So, I've started sewing the final jacket. And about time, too - there is snow outside!

I didn't have the right needles for the ultrex right away (more on that below), so I started to sew the liner. Which was also a good idea, because it allowed my to practice putting the bodice and sleeves together on last time before sewing with the ultrex.

A few of the things I had to do while sewing the liner are:

Pink the Seams

The polyester lining I chose likes to fray, but pinking the seams works great.

Add a Small Sleeve Tab

On one of the sleeve seams, I added a tab that I will attach a snap to. This tab lines up with a loop on my polar fleece inner jacket. I will be able to wrap my tab around the loops, thereby securing the inner and outer jacket sleeves. That means I'll be able to put on and take off both jackets at the same time without the sleeves popping out.


Add Underarm Vents

I kept a portion of the side seams open. This is where my underarm vent will be.

That's it for the liner for now. I'm waiting until the main fabric bodice is put together before I add all the facings and zipper to the liner - that way I can make sure I put everything on in the right order and location.


  Needles and 'Fluttering'

I now have the proper needles for the ultrex, so I have started sewing that. The only needles that worked for me are Microtex 70/10. Microtex 80/12 sort of worked for me, but it skipped stitches.


I also had to switch my foot plate to the straight stitch plate. I had the zig-zag plate on before and the fabric was being pushed into the hole. This also caused the stitches to skip. Thanks to this nice blog post by Madalynne, I learned that this is sometimes called 'fluttering'.

Add Velcro to Sleeve Tabs

With all of that resolved, I was able to sew my sleeves. Before I put my sleeve tabs together, I added hook tap to one side. I then attached the loop tap to the sleeves where they would match up with the sleeve tabs. Now my sleeve tabs are adjustable!



Finish Sleeves

I topstitched on one of the sleeve seams. On the second seam, I sewed it twice. Since I can't topstitch this seam, I thought this would make it a bit stronger and help make it more water and wind proof.



More to follow!