The Tobie sewalong starts next week. Before it starts we wanted to dive into fabric and notion suggestions so you can gather supplies.

FABRIC

Main Fabric

For the main outer jacket fabric you are going to want to find a medium weight woven fabric. Keep your machine in mind when choosing fabrics. Anything too think and it might be hard to sew through all of the layers. I think the sweet spot is around 5-8 oz fabric. You want something crisp enough to hold the shape of the oversized design, so I would avoid drapey fabrics. Some of my favorites are corduroy, wool suitings, linen blends, denims and other cotton fabrics. For the samples, the corduroy is a 6.5 oz 16W Cotton Corduroy from Lyrical Fabrics and the denim fabric is a 7oz cotton denim from Stonemountain and Daughter Fabrics.

Lining Fabric

For the lining fabric you want a light weight woven fabric. Generally I like to use a traditional lining fabric such as rayon Bemberg. You can also just use a lightweight cotton such as cotton lawn or cotton voile.

Ribbing

For View A you are also going to need some ribbing or ribknit fabric for the neckband, wristbands, and waistband. You want a pretty stable ribknit that is going to bounce back, so look for cotton or cotton poly blends with at least 75% stretch. Some fabric stores sell ribbing bands specifically for jackets. My favorite (and the one I used for the samples) is from Mood fabrics and it comes in lots of colors. Just know that these don't come in yardage so you will probably need 2 or 3 of them for the jacket.

NOTIONS

You are also going to need quite a few notions to finish your Tobie Jacket.

Coordinating Thread

Be sure to grab some coordinating thread for your Tobie. I generally go for an allpurpose polyester thread. If you want your topstitching to be visible like on my sample, consider Mara 30 for a thicker thread.

Separating Zipper

You are also going to need a separating zipper for your jacket. I like metal zippers and get them from wawak. I like the YKK #5 zippers the best. The only bbad thing about metal zippers is having to shorten them. If you don't want to deal with that you can get a plastic zipper instead.

Fusible Interfacing

You can use any fusible interfacing that you prefer. I like to use weft fusible interfacing myself.

View B Only

2" Wide Elastic

Instead of ribbing, view B uses fabric covered elastic for the waistband and wristbands. You just need a standard 2 inch wide elastic for this. I get mine in bulk from wawak.

5/8" Sew-On Snaps

To keep the pocket flaps down and the zipper cover secure, we use 5/8" sew-on snaps. You can add more along the center front if you want as well. If you have a fancy snap setter tool you can also use that instead of these sew-on ones. Just know that you either need to add them earlier in the instructions, or they will be visible on the right side of the jacket. I like these sew on ones from wawak.

And that is really it. You will want a normal hand sewing needle finish a few things off, and if you are shortening your zipper, you will also want a pair of pliers.

I hope that helps. Sewalong starts on Monday. If you still need the Tobie pattern you can get it here.