Linen outfit, jacket

This just goes to show that even after sewing for 30 years, you can still miss stuff. You know how I mentioned that there was nothing in the instructions about seam finishing so I zigzagged the sleeve seams? And yet, the notions list called for seam binding? So I looked at the main instructions, before you get into the specifics of the garment and sure enough, there it was: " finish the raw edges of each seam as you make it." So I should have done the sleeves but I'm not worried that I didn't. In fact, it probably adds less bulk to the sleeve by just zigzagging the raw edge. And you never see in the insides of the sleeves even when you take the jacket off. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Here's how nicely the edge of the facing is finished now. And I didn't use a fancy stitch - I just stayed Very close to the edge of the seam binding and sewed carefully.

Now that I've attached the collar and the yoke facings, I see that part of the shoulder seam will be visible when I take the jacket off. But I decided Not to finish the one little bit of it by using seam binding. Instead, I simply folded under the raw edge and stitched it down. Now it's finished but practically invisible.

Here's the yoke and the pleated back, from the inside. I have put a temporary line of basting stitches across the middle of the pleats to keep them all together while I work with the garment. When it is time to hem the jacket, I will take the stitching out.

Here, I am sewing down the yoke facing on the inside. That bit of pink is a chalk mark for where the pleats go. I normally like to machine sew down things like facings but I decided to go more "couture" for this jacket. When I put my mind to it, I can sew with very nice, tiny stitches. Of course, this linen is very forgiving.

Here's the front so far, minus sleeves. Cute!

And the back! I may not want to ever sit down in a chair with a back while wearing this jacket. Not only would it wrinkle the pleats, no one could see how adorable they are!