Hello, I'm new to RBTR and wanted to share my winter jacket project using fabrics and insulation sourced from this company. This is my first insulated jacket so any tips and tricks are appreciated. I learn by trial and error lots. This jacket features 1/4 zip front/ half zip on the side, zipper kangaroo pocket and one large sweater style pocket in the front. The design is not mine. I bought a Green Pepper #126 Anorak template. It is intended to be unlined and made from heavier material but that was not what I was looking for so I made some adjustments. I don't mention it in the steps but after each seam I used a sewing needle to bring the top thread to the inside and tie a knot before trimming excess thread.
Brief outline: Make liner then the outer shell, attach insulation to liner, attach outer shell to insulated liner. Liner Step 1: Cutting out all the panels. Since this is a lined jacket I did this twice. For the pockets I only used the olive material, no need to cut extra material.. I did not cut the insulation at this time. Step 2: Front panel to side panels. Pretty straight forward so far. Since this is the liner I did not need to make any openings for pockets. If you wanted to have inside pockets, now is the time. Step 3: Arms to back panel. Both arms are attached to the back and then the remainder of the arm is attached to the front joining the front and back. Now it is starting to look like something though it's basically a poncho right now. Step 4: Hood. The hood is constructed from 5 separate pieces. 2 sides, 1 middle, and 2 liner pieces that are intended to have a drawstring run through them. I opted not to have a draw string but I did sew in a thin piece of plastic at the top opening of the hood (on the liner piece only). Once the hood is finished attach it to the jacket. Step 5: Armpits. I planned on having a zipper go from almost the armpit down to the bottom to make this pullover jacket easier to get on and off. That being said, on the zipper side I only sewed from the hand opening to the armpit leaving the side seam unfinished. On the other side, I started from the bottom and went up to the hand opening, first with a straight stitch followed by zig-zag stitch. Liner complete (Pic 3) Note, I did not put any zippers in yet. I felt it would be easier to do this later on once both the liner and outer shell were together. Also, I trimmed the arms up a bit. I felt they were too long and loose. I noted the adjustments for the outer shell.
Outer Shell Repeat steps 2-5 with the following exceptions. Step 2: Sew the 8" zipper to the front before attaching the pocket panel. Cut out your pocket openings and finish the edges. (Pic 1 & 2)
Now you should have one liner and one outer shell complete. All that is left to do is insulate, put in the front and side zippers and sew the openings up.
Insulation Step 6: With the insulation out on the table, pull the liner inside-out and lay it on top to measure. Start with the big areas first like the front and back. I did this in one piece going from the side zip, all the way around. Next cut out the arms and hood. You should have all the panels cut out now. Step 7: Attaching insulation to liner. Ensure that the liner is inside out before proceeding. I used clothes pins to hold the insulation in place while I folded 5/8" material over the insulation and did a seam connecting the insulation to the liner side zip opening. Then I did the same for the bottom. Next I lined up the arms to the torso and whip-stitched the panels together and along the bottom of the arms. After that, back to the machine. Using the same technique as the bottom, sew along the hand openings. For the hood opening, I mentioned 2 pieces that were meant for a drawstring. Those worked perfectly for me to tuck the insulation under and do a topstitch around the perimeter. Finally whip stitch the hood to torso/arm pieces around the neck.
Outer shell to insulated liner Step 8: Hood zip. Put the shell over the insulated liner and line up the seams (Pic 4). Hold together with clothespins/clips. The original design was intended to have one overlapping side attach to the other by velcro. I prefer a zipper over velcro but the overlap will be a perfect zipper cover to block wind. Pic 8 for reference on how I went about this. Before I put the zipper in I put 3 x 1/2" magnetic strips on either side with gorilla glue so that the zipper cover closes automatically when fully zipped. Sew the zipper in between the liner and shell. Once complete go around the whole hood opening. Step 9: Side zip. Putting the zipper between the liner and shell sew up one side and down the other. I carefully went across the zipper a couple times so that it doesn't accidently separate in the armpit. Step 10: Hand openings. Pretty straight forward. Line up the seams on the liner and shell and go around. Step 11: Bottom. Finish the jacket off folding the shell over the liner and top stitch the perimeter. Voilà!
Required Materials:
-Singer HD 4411 sewing machine -Schmetz topstitch 90/14 needle -Dual Duty all purpose thread -Gortex seam tape -3yds 1.1oz Ripstop Polyester Kryptec Raid (outer shell) -3 yds 1.1oz ECO Ripstop Polyester dark olive (liner) -3 yds Climashield APEX 3.6oz -1 x 17" seperating zipper (side zip), 1 x 8" non-separating zipper (kangaroo pouch), and 1 x 10" n.s. zipper (front zip). The zippers were donated from old jackets. -3" of magnetic strip w/ gorilla glue
