M5816 Finished!

I finished the McCall's 5816 jacket last night just in time to wear out to dinner!

The fabric is from Fabric.com. It is designer stretch twill in chocolate brown.  55% rayon 45 % cotton.

This was my first outerwear.  My first attempt at interlining.  My first lining bagging.  I love it. 

The pattern didn't require much tweaking other than to lengthen the sleeves and body.  I interlined the upper sleeves and body with a stretch cotton.  I was not sure what I was doing, so at first I had attached the interlining to each of the front, back and sleeve pieces fully.  After some sagging of the interlining while pressing the pieces, I did some reading and found out I should have ended the interlining half way down the sleeves and approx 2-3 inches above bottom hem line on the front and back pieces, and to not attach the interlining at the bottom edges of any pieces.  Once I made those changes, things went much more smoothly.

To bag the lining, I used 'Jackets for Real People' with Martha Alto, Susan Neal and Patti Palmer.  I highly recommend that book.  (I also have the Pants for Real People)  Their method ended with a professional looking lining. Even down at the bottom front where the lining/facing meet.  No hand stitching required anywhere except to close the opening left in the lining for turning the whole shebang right side out.  At first I was quite intimidated about trying it, but as is true with most things, it was much easier to do than I had thought!

Front

Front, Inside lining

Back

Back lining, inside