Sew the center front body panel (piece C) to the side front body panel (piece D).
Press seam allowances open.
Pin the zipper facing (piece G) to the back of the front assembly, wrong sides together, with center edges flush.
Time for your invisible zipper and liquid fray preventer!
Cut off the excess zipper tape at the top of the zipper, above the zipper stop, and apply your liquid fray preventer to the new edges.
You must decide on the depth of your front opening, as this will determine the placement of the zipper.
Ordinarily, a zipper - even an invisible zipper - could simply be worn open or closed in whatever manner the wearer wishes, with the zipper simply closed to the wearer's preferred placement and the tab hanging free.
However, with this jumpsuit, the depth of the front opening is fixed, as the zipper only extends to the bottom of the opening, and the top of the zipper is left hanging free, with a hook-and-eye closure joining the center fronts together.
While being a clever technique for completely hiding the zipper closure (including the pull tab), the drawback is that the front opening of the jumpsuit is not adjustable, so you must decide which "look" you want for your jumpsuit.
Front opening option #1, which is simply straight-cut, will look good with either the "closed" or "open" looks (i.e. zipped up to the bottom of the yoke or left open for a few inches beneath it).
However, for front opening option #2 and #3, we recommend closing the jumpsuit all the way to the bottom of the yoke, and since the yoke in this tutorial was cut with option #3, that's what follows.
For a view of a front opening option #1 and "open" look, check out our VOY jumpsuit tutorial.
Also, this being a DS9/NEM style jumpsuit, we recommend closing the center of the jumpsuit all the way up to the yoke, as, with very rare exception, every character except Dr. Bashir, Chief O'Brien, and Broccoli wore theirs in this manner for the entire duration this uniform was in use. (See our "Misc. Observations and Errors, part 1" for more on this.)
Of course, if you're going for the O'Brien or Bashir look, then more power to you!
Otherwise, we believe "zipped all the way up to the yoke" should be the DS9/NEM standard, but that's just us!
Place the top of the zipper 1" from the top edge of the center front.
Remove the pins holding the front body panel and facing together and re-pin them with the zipper on top.
We recommend chalk-marking and/or pinning 1" from the top edge of the jumpsuit body AND 1" from the top of the zipper, as demonstrated above.
Starting 1" from the top of the zipper, using your invisible zipper foot, attach the invisible zipper as you normally would, except for sewing through these multiple layers and leaving the top dangling free.
When closing the lower fronts, sew the center fronts together along the lower edge through all layers, as you normally would if it were only a single layer.
Pull the free top 1" of the zipper out of the way and horizontally clip from the center front edge to the end of the stitch line.
If you cut your yoke with either of the angled openings (options #2 or #3), you will need to cut a slight angle into the top center edge of the center front body panel/facing.
We recommend cutting a ⅛" angle for front opening option #2 and a ¼" angle for front opening option #3 (as pictured to the right), with the bottom of the cut starting 1" from the top edge (even with the top of the zipper, in this case).
Don't worry about cutting off the overlocked edges and don't overlock them again; they'll need to be separated shortly and they're going to get sewn in, anyway.
Open the front/front facing assembly so all right sides are facing upward.
Fold the facing over onto the center front body panel so the right sides are together, with the zipper in-between.
Turn out the top seam allowances from the clip upward.
Sew the top seam allowances closed. (We find it easiest to use a zipper/piping foot for this.)
If you cut your yoke with front opening option #2 or #3 and you cut a slight angle at the top of your center front/front facing (see above), cut a small notch into the side of the seam allowance you just sewed.
 |
| (It doesn't need to be that big.) |
Turn the facing back to the underside of the jumpsuit (wrong sides together, like it was before).
Press the top seam allowances under.
Open the facing again, so the body and facing right sides face upward.
Using your regular sewing foot, sew the tape of the invisible zipper to the "zipper tab" and facing - i.e. through all layers.
Also sew a horizontal stitch 1" from the top of the zipper to further secure it where it's left free.
Your jumpsuit's finished front body assembly should look like this:
I know, if you're used to the normal way invisible zippers are installed, trying this technique can seem ... peculiar ... at first.
 |
| Mmm ... that's weird. |
But trust me, when it's all said and done, it's going to look fantastic!
PREVIOUS: Tutorial, part 4 - Yoke Trim
NEXT: Tutorial, part 6 - Back Body
No comments:
Post a Comment