Hidden-Placket Jacket
A hip-length women's jacket with a notched collar, a concealed three-button fly closure and lined patch pockets with flaps. The front is cut in three vertical panels and the jacket is fully lined.
When To Wear
- For work in autumn and winter, with trousers or a straight skirt in the same wool.
- Over a shirt or a thin roll-neck when the buttons should stay out of sight.
Key Design Features
Silhouette: Semi-fitted, shaped by vertical seams at the front and back.
Length: Hip length, straight hem.
Collar: Notched collar with lapels; under collar set into the jacket neckline, upper collar into the back neck facing.
Front: Centre, middle and side front panels joined by seams pressed open.
Closure: Fly front. The buttonholes are worked in the right facing behind a bound opening framed with an interfaced facing, with bar tacks between the buttonholes; the fly is topstitched from the right side after lining.
Pockets: Patch pockets with rounded corners, bagged with their own lining and topstitched in place. A flap above each pocket is stitched on, turned down and topstitched 0.5 cm from the seam. A decorative tab in self fabric can be added to the pocket.
Sleeves: Two-piece set-in sleeves with elbow and front seams.
Back: Centre back seam and side back panels.
Lining: Full lining including the sleeves, bagged out through an opening in the right sleeve lining.
Level Of Difficulty
Advanced. A concealed fly closure built into the facing with bound opening and bar tacks, lined patch pockets with flaps, a notched collar and a bagged lining.
Fabric Recommendations
Wool or wool-blend fabrics.
Additional Supplies
- Lining fabric
- Fusible interfacing (facings, upper collar, back neck facing, fly facing, centre fronts)
- 3 buttons
- Shoulder pads
- Sleeve heads
Cutter's Must
From main fabric:
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Side Front – 2 pieces
- Center Front – 2 pieces
- Middle Front – 2 pieces
- Center Front Facing – 2 pieces
- Lower Collar – 1 piece
- Upper Collar – 1 piece
- Upper Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Lower Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Pocket – 2 pieces
- Front Pocket Flap – 4 pieces
- Back Neckline Facing – 1 piece
From lining fabric:
- Center Back – 2 pieces
- Side Back – 2 pieces
- Side Front – 2 pieces
- Center Front – 2 pieces
- Middle Front – 2 pieces
- Upper Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Lower Sleeve – 2 pieces
- Hidden Button Placket Lining – 2 pieces
- Pocket Lining – 2 pieces
- From fusible interfacing: Center Front Facing, Upper Collar, Back Neckline Facing, Hidden Button Placket Lining – 1 piece, Center Front.
Sewing Instructions
- Fuse interfacing to the Center Front Facings, Upper Collar, Back Neckline Facing, one Hidden Button Placket Lining piece and the Center Fronts.
- Place two Front Pocket Flap pieces (flap and under flap) right sides together and stitch around. Trim the seam allowances at the corners and turn right side out. Overlock the open edge of the flap. Press the flap. Place the Upper Collar and Lower Collar right sides together and stitch around the outer edges. Turn right side out, ease out the seams and press the collar.
- Stitch the Middle Front to the Center Front. Press the seam open. Stitch the Side Front to the Middle Front. Press the seam open.
- Mark the pocket placement. Stitch the Pocket Lining to the upper edge of the Pocket, then stitch the lining and pocket together around the edges, leaving an opening of about 5 cm in the side for turning. Trim the seam allowances at the rounded corners and turn the pocket right side out. Press the pocket. Topstitch the pocket to the front along the marking. Mark the flap placement. Stitch on the flap, turn it down and topstitch 0.5 cm from the seam.
- On the right side of the right Center Front Facing, mark the fly opening with three lines: the first runs parallel to the front edge, 1.5 cm from the finished edge; the second and third mark the ends of the opening. Place the interfaced Hidden Button Placket Lining on the right side of the facing, right sides together, extending away from the front edge, with its raw edge on the marked line. Stitch 0.5 cm from the marked line along the opening, between the end lines. Place the second Hidden Button Placket Lining edge to edge against the first stitching line and stitch 0.5 cm away. Check from the wrong side that the stitching lines are parallel. Cut the opening, ending with diagonal cuts into the corners 1–1.5 cm from each end. Turn the placket pieces through the opening to the wrong side, so that the interfaced piece forms a frame as wide as the space between the stitching lines. Stitch in the ditch of its seam to hold the frame. Press the second placket piece towards the inner edge of the facing and stitch 0.1 cm from its seam. Mark and work the buttonholes through the facing and the interfaced placket piece together. Ease out the ends of the opening and secure them on the wrong side with a double backstitch across the base of the triangles. Stitch the edges of the placket pieces together. Make a bar tack between each pair of buttonholes, as long as the frame is wide. Press the facing.
- Place the Center Front Facing on the front, right sides together, pin and stitch along the front edge. Stitch with the front on top, from the bottom up to the notch that marks the end of the collar seam. Stitch the lower ends of the facings to the front exactly along the marked hemline. Trim the seam allowances at the upper and lower corners. Understitch the front edge seam allowances 0.2 cm from the seam: below the lapels, to the facing; along the lapels, to the front. Turn the front edges right side out and ease out the seams.
- Stitch the centre back seam and press it open. Stitch the shoulder and side seams of the jacket and press them open.
- Join the Back Neckline Facing to the Center Front Facings at the shoulders and press the seams open. Stitch the Lower Collar to the jacket neckline and the Upper Collar to the neckline edge of the Back Neckline Facing and Center Front Facings.
- Stitch the elbow seam of each sleeve (Upper Sleeve to Lower Sleeve) and press it open. Stitch the front sleeve seam and press it open. Press up the sleeve hem.
- Set the sleeves into the armholes, matching the notches. Sew in the shoulder pads and sleeve heads.
- Assemble the lining: stitch the seams and set in the sleeves, leaving an opening in the front seam of the right sleeve.
- Stitch the lining to the inner edges of the Center Front Facings and Back Neckline Facing. Press the collar seam allowances open and tack them together close to the seams.
- Stitch the lining to the jacket hem and sleeve hems. Turn the jacket right side out through the opening in the sleeve lining. Stitch the opening closed. Topstitch along the fly closure.
- Mark and sew the buttons on the left front. Tip: the pocket can be finished with a decorative tab cut from the main fabric.
