Tween Sewing for Boys

Re-Posting a guest post onto my site:

Hi, I'm Jessica from My Inner Need to Create, I have three kids, ages 4, 5 and 9. And to be perfectly honest when I got the email from Sally inviting be to contribute to this site I said (out loud) "WHAT, I'm to young to be a mother of a Tween!" Oh, where has the time gone!!
Well, unlike the previous guest bloggers, I haven't had many fit issues with my Tween, he seems to be a pretty standard size, with him it is more of a style issue. Almost all of my last years' sewing projects for him have sat in the closet, untouched.
So I approached this project differently. I knew what I wanted to make him, a military cargo jacket. So instead of starting this project on my own, I included my son. I showed him pinned jackets, let him choose a style, gave him a choice of the fabric, etc.

Then I got to work...
There are A LOT of pieces to this pattern but I promise it isn't that complicated.

 

PATTERN

These aren't to scale but the measurements are on them if you want to try out making this jacket for your tween. This is size 10 and you will need to add seam allowances.

 



STEP BY STEP

1.       Sew back top and back bottom pieces together, of both the fabric and the lining. Top stitch the seams flat. Sew the left and right side of the back together to make one piece. (Do this for both the fabric and the lining).

2.       Assemble the hood, both fabric and lining. Then attach the 2 with right sides together, flip and top stitch around.

3.       Stitch pleat into all 4 pockets. Fold under all raw edges and baste. On top of the pockets roll completely to hide exposed raw edge, stitch across.

4.       For the pocket flaps I made the buttons invisible by making 2 flaps each for each pocket.

Roll under and stitch one of the long sides of each of the pocket flaps (8 total).
Sew two button holes into one of each of these pocket flaps (4 total).  

Then put two flaps together (one with button holes and one without), wrong side, right side and stitch around the other 2 sides of the flap. Flip and top stitch the two short sides.

5.       Attach the pockets to the front pieces of the jacket.

6.       Sew the front pieces to the back piece at the side and shoulder seams. Do the same for the lining.

7.       Hold sleeves in half and stitch up the side. Attach sleeve from fabric to the jacket from fabric and the sleeve from lining to the jacket from the lining fabric.

8.       Fold collar in half. Sew the hood, collar and lining to the jacket. You might need to baste first depending on your fabric choices. Flip.

9.       With a separating zipper attach zipper to the left side of the jacket by putting it between the lining and the fabric of the jacket.

10.   Sew the second half of the zipper to the other side of the jacket, lining only. Then hold the front button panel in half and sew that piece to the fabric of the jacket, from the top of the collar all the way down to the bottom of the jacket.  Then sandwiching the zipper between the fabric and the lining sew the zipper into the jacket.

11.   Roll under the lining and the fabric of the sleeves and sew around to create a cuff.

12.   Roll under the bottom of jacket and sew around.

13.   Sew button holes into the button panel on the front and sew all 14 buttons onto the coat.

DONE!

 

He seems to like the jacket so I am hoping he wears it.... I will have to wait and see though, since I live in Texas and it was 105 degrees today!

 

 

Thanks for inviting me to contribute to this blog! It is a great idea and with 2 more kids closing in on tween status I am sure it is to become a very important resource for me!

Have a great week!
~Jessica