Tutorial, part 3 - Front Yoke to Back Yoke

Place one front yoke on top of the back yoke, right sides facing and quilt lines meeting exactly at the shoulder seam. 

Baste the front yoke to back yoke at the shoulder seam. Flip the garment around (right sides out) and inspect the quilt lines at the seam to confirm that they meet exactly.

Once satisfied of their proper alignment, sew the front to back along the shoulder seam, reinforcing the seam at the neckline and armscye. We actually recommend stitching the whole seam twice to further secure the many layers. 

Press the shoulder seam allowances open.

Topstitch in a parallel straight line on each side of the seam, ⅛" away, securing the seam allowances in place.

Repeat for the other side.

Ideally, the quilt lines should align exactly (demonstrated here on muslin). 

Then the ⅛" topstitching is icing on the cake. 

However, the ⅛" topstitching does grant a minor margin for error - that is, it "forgives" a small amount of misalignment. Not much, but just enough to slightly obscure the last stitch or so ... 

For instance, note this slightly imperfect alignment: 

Now note how the ⅛" topstitching slightly obscures the unsightly, mismatched lines:  

Once draped over the wearer's shoulder and the wearer is moving, the slight misalignment would be practically imperceptible. 

'course, that won't do you much good if you're off by more than that! 

You want them to look like this: 

Not like this: 

NOTE: The yoke in this jumpsuit tutorial is unlined; if you wish to line your jumpsuit's yoke, simply cut additional front and back yoke pieces from the fabric of your choice (we recommend the black wool gabardine or cotton twill of the jumpsuit body), sew fronts to backs at the shoulder seam and press seam allowances open. 

From this point forward, simply place the yoke lining underneath the quilted yoke assembly, wrong sides together, and proceed with all the same steps in this tutorial. 


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