Sewing for Beginners
How to Sew a Centre Back Vent
This is my 702 Panel Coat Dress pattern made up
And this is the centre back vent
Accuracy is the secret here
and although it’s quite easy to get a good finish on the right side
it is well worth achieving a neat finish on the inside too
The vent is a common feature of jackets coats, dresses and skirts
and mastering it is very useful for the beginner
You can see here that there is no angled line of stitching visible on the outside
It is usual to have the vent crossing left over right as you look at it from the back
which is the same as menswear but either way is correct for women
The final pattern of this garment has a wider vent
I am using my 702 pattern to demonstrate how it is done
I only need the lower half of the pattern so imagine the rest of the garment
This is the main garment fabric and this is the lining
I have cut both back panels to make it easier to visualise
I’ve transferred seam line markings for clarity
Most importantly, mark the dots with tailor’s tacks
on both the lining and the main fabric
This is the lining back
The dots are clearly marked
Following the ebook that goes with this pattern
I am going to cut away the vent area from the left lining piece
as viewed from the wrong side
Be careful that you cut along the correct line
The seam allowance line, not the stitching line
Check out the PDF diagrams
The eBook accompanies the sewing pattern available to members to download
You can also purchase the pattern in my shop
Stay stitch just inside the seam allowance as shown here
on all back pieces
This protects the corners as you will be clipping into these angles
I will join the centre back seam of the Lining
Pin, baste and stitch to the dot
If you are going to skip the basting stage
please always wear eye protection if you are sewing over pins
The centre back seam is stitched
Using sharp scissors clip into the two angles of the left lining
Press the centre back seam open
The seam is now pressed
Now clip into the angles of the right lining like so
If you are following the 702 eBook
skip through a few pages until the stage where I Join the Backs of the Main Fabric
This is the wrong side of the Main fabric
This side will be the overlap of the vent
And this side will be the underlap
If your fabric is lightweight
use some iron on interfacing to support the folded edges
So that would be here along the centre back fold for the overlap
and along here for the folded edge of the underlap
So with right sides together
Pin, baste and stitch the centre back seam to the dot
The seam is stitched Clip into the angles as shown, through both layers
and then press the centre back seam open, to the dot
You can now see how this is going to work
This is the overlap with the fold down the centre back
The underlap extends underneath
and its edge is faced with the lining
The seam allowances at the top remain flat and in place
due to the way we have clipped into the dots
If you are following the 702 eBook
I am going to skip forward until the garment is almost complete
You can complete the vent as the last thing before sewing the hem
but it is easier to do it before sewing the side seams
It rather depends on the garment
Now imagine the garment is sewn together
I have joined these demo pieces at the top
to show that we will have somewhat restricted access at this stage
From the outside it looks pretty good already
and so it is all down to dealing with the lining
o join the left sides together at the vent I have to reach between the layers like so
and align these edges, right sides together
Be careful to match the dots as accurately as you can
Pin, baste and stitch from the dot
stopping about 3” or so from the lower edge to allow for hemming
Then do the same on the right side
This side is a little more awkward
Again carefully match the dots
Pin, baste and stitch from the dot and as before stopping here to allow for hemming
So in close up I can see I have done a good job
I have matched the dots here
And also on the other side
This fold is going to be pressed
It’s aligned to the centre back line and is the overlap
The underlap is pulled through like this
This edge will be pressed
And all four seam allowances are slipped into this gap out of sight
I can now remove all the tailor’s tacks
The next step is to finish this neatly
I have pressed the centre back fold of the overlap
I have pressed the edge of the underlap
All the seam allowances are tucked away out of sight
I have pressed this fold making sure the stay-stitching is hidden
To keep this fold in place for the next step
I have machine basted across here
as close as possible to the pressed fold
Get between the layers from this side
Grab all of the seam allowances here
Push everything out of the way
We are going to machine the seam allowances together
as closely as possible to the machine basting
This will hold my vent in place
You may find it easier to us a zipper foot when sewing the seam allowances together
to get your stitch line close to the fold
The machine basting is now removed
There is nothing to see on the inside except a neat diagonal seam
and these edges are aligned
and the outside will be a perfect vent
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