Leather Jacket
A hip-length women's jacket in leather or faux leather, single-breasted with three buttons and a notched collar. Overlaid front yokes with welt pockets, patch pockets with welt openings, deep cuffs with three buttons and a full lining.
When To Wear
- In spring and autumn over shirts, fine knitwear and dresses.
- With jeans or trousers for everyday wear.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Fitted, shaped with front darts topstitched 0.2 cm from the dart, a horizontal seam across the front and princess seams at the back.
Length: Hip length.
Collar: Notched collar, with the upper collar set into the jacket neckline and the under collar into the facing.
Front: Single-breasted with three buttons. Each front is made of an upper and a lower centre part and a side part.
Pockets: A shaped yoke laid over each upper front and topstitched along its outer edge, with a welt pocket in it. Below, a patch pocket on each lower front, topstitched on three sides, with its own welt opening.
Sleeves: Set-in sleeves with deep cuffs, each with three buttons; the cuff seam is topstitched.
Back: Centre back seam and princess seams, all topstitched.
Finishing: Hem finished with interfaced bottom facings joined to the lining and topstitched; front edges, collar, yoke and pocket edges and cuffs are cut to the finished line and the leather edges are left raw.
Lining: Full lining in the body and sleeves.
Level Of Difficulty
Advanced. Working with leather, welt pockets in yokes and patch pockets, a collar set between jacket and facing, cuffs and a full lining joined to the hem facings.
Fabric Recommendations
Faux or genuine leather.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric
- Fusible interfacing (front facings, pocket facings, back neck facing, hem facings)
- 9 buttons
Cutter's Must
From main fabric:
- Center Back Hem Facing – 1 piece
- Side Back Hem Facing – 2 pieces
- Front Hem Facing – 2 pieces
- Patch Pocket – 2 pieces
- Yoke – 2 pieces
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Lower Collar – 1 piece
- Upper Collar – 1 piece
- Front Side – 2 pieces
- Upper Center Front – 2 pieces
- Lower Center Front – 2 pieces
- Center Front Facing – 2 pieces
- Back Neckline Facing – 1 piece
- Yoke Pocket Facing – 2 pieces
- Patch Pocket Facing – 2 pieces
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Cuff – 4 pieces
From lining fabric:
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Front Side – 2 pieces
- Upper Center Front – 2 pieces
- Lower Center Front – 2 pieces
- Sleeve – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing: Center Front Facing, Yoke Pocket Facing, Patch Pocket Facing, Back Neckline Facing, Front Hem Facing, Center Back Hem Facing, Side Back Hem Facing.
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse fusible interfacing to the Center Front Facing, Yoke Pocket Facing, Patch Pocket Facing, Back Neckline Facing, Front Hem Facing, Center Back Hem Facing and Side Back Hem Facing.
- Mark the darts on the front and back. Stitch the back darts and press them towards the centre. Stitch the front darts and trim away the dart depth. Topstitch 0.2 cm from the darts.
- Stitch the Upper Center Front to the Lower Center Front. Press the seam allowance towards the upper part. Stitch the Front Side to the centre front and press the seam open.
- Place the Yoke Pocket Facing on the Yoke, right sides together, and stitch along the marked lines. Check from the wrong side that the stitching lines are parallel and the distance between them equals twice the finished width of the facing. Cut the pocket opening, making diagonal cuts into the corners 1–1.5 cm from each end. Turn the facing through the opening to the wrong side and ease out the edges. Secure the pocket ends from the wrong side with a double backstitch across the base of the triangles. Topstitch around the pocket opening. Lay the Yoke, wrong side down, on the right side of the front and topstitch along its outer edge.
- Make the welt opening in the Patch Pocket with the Patch Pocket Facing in the same way. Lay the Patch Pocket, wrong side down, on the right side of the Lower Center Front and topstitch it on three sides.
- Stitch the centre back seam and press it to one side. Stitch the princess seams joining the Center Back and Side Back and press them to one side. Topstitch along the seams. Stitch the side and shoulder seams and press them open.
- Stitch the Back Neckline Facing to the Center Front Facing pieces. Sew the Upper Collar into the jacket neckline and the Lower Collar into the neckline of the facings.
- Place the facings with the collar on the wrong side of the jacket, wrong sides together, pin and topstitch along the front edges and the collar. Press open the seam allowances of the collar seams and tack them together close to the seams.
- Place the Cuff pieces together in pairs, wrong sides together, and topstitch them on three sides. Wrap the cuff into a ring along the marked line and secure it. Stitch the cuff to the sleeve and press the seam towards the sleeve. Topstitch along the cuff seam. Set the sleeves into the armholes, matching the notches.
- Stitch the Front Hem Facing, Side Back Hem Facing and Center Back Hem Facing together. Press the seams open. Stitch the darts and seams of the lining pieces and set in the lining sleeves. Press the lining seam allowances. Stitch the joined hem facing to the lining and press the seam towards the lining. Stitch the lining to the inner edges of the Center Front Facing and Back Neckline Facing. Turn the jacket right side out.
- Match the lower edges of the jacket and the hem facings and topstitch them together. Turn under the hem allowance of the sleeve lining and secure it to the cuff.
- Mark and make buttonholes on the right front and sew the buttons on the left front. Sew the buttons on the cuffs.
