Greetings!
This is the first Marfy pattern that I will show step by step (my interpretation) of how we will be putting this jacket together in still photos just like any sewing pattern paper instructions.
DISCLAIMER
Please be aware that the ads and websites selling Marfy patterns say that they are for experienced sewers and they mean it! Marfy assumes most people who sew their patterns have experience.
(I have modified the lining that was not provided when the pattern was purchased.)So for those who do not fully grasp what I am showing or are beginners, please email me for any corrections or questions with the email link provided
Use this as a guide only: I am not a professional!
Keep in mind that this pattern is how I am putting it together, and perhaps you may have other ways. I am doing this for the public and nobody is paying me to do this nor am I employed by any companies whose patterns I choose to make.(Any way you put it together and any mistakes you make, I am not responsible)
Now that we got that crazy disclaimer out of the way, let's tackle this Marfy winter jacket pattern:
(Oh, by the way, I worked on this post for about a month, so any omissions or mistakes please let me know.)
This may be helpful if you actually have the pattern to follow along, otherwise whatever...
Step 1:
Admire and study the company's artistic drawing of the finished product. You can make your version in any colour.(Well, duh). I am not sure but I think this pattern belonged to the 2008 collection
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Here we have three 28-30 mm sized buttons (yeah that's big),
Bust dart with topstitching(optional)
Slit pockets
Raglan type sleeves(seam topstitching optional)
Option for the upper collar to be in a contrasting or complimentary hue
Centre back seam
In this picture, the black collar is the upper collar
They DO NOT show how the lining looks but can see its fully lined |
I chose to make mine in a dark plum/aubergine colour only because I have a weakness for aubergine plus the 80/20 wool melton/rayon blend was 50% off!
Take inventory of what you need, and figure out what needs to be cut:
Matching thread for sewing
2.8 m of 1.4m wide fabric. (1.4m wide = 55 inch wide fabric and 2.8 m = 3.1 yards)
2.8 m of lining of 1.4 m wide or
1 m of interfacing sew-in
matching thread for serging or topstitching
Pieces to cut:
Cut 2 front pieces of fashion fabric
*Cut 2 front pieces of lining (Modified)
Cut 2 front facing of fashion fabric
Cut 2 back pieces of fashion fabric
*Cut 1 back piece of lining (Modified)
Cut 2 side back pieces of fabric and Cut 2 lining
Cut 1 on fold of upper collar fabric
Cut 2 upper sleeve fabric on bias cut 2 lining
Cut 2 lower sleeve fabric on bias cut 2 lining
Cut 1 upper collar sew-in interfacing
Cut 2 sew in interfacing for front facing
** I did not see any need to staystitch anything in this project. The wool fabric was 1mm thick, so it wasn't bound to stretch at all. If you must do the stay stitching be my guest. (I know I'm lazy)**
Step 2:
Make your measurements, add your seam and hem allowances where needed. For this size 48 pattern I need only use a 1cm seam allowance and 2 cm hem allowance. The only place where I added a 2 cm seam allowance is in the centre front only because it is easier to draft in with the 2 cm hem at the bottom of the coat.
****Do not be alarmed by the seam matching lettering scheme. As far as my research has been with historical patterns, this system has been in use for a couple of centuries******
Step 3:
I did not serge my wool melton fabric. It was very stable and the edges did not fray at all.
Cut out your pieces with allowances and the cutting layout. With mine it may not have been the most efficient. The 2 piece raglan sleeve pieces are cut on the bias, although I don't know what the advantage of that is.(Maybe to prevent having to sew a gathering stitch...I don't know)
My method for longevity:
- Baste a running stitch for the roll line and centre front where buttons are placed. This will show you your line on either wrong side or right side of the garment
- Baste a running stitch along the fold line of the pocket facing of the front and side back pieces
I only do this because my white marker rubs off too easily, and it's good practice.
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Sewn bust dart, basted roll lines, centre front with buttonhole
placement and basted fold line of pocket facing creates less confusion
when fabric markers fail on certain types of fabrics. Do this for both sides
Shown here is the Right front piece |
Step 4:
Sew bust darts on front pieces on the wrong side. Press the dart towards bottom hem. Baste edge of dart down if you want, but not required.
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When adding your seam allowance to the dart in the front piece
DO NOT cut out the dart area here. Keep the triangular dart area intact |
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Sew bust dart and press down towards hem.
This ensures that the drafted dart will align with the
edge of your front piece |
Step 5:
Sew centre back seam. Press seam out.
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Here, at the top of the pattern back piece it says:
"Seaming half back"
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Two back pieces sewn together giving a reference
to the centre of the back. Press out. Top of back shown here |
The back pattern piece says that this is also half of the back, so there must be a seam here and it's the back piece.
Step 6:
Sew side back seam to back pieces. This is the match point V seam.
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On the side back piece is a V. Match up with corresponding V
from the back piece. Bingo, they go together
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With this picture of the side front piece, do you see a notch where the grain line arrow is? With my experience using Marfy patterns, this is not a match notch to another piece. It only tells you that is where the grain line is, however, the one beside it is a notch to match with another piece. Or maybe I'm wrong, but I've seen it so many times!
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The pattern pieces of back and side back have a V match point.
This is the seam to match together that forms the side back seam.
Matching letter points is key |
Step 7:
Apply sew-in interfacing to the upper collar and coat facings to the wrong side of fabric. A hand sewn runnnig stitch is what I do, but if you choose to machine baste it, fine do that.
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I used buckram interfacing to the upper collar.
The pattern piece says: "Whole half back on the grain".
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When a pattern piece says: "Whole half back on the grain", what this means is you have to cut this piece on a fold. There is no upper collar seam in the picture, so keep in mind that when you cut pieces on the fold the fold acts as a makeshift grain line, plus it is one half of a whole piece and the fold is the centre of the back.
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These pieces are the front facings of the jacket. The lining attaches to this piece
shown later. Buckram interfacing is used here on the wrong side of the facings. |
Notice that in both the upper collar and front facings, there is an "O" match point, which tells you that this is where a seam exists for these two pieces. The front facing pattern piece is labelled "Inner" which tells me that this piece is considered to exist on the inside of the jacket, but as a facing, you need to cut 2 pieces of the fashion fabric, not the lining.
Step 8:
With right sides together, sew the centre back seam on the under collar that is part of the left and right front pieces. Press seam out.
With right sides together, sew the O match point on the front facing to the over collar. Press seam out.
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On the pattern piece, it says "Seaming half back"
Marfy drafted the under collar to the front piece |
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The curved bottom of the front facing, faces towards the
outside of the piece. Basically away from the
centre of the over collar |
Step 9:
Sew pocket lining to the front and side back pocket facing. The H match point seam for the pocket lining exists here. DO NOT sew the front and back pocket linings together yet.
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With right sides together, sew the pocket lining to
the pocket facing. This is the H seam |
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| Press seam towards the lining |
Top stitch the pocket facing opening with any width you want. I chose a 6mm(1/4 inch) width. This is optional, but it will keep your pocket facing from billowing out to the outside. Press pocket facings towards the wrong side of jacket.
With right sides together, sew the pocket lining together. The pockets will eventually be sandwiched between lining and outer fabric.
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The pins show you where to stop and start for the side of
the pocket opening (notch on pattern or edge of facing). After that side front D seam is done
sew right sides together of front and back pocket lining pieces
together, enclosing the entire pocket piece. Do this for both sides |
Step 10
Sew sleeves. Sew with right sides together, the short seam joining the upper and lower sleeve.
Sew the long seam joining the upper and lower sleeve right sides together. Press seam out.
If a sleeve pattern piece says "Stuffing" what it means is that this is where you would attach the shoulder pads.
Personally, I HATE SHOULDER PADS!!!! I look like some 1980's freak or a macho football player, and on me they just look stupid, so I am not including that in these instructions. I would suggest looking that up in any "How to sew everything" kind of book.
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My pins in the two pieces indicate the right side of the fabric.
Just one of those things that I do
You want mirror images here. |
Step 11:
With right sides together, sew the D match point seam of the side back piece to the front piece through all the thickness. Since there are pockets, you must start and stop above and below the pocket openings. Press seam out.
Always remember to match up your notches where they exist! This is important because, in some cases, you need things like pockets to line up equally on both sides as well as bust darts.(It would look pretty weird if one bust dart wasn't level with the other side?)
Step 12:
With right sides together, sew the sleeves into the armscye hole. There are 3 notches and seams that will make it fit correctly. I do not see that it can match up any other way.
There is no need to make a gathering/ease stitch for the armhole. This two piece sleeve is very structured.
Starting from the back of the jacket, the first notch the armhole matches the V seam on the jacket. The next notch on the side back matches the smaller seam on the sleeve and the D seam matches up with the notch on the sleeve.
Step 13:
Sew the seam connecting the undercollar all the way to each side of the sleeve seam effectively closing the seam where the under collar exists. This will be concealed by the over collar when completed, which is very similar to a notched collar.
Lining: I serged all of my pieces because it frayed like crazy. That way, I have even edges to sew and hem with.
Cut with drafted seam allowances just like the fabric pieces. I also cut the lining hem flush with the pattern pieces. Therefore, I omitted the 2 cm hem allowance.
Step 14:
With lining, the modification for the front and side front pieces are that we do not have to cut out the pocket facing. Fold it back and cut straight down. This seam will be closed.
With the front piece the major modification is that we do not have to cut out the undercollar area. We need to trim off where it will join to the over collar minus the area of the front facing. What we should see is a small strip for the front piece. You may want to draft out by tracing a new pattern piece for the front lining.
(I can be completely wrong about this approach, but I saw in the end that it worked for me!!)
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Where I have superimposed the over collar with the front facing pinned
on the front piece reveals that the left over area is what we need for the lining.
It looks like a small strip including the bust dart.
Also, omit the pocket facing on the D seam |
Sew front bust darts just like in step 4.
Step 15:
With the back piece, measure your centre pleat distance from the fold and cut 1 piece on the fold. I drafted a 4 cm pleat. You can choose any width you want. I have usually only drafted a 2 cm pleat in other projects but I wanted 4 cm for this one.
Then, mark the pleat distance from the centre fold on both sides and bring right pleat line to the left. Press pleat for the entire length of you back piece. (I have no idea if pressing the pleat to the right or left on the lining is any indication of gender specific clothing....must look into that...can anyone tell me?)
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Here I cut 1 piece on the fold 4 cm away from it. Mark your drafted
pleat line down the entire length of lining |
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Next, bring the right pleat fold line to the left in the direction of the
top arrow (R to L) on the right side of the lining |
To hold pleat in place, sew in intervals down the 4 cm ditch line on the left side to permanently hold the pleat in position. The sewing intervals can be anywhere you want. 3 is usually enough.
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Sew a straight stitch along the left fold line starting from the top
for 10 cm thereabouts, stop, then resume 10 cm down further for another 5 cm and
again leave a space and continue stitching until the bottom of lining (for example) |
Step 16:
With right sides together, sew the back and side back V seam along the entire length. Press seam out.
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On the D seam (front-side) there is no pocket facing
needed here, so cut straight down the length of the lining
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Step 17:
With right sides together, sew the front and side front D seam omitting the pocket facing from both sides. Sew seam shut. Press seam out.
Step 18:
Sew sleeve lining just like in step 10. (omit the 2 cm hem allowance).
Step 19:
Pin over collar and front facing joined O seam piece to the under collar and front piece. Sew with right sides together. Key point of the O match seam should sit where the roll line on the front piece starts. It fit there logically, I don't know where else the O seam would go to the front piece.
Press the roll line so the collar will lie naturally when finished.
Step 20:
With right sides together, attach the lining to the Over collar/ facing piece and press.
Understitch this area so the lining doesn't pop out while wearing it. You may not have to do this
Step 21:
Hand stitch the upper and lower collar together so that they don't separate.
This is done on the inside of the jacket, so nobody will see some hand stitches binding the upper and lower collar together within the seam allowance. If this step isn't done, your collar and jacket will fall down on the back side.
All that needs to be done is a loose whip stitch across the length of the joining pieces.
Step 22:
Hem and button holes- The end finishing touches
Press under the drafted hem allowance you did for the fashion fabric and lining.
(I pressed under 2 cm for the fashion fabric and the lining. The lining will lie nicely with the fashion fabric even though I cut it flush with the pattern piece)
However you wish to finish the hem on the sleeve and the bottom of the jacket, I did it as I always do.
Keep in mind that no industry (store bought items) do it this way that I have seen. I suppose it doesn't matter, at this point you do what makes you happy.
I baste this because if I don't, the lining always end up with the seam mismatching the fashion fabric seam. It won't shift this way.
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I will baste my lining to the fashion fabric and hem hand sew
the lining |
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This is the bottom of the jacket hem stitched 1/4 inch or 6 mm
just like the sleeve lining attachment |
Ok, here is where my sewing machine freaks out. I don't own a top of the line machine, so, since I only have 3 buttonholes, I have to do this by hand. If the layers of fabric weren't so thick, and my machine could sew a button hole for a button larger than 25 mm (or 1 inch) it won't freak out.
I guess I have to sew a hand stitched buttonhole made for a button that is 28mm. But, to be honest, a strong buttonhole stitch has a very long life.
The only difference is:
A hand sewn button hole needs to be cut prior to binding the cut edge with a button hole stitch.
(So, once you cut your fabric you must finish it by hand)
The size of your buttonhole is determined by = (width of button + the thickness of your button) best done in mm.
Normally you need to use thicker threads when hand sewing buttonholes, especially when you have thicker natural fibres
Can make the button hole any size you want. No limitations unlike my machine.
**DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS UNLESS YOU PRACTICE FIRST...NO, THEY WON"T LOOK
BEAUTIFUL ON YOUR FIRST TRY EVER!!!**
Remember, that your buttonholes are part of the aesthetics on your work presented to the public eye. Make them look good.
Hand stitched buttonhole instruction will be done in the future. I don't have a quality video camera, so, it won't anyone justice if I have a bad quality video.
OK. Take out any remaining basting stitches from the roll line or the centre front button hole placement and you are ready to paint the town red.
Bye for now
