The JamCat Fleece Project Reveal!

Wow, can you believe this fleece project has been the subject of this blog for over a month? This is definitely one of the longest blogging adventures I’ve been on but friends, it is time to wrap this one up and get right on with the big reveal!

So the last thing I had to do was finish the sleeve hems.  I cut off about 1-1/2 inches and turned under the edges another 1-1/2” and stitched, leaving an opening to thread in some elastic.  Stitch the elastic together and finish the remaining top-stitching…

And Viola!  A Fleece Jacket!

The chalk marks will come out in the wash.  Friends, this was a fun and challenging project, with 7 zippers!  Two in the underarm mind you!

Thanks for staying with me!  Enjoy!

Update 3-26-13…the JamCat Fleece and Jamba visit Hines VA Hospital…

One year after completing the JamCat fleece, the jacket is holding up nicely!

~Cathy

Related articles

• The JamCat Fleece Project – Attaching the Fronts to the Back (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Designing the Gusset for the Sleeve (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – The Collar, The Zipper and The Bottom Band Part 1 (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – The Collar, The Zipper and The Bottom Band Part 3 (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Upper Chest Zipper Pocket and Attaching the Lower Front (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Installing the Lower Front Zipper (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Back Yoke (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Pit-Zips!!! (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Sleeves!!! Part 2, Attaching the sleeve to the body with a gusset (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)

The JamCat Fleece Project – The Collar, The Zipper and The Bottom Band Part 3

I left off my last post with the bottom band finished except for the topstitching to enclose everything inside…I know,  I left you all hanging.

Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to the JamCat Fleece Project!  It is ALMOST finished!

When I returned for my next round of sewing I finished the topstitching on the bottom band, first folding back the bottom band over the zipper, stitching, then turning right side out… Then pinning down… I noticed about this time I was running dangerously low on thread (you know you’re getting close when the white of the spool shows up!)… And in my angst to get the topstitching done I proceeded full speed ahead… Finished the topstitching!  Still had thread but forgot to put in the Zipper Shield!!!!! AAAAggggghhhh!!!!

Uggh!  I hate when I forget to do something!  So I stopped, regrouped by going to the store for more thread.  Complained to the  cashier at JoAnn’s that thread is ridiculously expensive, even with a 40% off coupon, and came home to cut out the zipper guard.  I didn’t even pull out the pattern, I just cut a length of the fleece and the contrast fabric, sewed them right sides together and topstitched…

trimmed to fit and was ready to get back to the end game on this project!

I did have to pick out about 4 inches of the stitching on the bottom band and redo that area but it wasn’t so bad…

So…now the zipper guard is in place on the right side.  I fold down the collar and stitch…(for those that are paying attention you’ll notice I took this photo prior to my zipper guard ordeal!) I turn the collar right side out, and decide what I’m going to use for a loop in the center back.  I’m going to need to add something here in order to hang up the jacket on a peg.  All of Jim’s other jackets have a loop here so I can’t get out of not giving him one for this project!

I thought of using the ribbon but found this twill tape in my scrap bin of odds and ends (this I think was off of some drawstring capri’s I had…I save just about everything!) and would you believe it is nearly a match on the color?

I cut a length and make that loop… Then fold the collar down, pin and hand baste the collar in place… The Collar, the Zipper and the Bottom Band are now finished and it’s time to topstitch the finish!!!

Exhale…

And find the hubby to try it on!  I need to get a length on the sleeve and that will wrap it up!  Friends, just one (or two) more things to do and this jacket is finished!!!

Till the next and final post!

Have a great day…

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – The Collar, The Zipper and The Bottom Band Part 2

I’m back in the sewing room again for part 2 and it’s time to break out the Eyelet Plier! 

Tell me the truth.  Do these things scare the bejeezuz out of you?  The thought of putting in an eyelet or grommet into my garments always hits me with a pang of anxiety!

BUT, with practice and a little bit of know how, I have discovered that it isn’t so bad….

So here we are at a really interesting spot in the making of this fleece jacket, the bottom band and the insertion of the elastic cord and that bungee cord keeper thingy!  Actually, I think it’s called a Cord Lock but the jury is still out depending on the manufacturer.  I know, I promised to call it the correct term…I digress.  Anyway!  Let’s get started!

I gather my supplies.  I need 4 eyelet sets, 2 Bungee Cord Locks, the Bungee Cord Elastic (the length of the bottom band) and two Beads/or Pulls for pulling the elastic through the Cord Locks when cinching up the jacket!  I also need a length of ribbon or cord, to also go through the hole in the Cord Lock that will get attached to the jacket to keep the Cord Lock from dangling down (another brilliant idea!) but I’ll need to look around the house or go shopping for that.

The first thing I need to do is put 4 holes in my band.  What?  Holes?  Yes holes!!!!  I deliberately put holes in my masterpiece!  This is the scary part.  I mark the location points where the eyelets will be installed and use an Exacto Knife to puncture a wound. I twirl the knife around to make the opening a little wider and use a scissors to snip out any little bits of fibers in order to place the ‘Push-Through’ side of the eyelet through the hole.  This piece is the one with the longer shank and the small center diameter.  In the photo below it is the one on the right. Using your fingers push the Longer shank piece through the hole, making sure to seat the fabric around the shank.   Then on the underside, take the shorter shank piece and carefully place it over the longer shank.   The two should fit together smoothly.  If they don’t then something is out of line.  Sometimes an edge gets nicked and will hang up the connection.  I can use pliers to bend the metal if needed.  In this case the two slide perfectly together.  With the pliers I now can squeeze the two together which will crimp the edges of the long shank into the the shorter shank, securing the two together!  That’s it!!!

Now just thread the elastic cord through the eyelets, through the Cord Lock, through the Button/Pull hardware, back through the Cord Lock and then back through the other eyelet.  Repeat through the second set and pin the ends to the front edges.

So that’s it for now.  I need to go shopping to find some very thin ribbon or cord which will get threaded through the Cord Lock and attach to the jacket.

~Stay tuned!

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – The Collar, The Zipper and The Bottom Band Part 1

HI Everyone!

Did you miss me?  Boy have I been working on this jacket!  It is really starting to take shape and I can finally see the light at the end of this fleecy tunnel! Yippee!!!

I’m almost nearing the final steps so hang with me.  The final final step will probably be the sleeve hems as, after a trial fitting, we noticed the sleeves were way way too long and just really big so I’m going to leave those to fix and fit last.  And that leaves me to the only thing left on the fronts… the Collar, the Zipper and the Bottom Band.

I have to do all three of these at once as they are all interconnected to each other.  It is going to seem a little disjointed here but you all will just have to stay with me.  It will all make sense in the end, and it will turn out beautifully!

The first thing is to get the collar sewn onto the neck edge.  One of the collar pieces is cut from the fleece and another collar is cut from the contrast fabric.  The pattern leaves you with just that, which is fine, but I want to add a finishing technique to the inside collar that uses a gross-grain ribbon.  A piece of twill tape could also be used here, as well as a bias piece of fabric but I’m using gross-grain ribbon.  So here goes…

I cut out the collar pieces and a strip of the ribbon… I sew the two pieces together right sides together, then on the unfinished fleece edge stitch the gross-grain ribbon right on top of the fleece, matching the edge of the fleece to the edge of the ribbon.  I’m using my #10 Edgestitch foot to help me with this…

Then I pin and stitch the collar to the neckline edge right sides together.  The contrast fabric will be on the outside of the jacket and the fleece will be on the inside next to the neck!  Nice and cozy like!

Now, here’s where I have to involve another section before I can finish the collar, I need to install the zipper.  The collar will get folded back upon the zipper, sewn and then finished but I can’t do that until I get the zipper inserted… Now here’s tricky part number 1.  The zipper is longer than the pattern.  I suppose I could have found one online that would be the exact length of this pattern but I compared the length of the zipper to some jackets Jim already has and it’s actually a perfect length.  So my decision here was to just shorten the length of the jacket to match the length of the zipper. So I start at the top and make sure the top most tooth of the zipper sits right at the top of the seam between those two collar pieces (the zipper extends into the collar).  Then I stitch the zipper down to about 4-5 inches above the bottom (I have to trim this and allow for the bottom band). I just chalk mark the location of the zipper end.

Then I sew the bottom band  to the new marked end length on the front and back…all the way around, making sure I move that zipper out of the way so I can sew right up to the front edges…

Then check how everything looks on the mannequin…

That’s about it for today.  Tomorrow I’ll finish up the bottom band with that elastic cord and those cord stops!  Once the bottom band is finished up then the zipper can get finished and then back to the collar to get that area finished!  Yay!!!

~Till then

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – Pit-Zips!!!

Hi Friends!

Are you still with me?  Or are you just skimming over these posts just to see if I’m going to finally be finished?

It’s getting there!  I finally put in the pit-zips in the sleeves and I will tell you that I have been laying awake at night trying to determine my best way to install these zippers!  Have you not wondered how that zipper gets put into that tiny opening in the sleeve? I have and I thought about it and thought about it and finally will share with you my technique! 

First things first.  Sew 1 side of the zipper face down along the seam line.  I have to admit that this 1/4” seam allowance drove me crazy.  It was just too small of a bite to try and get this zipper lined up. 

I probably used more like a 1/2”.  I first used my 1/4” foot, but that bite wasn’t big enough so I did end up using my zipper foot to sew closer to the coil.

I sewed the sleeve from the wrist up until the ends of the zipper tails.  If you want to know right now, the thing to do, which I had to fix, is flip back those tails at the metal zipper stop and sew the sleeve together up just to that zipper stop!  (I had not done that at first so ended up ripping out the stitching I did there…).

That’s a better picture above.  Then I sewed the other side of the zipper to the other side of the sleeve stopping and starting at each end of the zipper stop!  That is important!

See how those tails are flipped up back upon the zipper, not sewn down…

Then it was just a matter of sewing just a small section of the body together (not all the way), about 4 inches….

Just enough to encase the other end of the zipper in order to topstitch…

The zip tails are left loose and get sewn down with this topstitching.  Am I explaining that correctly?  It sounds complicated but it turned out not to be.  Then it was just a matter of finishing the rest of the side seam and Pit-Zips Accompli!!!

And here’s a quick look with one of the pit zips installed on the mannequin… Jim tried on the jacket at this point and we noticed that this jacket is BIG!  The sleeve length is way, way too long so we had to roll up the sleeves and they are really HUGE.  He’s just swimming in them.  No doubt I’ll probably have to trim those up, such a shame.  Sometimes I just wonder about these pattern companies.  Is the person this is made for 6 foot 5”?

He also said he thought the underarm had too much bulk.  Whaaaaat!!!! 

Too much bulk?  I said he’ll just have to wear this one bulky and mods can come in future editions.  I’m NOT re-doing the pit-zips!!!!

~Enjoy…

Till the next post….

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – Sleeves!!! Part 2, Attaching the sleeve to the body with a gusset

I can feel the excitement building can’t you?  The moment of truth has arrived and it is time to sew in the gussets and attach the sleeve to the body of the jacket.

I cut out the little triangle pieces for the gusset.  Just a little note here, I slightly curve the inner edge along the hypotenuse of the triangle.  This will give a slight curve under the arm.  Then I sew each of these to either side of the sleeve…

Topstitch … And then sew the sleeve to the body, and follow it up with my #10 overcast stitch along the raw edges…

And topstitch the sleeve, seam allowance toward the body…

The Pit-Zips are up next!

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – Sleeves!!!! Part 1, The Overlay and Lining

Yay!!!! I’m finally on to the sleeves for this project!

Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to this JamCat Fleece project, Part what? Part 7, or is it 8?  I’ve lost count.

Anyhoosy…it is sleeve time, aren’t you excited?  I have been waiting ever so patiently to get to this point to have my gusset alteration really come to life.  I’m so excited to see if this thing is really going to work out the way I have intended it to…oh! the nerves!

But first…have to do the preliminary stuff so here we go…

I cut out 2 of these sleeve overlays from the contrast water repellant fabric.

The instructions tell you to turn the outer edges over 1/4” and edge stitch these overlays in place…

Here’s a tip I learned from Mom years and years ago.  Instead of trying to measure and fold over using a seam gauge I run a length of stitching through the machine, using a long basting stitch, the width I want to fold over!  It is so easy!  Just sew the width you want and then move over to the iron for pressing! Here’s the 1/4” basting stitch…and then pressing this with the iron to the wrong side… Then the overlay gets …well…over layed!  Ha ha ha!

And I use my Edgestitch foot to sew this onto the sleeve… You’ll see what this looks like in this next photo, but first I want to tell you about that lining of the sleeve.  Remember, Jim asked that the sleeves be lined and at this point I’m getting super antsy to see how these sleeves will come together! The lining for the sleeves is the tricot fabric I’ve previously used for the pockets and the inside lower fronts.  There is absolutely no need to cut the tricot using a pattern.  I just cut a piece large enough.  I am going to baste these two layers together and treat them as ONE UNIT so there isn’t a need be exact on the cutting here…at this point.  What I’m most concerned about is the fabric laying FLAT and coverage extends all around the sleeve.

I could hand baste the two layers together but I decide to try a quilting technique for this.  I mean why not right?  Aren’t you wanting to see how this comes out too?  So I decide to use some quilting spray basting to adhere these two layers together!

Watch out because this stuff sticks!!!  This is a spray basting that washes out and cleans up with water.  I am only using quick little pumps to the area and then smoothing the fabric…  This worked GREAT!  I forget just how fast this spray basting goes together!

Then I run a basting stitch close to the edge around the sleeve… And trim using the rotary cutter…  (Thanks Mom!  This new rotary cutter you gave me for Christmas works wonderfully!)…

And now the sleeve is ready for those gussets!

Which you’ll just have to read in my next post…

Stay tuned!

~Cathy

Related articles

• The JamCat Fleece Project – Sleeves!!!! Part 1, The Overlay and Lining (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Lining the Lower Fronts (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Attaching the Fronts to the Back (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Designing the Gusset for the Sleeve (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Sourcing Supplies and Stealth Reconnaissance Missions (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Installing the Lower Front Zipper (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The Next Project – The JamCat (North Face Denali Interpretation) Fleece Jacket (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Drafting the New Lower Front with Zippered Pockets (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)

The JamCat Fleece Project – Attaching the Fronts to the Back

HI!  This is going to be a quick post as I only took a couple of pictures, and really only one of the jacket since the right side of the jacket is basicly the same as the left with one exception…I added a horizontal zippered chest pocket.

The pocket was sewn EXACTLY the same as the one on the left front so I don’t feel I need to re-post another zipper installation.  Once that pocket was finished I sewed the Back piece to the Fronts at the shoulder.

It was at about this time that I was serging the raw edges when the serger decided to completely shut down.  It had had enough!  Uggh!!! I opened her up but couldn’t figure out what was wrong.  She’d been giving me problems earlier on with that third thread, remember?  I should have taken that as a warning sign!  Uggh!  I hate it when equipment breaks down!

This isn’t that greatest of sergers.  She dates back to 1991-2, before I was married.  She’s given me many years of good service for sure so I probably just need to give her a tune up.  Jim asked if I needed a new one!  (Love that man!)  In the meantime I have switched over to just using an overcast stitch on my Bernina.  Most machines have a stitch similar to this.  It is much slower than just using the serger machine but it looks nice and does the job.  Thank God for fancy stitches!

It is number 10 on my machine…

Till the next post…as I have been working on the sleeves all morning!  Whoo Hoo!  This project is beginning to look almost finished!

~Cathy

The JamCat Fleece Project – Upper Chest Zipper Pocket and Attaching the Lower Front

Hey Again!

Last night I put together the Left Upper Front including the zippered pocket.  The changes I have made to the Kwik Sew pattern are the width of the pocket and the lowering of the top-stitching line that runs across the front.

Here’s the Upper Chest pocket on the Denali…

The width of this pocket is only about 1/2” wide, not the 1” width of the pattern…I marked the change on the fabric.  You’ll also notice a few other chalk markings.  I lowered the top-stitching line, I think it is too high and the chalk marks near the armscye are my gusset notes…still yet to come… n

So this pocket goes together fairly smoothly.  Now that I’ve already sewn it in place there could possibly be some changes but for now, it’ll work.

I transfer the markings to the Pocket Lining piece…, just making sure I change the width to 1/2” in stead of that 1” from the original. Then , after matching right sides together, I sew around the opening, starting at the bottom and working my way around, back stitching at the bottom to lock the threads in place… I clip into the opening and turn the pocket lining to the inside.  I sew across the little triangles to reinforce the upper and lower edges (although not entirely convinced that does anything but make it harder to square the pocket!), fold over a 1/2” flap, which covers the opening and makes a welt, press and then topstitch it all down close to the opening!

Next, the zipper gets sewn onto the pocket facing, there’s plenty of fabric to make that happen.  Just center the zipper, pin and stitch.  Nothing fancy needed …  I secure stitch across the bottom and the top and run the raw edges through the serger.    I baste along the outer edge the fleece to this contrast piece (the fleece is wrong side together with the wrong side of the contrast fabric) and top-stitch across the top along my revised chalk line…

The Lower Bottom Front is sewn to the Upper Front, edge serged and top-stitched…

Just need to do the other side now and I’ll be ready to attach the Fronts to the Back and work on the sleeves again!

More to come!

~Cathy

Related articles

• The JamCat Fleece Project – Drafting the New Lower Front with Zippered Pockets (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Installing the Lower Front Zipper (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Lining the Lower Fronts (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Sourcing Supplies and Stealth Reconnaissance Missions (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Designing the Gusset for the Sleeve (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The Next Project – The JamCat (North Face Denali Interpretation) Fleece Jacket (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)

The JamCat Fleece Project – Back Yoke

Hi Everyone!

Well I spent a few moments trying to get my serger running so it would go through the fleece but I kept having problems with the 3rd thread of my 4thread set-up.  Don’t know why?

I put together the Back Yoke and then attached it to the Back body…

I basted the fleece right side out to the contrast fabric, then sewed the two together using scantly around the outer edge.

Then I serged the edge and topstitched 1/4” from the edge.

Here’s that serging, I had to take out the 3rd thread…it’s not pretty but it’s holding…

And the finished Back.

Today I put the Left Front together so stay tuned…I should have a post on that in the next day!

~Cathy

Related articles

• The JamCat Fleece Project – Designing the Gusset for the Sleeve (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Installing the Lower Front Zipper (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Lining the Lower Fronts (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The JamCat Fleece Project – Sourcing Supplies and Stealth Reconnaissance Missions (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)
• The Next Project – The JamCat (North Face Denali Interpretation) Fleece Jacket (sewingforlife.wordpress.com)