Tutorial, part 3 - Front Body

Sew the center front body panel (piece C) to the side front body panel (piece D), stitching only to where the pant leg splits and reinforcing at the bottom. 

Press seam allowances open, pressing the bottom edges of the split under 1".

Pin the front 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). 

As mentioned previously, we cut our tutorial yoke with this option, and we'll be demonstrating the "open" construction process here. 

Our finished tutorial jumpsuit's front opening will look like this: 

For front opening option #2 and #3, we recommend closing the jumpsuit all the way to the bottom of the yoke. 

For a view of a front opening option #3 and "closed" look, check out our DS9/NEM duty jumpsuit tutorial. 

Once you have decided on the depth of your jumpsuit's front opening, place the zipper at the center front of the jumpsuit assembly the appropriate distance from the top edge plus 1". 

For instance, the top of this jumpsuit's closure will be 3 ½" beneath the bottom of the yoke (or the front opening will extend downward 3 ½" past the yoke, if you prefer to think of it that way), so the top of our zipper will be 4 ½" from the top edge of the jumpsuit body. 

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 4 ½" from the top edge of the jumpsuit body AND 1" from the top of the zipper, as demonstrated to the right.




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.

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.)

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!


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NEXT: Tutorial, part 4 - Back Body