Host Sandra Betzina looked behind the lining of several designer label jackets to uncover industry secrets for making a successful jacket. Several jackets shared common features. Here's the scoop on what she found behind the lining:
- All the dissected designer jackets had at least partial interfacing. The type and placement of interfacing varied from jacket to jacket but all were fusibles. Most jackets were interfaced over the entire front of the jacket and few were also interfaced on the front sides. Different fabrics had different interfacings. Lightweight rayon fabric was interfaced with fusible silk organza, wool was interfaced with lightweight fusible felt, rayon-wool blend was interfaced with a fusible knit, cotton was interfaced with crisp cotton, and wool tweed was interfaced with fusible textured interfacing. When ironing on fusibles, use a press-and-lift motion to adhere, holding 10 seconds before moving to the next section of webbing.
- With the lining peeled back, every jacket revealed twill tape stitched around the armhole to pull in the arm and add shape to the silhouette. Ease in a length of twill tape from notch to notch on the lower half of the armhole approximately 1/8 inch away from the original stitching. Push a little bit of the jacket ahead while pulling on the twill tape to ease in the tape and reduce the armhole by 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch. Press the armhole over a tailor's ham and trim the underarm down.
- Most jackets had nicely-shaped shoulder pads with a piece of interfacing fabric stitched along the top front and back shoulders of the jacket as cushion for the pads. The cushion prevents the shoulder pad imprints from protruding through the top of the jacket. Most jacket patterns won't include this pattern piece. Make your own by tracing the top of the jacket pattern pieces inside the seam allowance onto interfacing fabric.
- Attach lining the jacket at the underarm with a 1/2 inch strip of "connecting" fabric. The buttonhole made by standard home sewing machines will differ greatly from the standard keyhole buttonhole used in many designer jackets but will serve the same purpose. While the perfect keyhole buttonhole is attractive, the machine used to make it costs from $5,000 to $10,000.
