Winter Jacket Sewing Order

By Tiffany - Saturday, December 28, 2013

My jacket is now in two main parts. The main jacket and the lining are complete with the main body pieces sewn together and the collars attached. Now, comes the time when I put it all together and it becomes one piece.

Something I had to figure out was what order I sew on my facings and zippers and to what sides of the jacket. I used an old jacket as a reference. 

Basically, whatever you can see on the outside of the jacket when it is lying flat is sewn to the outside. Below is the outside of my jacket:




My jacket has a facing and a zipper on the left side and no facing on the other (the jacket front extends to cover the zipper). First, I basted the zipper to the facing and then sewed it to the jacket.

I did the same thing for the lining:



I basted the other half of the zipper to a facing and then attached it to the left side of the zipper. The right side of the lining has a facing with no zipper. Optionally, you can make this facing in a soft fuzzy fabric (like microfleece or flannel), because it will be the innermost layer and make contact with your body.

Note: I found that my husbands jacket was the reverse of how I made mine (with the zippers on the right side when it is lying flat). So, like with shirts, I'm guessing men's jackets are the opposite of women's jackets.

If you are adding any velcro or snaps to keep the facing closed, now is when you add them.

The next step is to put the lining and the jacket right sides together and sew along the outermost edges.


I might also try to 'bag' my jacket. Which means, I would sew all 4 outermost edges of the jacket, while leaving a small opening that I can turn the jacket rightside out through.

After that is done, you can topstitch along the zippers to hold the facings of both layers together. However, I am doing one thing differently. If you look at my lining closely, you will see that I have already topstitched along the zipper edge: 


This is so I don't topstitch into my outermost jacket layer (which is the right front body piece of the main jacket). Instead, I am going to use fabric adhesive to keep the facings together. This means that I won't make holes, which could let in moisture, in the outermost layer. If you are not worried about the elements for your jacket, you can wait and topstitch through both layers when the jacket is together. [Update: I couldn't find an adhesive that would stick to the DWR fabric, so I ended up having to topstitch my facing into place. Not a big deal, it still looks really good.]

That's it for now. Until I figure out my snaps, buttons, or buckle issue, I'm leaving my jacket like this. But, hopefully I'll find something that will work soon!

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