Thayer Sew-Along: A Guide to Cutting

Alright, it's time to cut our Thayer Jackets! We've laid out a guide below for you to refer to as you cut to make sure you've got everything you need. 

Main Fabric

Important points for cutting the Main Fabric:

• Don't forget to mark all the match points, especially for the pocket buttonhole along the princess seam! You form the button hole while sewing the princess seam and if you forget to mark these, there will be a fair bit of seam ripping in your future. Not fun!
• Make sure that the Back Yoke is on the fold, but don't cut the Back on the fold. Your piece will end up an inch too large to sew to the yoke.
• If you're using a fabric like corduroy that has a nap, you'll want every piece to face the same way while cutting. If you don't do this you run the risk of the finished garment appearing slightly different colors due to the way the nap lays.

Body Lining Fabric

Important points for cutting the Body Lining:

• The Back Lining piece is cut on the fold! Unlike the main fabric back, there is no center back seam here.

Sleeve Lining Fabric

Important points for cutting the Sleeve Lining:

• Make sure that you trim along the lower trim line of the Upper and Under Sleeve pieces. The sleeve lining needs to be shorter than the Main Fabric in order to form the hem facing properly.
• We have you use a different lining for the sleeves so that you can easily get your arms in and out of your jacket so keep that in mind if you're thinking of using your fuzzy body lining for the sleeves.

Fusible Interfacing

Important points for cutting your Fusible Interfacing:

• You should be using a woven or tricot fusible interfacing for your garment projects so that your interfaced pieces retain a similar drape as the rest of your garment.
• Please note that woven and tricot interfacing DO have a grain line so line it up!

In addition to the notes above, make sure you mark and snip your notches! It can seem like something that's alright to omit but you'll run into problems later during construction if you don't mark them.

Refer to the pattern layouts in your instruction booklets for the yardage layout for your particular size. 

Often you can get a better fabric yield by cutting flat so if you find a fabric in your stash but you're a bit shy on yardage, see if you can fit it by not cutting on the fold! That said, remember if you're using a one-way print or fabric with nap, you will want all of the pattern pieces to face the same direction.

Mark around your pattern pieces and then cut the markings off as you cut. This way your pattern and cut pieces are the same size.

Do you have any hot tips for cutting that you'd like to share? If so let us know in the comments below!