The Moto Jacket: Completed Project Photos and Details

Well, here it is: my black wool moto jacket lined with iridescent saffron-colored silk dupioni. This was made from the “Larissa” pattern, obtained from Burdastyle online at a very reasonable $5.00 USD (no tax).

The jacket design features a full lining, interfaced collar and lapels, topstitching, five zippers (two for pockets, two for sleeves, and one for closure), a fitted, snapped waistband, shoulder tabs, two-piece sleeves, side pieces, and back pleats. It should be noted that these last three design features – two-piece sleeves, side pieces, and back pleats – are a measure of a quality pattern and this was definitely well-designed.

I added an interlining of warm & natural organic cotton batting, double interfacing on lapels and collar, sleeve heads, and shoulder pads. I also chose to omit the snap/tabs on the back of the coat because, alas, I have too much junk in my trunk. That much detailing near my bum would only draw more attention to it and a short jacket at my waistline is enough to make me a little self-conscious as it is!

Because the pattern only went up to a size 42 and I measured nearer to a size 44, I had to size it up. This was my first attempt at sizing up a pattern and it happened to end up working very well. Like anything else, patience is required and careful, regular measuring. A design ruler would have helped, but I didn’t have mine yet and so I managed it with a regular ruler and eyeballed the curves to the best of my ability. I traced the pattern out onto tracing paper and cut it out.

One omission in the pattern that would have really helped with the collar construction was including the roll line. The roll line for a collar or lapel is just as it sounds – where the roll will be. Good tailoring requires that this line be treated to some interfacing but I couldn’t manage it because I didn’t know where the roll line was. While my collars look good, I didn’t master the “turn of the cloth” that I read about as being the mark of a well-tailored garment. Nevertheless, I’m pleased – very pleased – with how this jacket turned out. I learned some very valuable lessons that I’ll be able to apply in my future projects. The most important of these are 1) that patience pays off; and 2) that hand stitching may take longer, but often it looks better.

Moto Jacket Techniques II: A Quilted Interlining

As promised, here is the second installment of couture sewing techniques I used on the moto jacket. I wanted a warmer jacket and so I decided to insert a quilted interlining. But what is interlining?



Interlining is not interfacing. Interfacing is used to add stiffness, weight, and/or strength to a facing fabric and is located on the wrong side of the facing fabric, between the facing and the lining (hence the name, interfacing). Interlining on the other hand is used to add insulation to a garment and is located on the wrong side of the lining fabric, between the facing and the lining (hence the name, interlining). While interfacing is a structural element of a tailored garment, interfacing is not; it may add bulk but that isn’t the point.


Good choices for interfacing fabric include lambs wool, wool or cotton flannel, or (as I discovered), left over thin organic cotton quilt batting that is pre-needled. I used the latter on my moto jacket since I had some left over and the alternatives available at my local fabric store were limited and inferior. It is important to note that most highly tailored and well-fitted jackets don’t afford much room to add an interlining. Therefore, if you chose to use an interlining, either make sure the design you’re working with has sufficient ease to accommodate it, or build in a little extra ease by adjusting seam allowances.

Interlining is generally attached to each piece of the lining by basting in the seam allowance and then the two are handled as one when the garment lining is constructed and attached to the garment. For this project, I wanted a particular look to the lining and I wanted it quite warm. I noted that Chanel likes to quilt her lining to her facing fashion fabric and, while this definitely piqued my interest, it wasn’t exactly what I was going for here. I decided to quilt the lining to the interlining to get the part of that look that I liked, without impacting the facing fabric.


1) Cut out lining pieces from lining fabric.


2) Lay lining pieces on interfacing, wrong sides together; spread flat and pin.


3) Start with the largest piece, usually the center back. Using tailor’s chalk and a ruler, draw a line vertically down the center of the garment piece.


4) Using a matching thread, sew small running stitches through the interlining and lining, from the top of the piece to the bottom. This is your centerline, your prime meridian.


5) Draw another vertical line exactly 2 inches to the left of the centerline and quilt in the same manner, from top to bottom. Repeat this for all vertical lines, always stitching from top to bottom.

6) Once all vertical lines have been quilted, find the horizontal centerline of the piece and draw a horizontal chalkline there. Quilt the line from right to left (or left to right, if you’re a leftie). The idea is to work all vertical lines top to bottom, center to edges. Then, work all horizontal lines right to left, (or left to right if you’re a leftie) center to edges; what matters is that you go only in one direction with your stitching and from the center out, to avoid puckers. Note that you can use the warp and/or weft to help you get evenly-spaced lines.

7) Start all quilting lines ½” inch from the outside edge of the seam allowance, not at the edge of the fabric.


8) Once all quilt lines have been placed at 2” intervals, baste the outside edge of the lining to the interlining at ½” from the edge of the seam allowance.

9) Turn the lining/interlining sandwich over and trim the interlining only, very carefully, close to the basting. If your quilting lines happened to get into the ½” no-man’s-land, cut around them, not through them. You don’t want to weaken your quilting before constructing the lining. This trimming provides a nice neat appearance to lining seams.

Once the largest piece is quilted, start quilting all other pieces. You can either quilt them independently, or try to match your quilting lines. It isn’t difficult to do the latter and makes the piece look that much nicer.

If your garment has a pleat in the lining, it is very important that you trim away the two extra layers of interlining in this area, to ensure you aren’t tripling the interlining. Some may find it easier to trim the interlining before quilting, but I find it easier to trim after.

Enjoy your quilted interlining. I know I’m enjoying mine. Next blog entry will feature the jacket itself, hopefully modeled by yours truly, if I can get a helper to snap the photos. If not, my dress form will do the honors. Till then…