Plaidness

This very long, photo heavy post is about matching plaids. Specifically, welts for pockets on a plaid vest front.

It's pretty swifty, but it's just a lot of plaidness.

Two sewing lines for single welt. Reinforced.

I interfaced the back. Which is good, or I would never have been able to mark these. All four of them.

Match plaid

Stick pin through bottom corner

Make sure plaid matches at bottom corner

Stick pin through from back to front to find other end of seam. Fiddle around to get plaid to match and pin it down in front.

Now, very carefully, fold the top portion down. Pin welty fab onto front. Check repeatedly.

Secured? 

Flip over and sew bottom line

Check?

Reinforce (iron on stabilizer, go!)

Iron and trim to reasonable size

Stitch in middle, sorta middle

Check pocket direction and location

Secure pocket!

Stitch top seam and clip.

When you clip the ends, leave the angled triangly part as long as possible.

Pull the pocket through to back

Clip ends, not too short

Here's the fun part. I grab my long pointy reverse action tweezers and poke them through that gap at the end, between the fabric and the lining. And I pull and work that end of the welt through to the back side

And there it is. Give em a tug to tidy up.

From the front.

Ironing it out, from the back.

Fold it over and press.

Eh, not perfect

Sew up the sides and bottom.

Top stitch the ends (in the ditch)

The more I do, the better they get. Which I suspect means I should have done about ten practice ones before the real ones.

The lining is getting a self lipped welt. Place fabric, pin, sew two lines

Open wide! Snack break!

Pull bottom up to make flapness

Iron flapness!

Flip over, admire!

Didn't place pocket quite right, so I sew the end edges together

I iron them and it looks actually nicer this way.

Top stitch in the ditch

There is a pocket. A nice one from this side.

What is fun about this is that from the wrong side, it's all long threads and a mess.

The collar and facings, well, no one will know what a hot mess that was.

So I have finished and lined fronts, and  I need to sew them to the back lining/s.

 And I'm lazy. 

So, I sewed the backs to the front like a sandwich. Lining, fronts, lining (hold the mayo).

Across the shoulders, around the arm holes 

NOT THE SIDE SEAMS

 (was that loud enough for you?) 

and the bottom seam. Together

Ya pull the fronts out from the side (pick one), sew the side seam (outside), press side seams to front, pin like a picket fence, and stitch the finishing side seam in the ditch.

And it's done.

Okay, it needs buttons and stuff, and that lapel needs a whole lot of pressing and tacking to hold, BUT

It's the slooooowest job in the world, and then the finish is WHOOSH!

My son comments: Quite nice. Much nicer than your usual. Is this a trend?

Level up?