the selvages. With knits you shift the layers until the diagonal wrinkles are gone. You don’t need to “straighten the grain” as in woven fabrics.
Since I didn’t want shoulder pads, I didn’t need to adjust the shoulder seams in the facing to make space for a shoulder pad. Everything went much faster.
However, it is important to attach the edge of the front facing to the front. I carefully smoothed them together and pinned.
I drew a chalk line where the princess seamline was on the front. I will serge away the extra seam allowance marked by chalk. Now the serged edge will just cover the front seam.
I moved the pins over in order to serge just the facing and trimmed the excess away from the chalk line.
Now the serged edge covers the seam. I pinned to the edge the edge to the seam carefully.
After carefully pinning the edge to the seam I hand stitched them together.
HEM THE JACKET
GUIDE ALERT!
In step 37 change 1½” to 5/8”.
I mentioned this earlier in the blog, but since I’m including tips for hemming lightweight knits it is WORTH REPEATING..
Steam-A-Seam Light, a paper-backed fusible web, is a great help for topstitching a hem in a lightweight knit. The added body to the edge keeps the wiggly knit from scooting or stretching.
I opened a section and with the paper on top I lightly pressed it close to the edge, just enough for it to adhere.
First I serged the hem edge then I pressed up the hem.
Then I pulled off the paper, turned up the section and lightly fused the hem. When I got around the entire hem, I fused again, then topstitched.
JACKET NUMBER TWO FINISHED!
Very soft and drapey in rayon/spandex interlock knit. No interfacing, lining, or shoulder pads.
I hope you enjoyed the adventure seeing two jackets made from different knits. I hope the tips will help. Be sure read the guidesheet for many more tips. I plan to get a lot of mileage from these jackets!
WE OFFEr AN ARRAY OF RESOURCES FOR SEWISTS
SPIRAL BOUND BOOKS
WORKSHOPS
STAY TAPES
INTERFACINGS
Dear Pati,
I am amazed at the wealth of helpful information in this post! Thanks for the clear explanations and generous number of photographs.
The tip to roll the facing over, then under, when topstitching a lapel, so the seam won’t show—well that sure makes sense!
Thank you so much for the kind words. It is especially fun to add tips that normally don’t go into guidesheets. They are the ones you think of when you are sewing and often remembered based on the fabric.
Another very helpful blog. I love all the ingenious tips relating to sewing in a tight space, brilliant!! You make any project seem possible, thank you. Maggie
Hi Pati, Greetings from Iowa! I finally read your wonderful jacket blog. It is helpful demonstrating the two fabrics in one pattern. I love how this article makes me think, yet again, HOW MUCH you have contributed to fashion sewing with your fitting methods and excellent documentation of these methods! Thank you so much!