I read through the instructions and they look pretty clear but had a few questions before I start…

Page 3 of Instructions:

1. “Quilt Insulation to Liner” section:

Is the correct procedure to do the following steps?
a) Sew a straight line of stitching, attaching the insulation to the liner.
b) THEN sew a zig-zag stitch (no serger for me…) to further stabilize the liner/insulation pieces.

Also, when pinning the liner/insulation to make it easier to work with, is the idea to pin the liner to insulation right next to where you will be stitching? How close together should the pins be?

2. “Sew Interior Quilting” section:

Besides stabilizing the back section, which other sections would be served well by stabilizing the insulation?

Page 5:

3. “Sew Sleeves to Shoulders” section:

Is the reason for the asymmetrical cuts of sleeve end and body sections to avoid having to ease the shoulders?

If so, what is the best way to attach? Start at the notch and work your way down pinning every few inches? Or start at the notch, pin at the end of the sleeve, and then fill in the middle areas?

And do you need to stretch the fabrics to make the sleeve and body sections “fit”?

Page 7:

4. “Top Stitch Collar and Zipper” section:

The instructions say to load shell-colored thread for top-stitching. Does that mean have the same color thread for both the top spindle and the lower bobbin?

Also, is a stitch length of 10 or 12 per inch, and 70/10 needles appropriate for Momentum 90MR and PL 1.8?

Thanks!

1) Yes, that’s right: stright stitch, then zig zag.  Place pins perpendicular to stitch line, as many as you can stand to put in. 

2)  If you have areas larger than 1.5 square feet it is advisable to add quilting.  This means you may want a line of quilting on the arms of the kinsman.  More quilting means more durable if you’re going to wash the item in a washing machine.

3)  You don’t need to ease the shoulders, the seam lengths are identical.  It should make no difference how you pin since the seams lengths are identical.  No stretching needed. 

4)  Yes.

5) Yes.

New Question, Page 8:

Stabilize Neckline

“Turn the Kinsman inside out again.

Line up the neckline of the shell with the neckline of the liner/insulation.

Sew the seam allowance of the liner/insulation to the seam allowance of the shell along the back’s neckline and a few inches to each side.”

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I obviously misunderstood the directions because I ended up with the right side of the collar (ie, the shell and liner that you would see) sewn inside, and unable to turn it right side out.

Not sure how that happened but once again, glad for the seam ripper!

Here’s what I did. Maybe you can tell me what I did wrong…. I turned the jacket inside out - so the insulation and wrong side of shell was facing out - and “stitched in the ditch” along the collar seam. So I sewed on top of the insulation with the wrong side of the shell on the bottom. So in other words, I sewed along the bottom of the collar while the jacket was inside out.

I can see how that would work with the shoulder seams because it wouldn’t be enclosing anything. But if you sew along the bottom part of the collar, doesn’t that lock in the top part of the collar? I can see how it would work if not inside out but I’m baffled by this step.

Thanks.

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Edit:

OK, so after puzzling on it a little more, maybe I understand… When I turned the jacket inside out, I turned everything inside out, including the collar. So when I stitched it, I stitched it closed.

So, is this correct now? The jacket is turned inside out (but not the collar). The insulation is facing down, but the shell is flipped back, exposing the open, inside part of the collar (ie, insulation and WS of shell), with the “hole” now facing out. So I would be sewing along that edge along the collar and then flip the shell back over?

I assume this goes for the shoulder and sleeve seams: line up the seams, lay them on top of each other and sew through the seam?

It sounds like you’ve got it right now.  Note you’re sewing the seam allowances of the shell and liner/insulation together. 

Without this step, the shell & liner/insulation would only be attached to each other along the long french seam from cuff to hem and the perimeter (cuffs, hem, collar/zipper.  This step adds some internal stabilization of the shell to the liner which makes it more durable and less prone to get pulled out of shape.

Yes, I think I just wasn’t visualizing it quite right…

So basically, the two layers (shell and liner/insulation) will be “stacked” on top of each other, with the two seams directly over each other. Then I sew right on the original seam of whichever layer is on the top.

Is that what you mean by “sewing the seam allowance”?

The seam allowance is the fabric between the cut edge and where you ran the seam.  So you’ll be running a line of stitching attaching the seam allowance of the shell to the corresponding seam allowance of the liner/insulation.  The only part that is “stacked” is the seam allowances of the shell and liner/insulation. 

If this is causing too many problems, you can skip this and move on.

That does clear it up for me - thanks!

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Sew Cuff Hem

Fold the sleeve shell and sleeve liner/insulation over the body of the Kinsman so that they are right-side together. Switch to a zipper foot and run your seam along the elastic you tacked in place during the last step.

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A question on sewing the cuff… and probably a dumb one…

In the above instruction, am I supposed to sew THROUGH the length of the elastic, or just outside the edge of it?

I tried sewing along the outside of the elastic but it doesn’t seem like the cuff will get scrunched up when done, so I stopped halfway through to check on the right way to do it.

Also, my machine does not seem to like at all sewing elastic; the bobbin thread immediately gets all tangled up. I’ve resorted to placing a small piece of scrap cloth in between the needle and elastic (I read that somewhere) and that seems to help. So I guess if I have to sew the entire length the elastic, I will have to come up with some solution…

Thanks!

As long as you stretch the elastic and tack it in place at the ends while stretched, it’ll scrunch up properly. So if you are having problems sewing through the elastic, tack it in place at the ends while stretched instead and move on, completing all other steps as written.  At the end of the project, you’ll have a casing that will contain the elastic.

OK, so basically, I would:

a) Tack the ends of the elastic in place, as indicated on the pattern.

b) Turn the jacket right side out.

c) Sew the line of stitching along the side of the elastic furthest away from the cuff (to create the inner side of the casing)

Am I right in assuming that the “outer” part of the casing is simply where the sleeve ends fold back over themselves (in step b above)?

And is it better to actually sew into the elastic? If so, I can figure out a way to do it…

Yes, you’ve got it right.

I don’t know if there’s an objective reason why it’d be “better” to sew it in, other than that if it is sewn in evenly the fabric contracts evenly, while if it floats in the casing the scrunching of the fabric might be uneven.  But if your machine has a free arm (like almost all home machines), then sewing through the elastic at a later date is not a problem.

A question about the Lower Front…

In the section labeled “Attach Lower Fronts”, it says “Pin the fronts to the body right-sides together.” However, unless I missed it earlier (entirely possible!) my lower front pieces (shell and liner/insulation) are not yet pinned together. Should they be at this point?

I’m assuming they should be sewn them together and then attach to the upper fronts?

This brings up another question from earlier in the instructions… In the earlier section labeled “Sew Fronts to Back at Shoulder Tops”, in the picture, it looks like the lower front part of the jacket is already attached (because it goes way below the armpit area). Furthermore, it appears that it is separated in two pieces, all the way down where presumably the zipper would be. This would make it a jacket, however, not a pullover! So now I’m not sure if I should have maybe attached the lower front then?

And, on a related note, on my pattern the panel which is the lower front (single piece) is labeled as “Kinsman Back”. By the shape, I was pretty sure which piece it really was but wondering if that has something to do with this all?

BTW, putting that little #3 zipper was tough! Thirty minutes of drop, curse, pick it up… ;)

Thanks!

No, they should not have been pinned together before this step.  You will sew them to the bottom of the upper front at the same time. In the picture you can’t see the liner/insulation lower front which is directly below the shell lower front.  They are right side together, but between them is the upper front pieces with their cut edges all lined up in a stack like this top to bottom in the picture:  lower front shell right side down, upper front shells right side up, upper front liner/insulation right side down, lower front liner insulation right side up (ie: insulation side down).  If you’re unsure, pin the seam in place before sewing fold the lower fronts into place to make sure it’s right.  It will be, you’ll see how it goes.

RE labeling: I’ll check.  You should be able to clearly tell what is the bottom front and what’s the back though from the shape. 

RE “sew fronts to back at shoulter tops”:  Yes, you’re correct—that’s a shot from the maxima instructions.

OK, while I digest your last response… I was also wondering about the draw cord channel - is it only on the front part of the jacket? In other words, I only fold over the bottom hemline on the front panel?

No, you do the same thing the same way for the back.  The draw cord casing will go all the way around the jacket.  It’ll be easier to do the back because the back is a much larger piece than the lower front.

AYCE - 09 September 2011 08:54 PM

No, they should not have been pinned together before this step.  You will sew them to the bottom of the upper front at the same time. In the picture you can’t see the liner/insulation lower front which is directly below the shell lower front.  They are right side together, but between them is the upper front pieces with their cut edges all lined up in a stack like this top to bottom in the picture:  lower front shell right side down, upper front shells right side up, upper front liner/insulation right side down, lower front liner insulation right side up (ie: insulation side down).  If you’re unsure, pin the seam in place before sewing fold the lower fronts into place to make sure it’s right.  It will be, you’ll see how it goes.

RE labeling: I’ll check.  You should be able to clearly tell what is the bottom front and what’s the back though from the shape. 

RE “sew fronts to back at shoulder tops”:  Yes, you’re correct—that’s a shot from the maxima instructions.

OK, I put them together and I see what you mean.

However, the way I put them together originally seemed similar but would it end up wrong? The way I had it was (top to bottom): lower front liner/insulation layer (insulation side up), lower front shell layer (wrong side up), upper shell layer (right side up), upper liner/insulation layer (insulation side up). All the edges for the four layers were lined up.

I clothes-pinned it together and it SEEMED to end up right. The lower front is right sides for both and the seam is inside the jacket. But who knows what would happen if I actually sewed it… ;)

Or would your way end different than mine? I will go ahead and do it as recommended but was wondering if layering it that way does make a difference….

Thank you!!