Outfit of the Week

February 24, 2010

A Not So Basic Shirt, Part 3

The Red Silk Not-so-Basic Shirt Project continues. . .

I am working on the collars and facings today. I always feel like I'm almost finished when I have the collar on the garment. Everything else is so much faster that the rest of the project seems to fly by once the collar is made and attached.

I did use a crisp fusible interfacing for the Collar Stand, but I wanted to keep the collar itself closer to the drape of the rest of the garment, so I interfaced with Silk Organza. Usually, I sew the collar and the interfacing together all in one step. Place the 2 fabric pieces of the collar, right sides together, then place the interfacing piece on top (which would be to the wrong side of the fashion fabric). Pin through all layers and stitch.

A word of caution when working with Silk Organza or other slippery interfacing or underlining -- gently pat the fabric and let the weave of the fabric dictate where the fabric wants to lay. Many times you will have cut it slightly 'off' but the weave of the fabric will naturally find it's own 'square'. Note the placement of the organza vs the fashion fabric in the picture. Basically: "Sew it Where it Lies"

For the front facing I technically used 2 interfacings -- I used the Silk Organza as an interfacing, then faced the Front Facings with the China Silk by stitching a 1/4" seam (right sides together) along the long curved edge. Then I understitched that edge and pressed under before continuing the assembly of the shirt. I wanted the little bit of extra support without changing the drape of the garment and I also wanted to make sure the Front Facings would slide again the outer garment and not catch when being worn. I confess, this might have been a little overkill.

I also used a Back Yoke (inside only) on this garment. I really like the wearability of a shirt made with a Back Yoke and it is such a nice way to finish the neckline. I should note here that my Basic Long Sleeve Shirt Pattern does not have a back yoke, but just trace your garment back and draw a straight or curved line where you want the bottom of your yoke. Also, my BLS pattern has you handle the Collar Stand in the same manner you handle a traditional collar, i.e. you make the point part of the collar, turn right side out, topstitch, etc, then attach the 2 stand pieces, stitch, turn, yadda, yadda. THEN you put the whole assembly to the body of the shirt like a regular collar and sandwich between the Front/Back Facings. This way, the facing shows at the collar when you wear the shirt open (and not the back of the fabric) and also it is MUCH easier to handle the front of the Collar Stand as you just need to be careful and stitch right up again the stand when you are attaching the Front Facings.

Click any of the images for a much larger picture

Back Yoke piece used for Back Facing (not included in BLS pattern)

February 21, 2010

A Not So Basic Shirt, Part 2

The Red Silk Not-so-Basic Shirt Project continues. . .

I have finished attaching the underlining to all the main garment pieces (the fronts, back and sleeves). Because I am underlining, I will need to stitch the darts through both fabrics at the same time. My trick for making sure nothing slips is to mark the dart on the inside (that will show) of the underlinng piece first. First, pin the 2 fabric together and stitch the underlining to the outer fabric around the outer edge and press** well. Use quite a bit of steam and lift the iron, do not slide the iron. This will meld the 2 layers together and make them much easier to work with.

Second, draw a line (with removable marker, etc) down the center of the dart. Then place 3 pins, through both layers, on the line (one in the center, and 1 close to each end). Then go to the sewing machine and machine stitch right down the center of the dart, starting about 3/4" in from the upper point, continuing all the way down the center of the dart, and stopping about 3/4" before you get to the other end of the dart, removing the pins as you go.

Third, put a pin just outside of the each point (the top and the bottom), but along the same line as the center line. These 2 pins will hold the fabric together until you can get the point of the dart under the presser foot. Stitch the dart as you normally would.

Moving on to the sleeves, while we're handling the tricky stuff . . .

I handle the slit in the sleeves much the same way as I handle the 2-layer dart. First, stitch the outer fabric and the underlining fabric around the outer edge and press. Then, draw a line from the lower raw edge of the sleeve inward to the top of the slit. Put a couple of pins through both layers along the line to hold in place. Go to the machine and starting at the raw edge, stitch about 1/16" away from the line on one side, stitching toward the dart. As you get close to the dart, angle over and stop stitching ON the dot. Leave machine needle down and lifting presser foot, turn the entire section around, then continue stitching back down the other side of the line until you get to the raw edge. Carefully cut between the rows of stitching, almost to the dot, being careful NOT to cut your stitching. Then proceed with sleeve placket in the traditional manner. (This means that you would NOT have already cut the slit, since you were planning on underlining the sleeve!

** If you are using fade-a-way or wash-a-way markers, do NOT press the spot you marked. Sometimes the heat of the iron makes the marks not come out. My favorite marker is the white/colored pens with the refills that are now available.

Click any of the images for a much larger picture

February 18, 2010

A Not So Basic Shirt, Part 1

When is a Basic Long Sleeve Shirt, not basic at all? When you make it from fabulous fabric and when you add internal supports, linings, etc to make it very, very special! I'm working on a silk shirt/jacket and I thought you might like to travel through the project with me. This posting is the first in a series, so check back for more as the project progresses.

I'm working on a long (almost knee-length) version of the Basic Long Sleeve Shirt. My fabric came from the Home Dec world, and it a striated, woven silk, basically an asian red (with a tiny twist of orange) with the various threads weaving together so it has wonderful depth. It's hot here in Arizona and what I have in mind is a very lightweight jacket of sorts, that is to say that I will wear this shirt as a jacket most of the time, although it can be buttoned up and worn alone. Also, I want this garment to be fairly easy to care for. I never dryclean, but rather wash everything in my wardrobe, even the formal things, even the jackets. More on how to handle washable jackets in future postings.

Because I want the shirt/jacket to be easy to launder (and press), I decided to underline, rather than line, and I chose China Silk (aka Habotai Silk). This is such a wonderful fabric, as light as air, fairly priced and comes in a gazillion colors. If you can't find it locally, you can get it from www.supersilks.com. The more you buy, the better the price. Needless to say, everything has been washed and dried before beginning the project. Also -- when I am working with a slippery, or otherwise uncooperative fabric, I also spray heavily with starch and press so it is firm and easier to handle. Realizing that I will wash the garment when it is completed.

I am a stitched-in stabilizer kind of girl and very, very seldom use fusibles, the only exceptions being the stand of a collar and waistbands. I almost always use a fabric of some sort for the interfacing/stabilizer, choosing either the fabric itself, or batiste, silk, organza, even quiltweight cotton when appropriate, for the fabric. My favorite material is always the fabric itself when possible.

As for the drape of the shirt/jacket, I want to preserve the soft flow of the silk, yet I will have a stand and collar at the neckline and this area will need some extra support so the collar won't collapse and distort the neck area. I have a trick for this that I use a LOT. You can use any type of fabric/stabilizer that your particular project needs, but the technique remains the same. For my red silk shirt/jacket I used Silk Organza (also available from www.supersilks.com) but please check with your local store first. (Yes, I even spray-starched the organza :-)

To stabilize the upper neck/shoulder area, I add an upper stabilizer on the inside of the lining/underlining. The reason I put the stabilizer on the lining/underlining instead of the outer fabric, is that if anything distorts, whether from my sewing, or later when it is laundered, the outer fabric will remain intact and any wrinkles will be on the lining.

1) Trace off a pattern piece of the upper portion of the garment section (shirt front shown in pictures) Draw a curve for the lower edge that extends to about 2" below the underarm edge. The center doesn't really matter, but 4" would be about the max. I used 2 1/4" for this project.

2) Using the stabilizer/fabric of your choice (to match your project) cut the stabilizer out. Pin the stabilizer to the INSIDE (so it will not show later) of your lining/underlining fabric. Machine baste around the edges, but along the inner curved edge, stitch very close (about 1/16") from the edge of the stabilizer.

3) Pin temporary stabilizer (tear away or solvy, etc) to the inside of the lining/underlining, over the inner curved edge.

4) On the RIGHT side (that will show later) of the lining/underlining machine stitch a decorative running embroidery stitch, using your previous straight stitching as a guideline (center over the line). Remove stabilizer.

Click any of the images for a much larger picture

Are you avoiding elastic waistbands because they are too bulky? Mastering the technique of stitching an elastic waistband instead of using a casing will greatly reduce the bulk, a LOT. You will need to do a couple of test waistbands to determine the exact length to cut your elastic, but once you have it figure out, it will always be the same. That being said, you should always stick to the same type of elastic, i.e. pajama elastic is NOT the same as polybraid elastic (the generic kind found at all fabric stores). Here are the basic instructions, so give yourself a treat and spend an hour or so mastering this technique and you will be happy you did!

Cut elastic about 3” shorter than finished waist measurement. Overlap ends about 3/4” and stitch together. Divide elastic into 8 even sections, using straight pins to mark divisions. Divide skirt into 8 sections as well. Match the pins that you used for marking the divisions and pin the skirt to the elastic with raw edge of skirt even with edge of elastic and the right of the fabric out (back side against elastic). Zig-zag stitch (default width and length) the skirt to elastic along raw edge, pulling just until the fabric matches the elastic in length. Fold elastic and fabric down and pin about every 2”. Zig-zag along lower edge (over previous stitching) to finish attaching elastic.

Like most things, practice makes perfect. Also - the amount of thread stitched into the elastic is a factor in the finished measurement (and therefore comfort) of the waistband. Why not plan on a few testruns - after 2-3 times you will be a master at the technique and will have also figured out the perfect length to cut your elastic so you like the finished product. Always purchase the same kind of elastic, though - different types will stitch out differently. Also. . . different widths of elastic will finish out differently, i.e. 1/2" elastic cut at 25" will not finish out the same length as 1" elastic cut at 25". This is because of the ratio of thread that you are putting into the elastic -- the more thread, the bigger the finished elastic. Make careful notes if you use different widths of elastic.

I'm working on a new pattern which has some edges that would be just perfect for decorative rolled edges done on a serger. I'm fortunate to have 2 sergers and have been planning on taking time to set one of them up as a rolled edge machine so I wouldn't have to fiddle with the tensions everytime I wanted to do an edge (let alone moving the needles, etc.) Today was finally the day and after getting the machine all set up, I dug through my collection of threads and starting running some tests with the various threads to see how they would look when used for the rolled edge. I should note that I am using a 3-thread method (1 needle thread and 2 looper threads).

I wanted to see which thread would provide the best fill rate, but I also wanted to see what regular threads would look like, since they are easily available in a wider color range and are usually on hand anyway.

The results using the various threads are at the right. On some of the pictures there is a shadow, please disregard and just look at the thread fill pattern of the thread. The images are greatly magnified, but you can click and see an even larger image :-)

After running all the various tests, I still wasn't happy with the results. I had the machine set on the very shortest stitch it would take (1) and I still was not pleased with the fill rate. Yes, the wooly nylon has a slightly better fill rate, but there are very few colors, I do not normally stock it, and I really have some doubts about the durability on an outer garment. Then I had an epiphany!! I disengaged the knife, put on much stronger glasses and very carefully ran the serged edge back through the serger for a 2nd pass. Fabulous!!! It did take me a couple of trys to get the hang of it, but I absolutely love the result. The last 2 pictures show regular cone thread (the navy blue) and polyester sewing thread (red) that have been put through the serger twice.

My final (and personal) opinion was that I liked the wool/acrylic, cone thread and the regular thread. All had about the same fill rate on a single pass through the serger, but all responded well to a 2nd pass with the knife disengaged. I obviously have a LOT of regular thread and cone thread on hand, so I expect these will become my standards. If I had to pick one single thread, it would be regular, plain 'ole sewing thread. It's handy, it's cost effective and it's durable. Works for me!

One caveat would be the extra weight created from the 2nd pass through the serger. It did not seem to make a difference at all on the lightweight shirting I was using for a test in the last couple of samples (white fabric), but if you were working with a sheer or very lightweight fabric, you would definitely want to do a test swatch.

Oh, and one final comment. If you are doing outer curves, starch the fabric a LOT, and then starch it some more! Crunchy is good. You can always wash the starch out when you have finished the garment.

Button Thread in both loopers. Regular thread in needle.
Result was coarse (as you would expect) and completely unsatisfactory, but I had to try!

A Different Way to Insert a Fly Zipper

If you hate putting in fly zippers - and wish you could find a better, faster, and easier way, give the following method a try. .
1) With front raw edges even, and right sides together, pin the Pants Fronts together at the center front. With very long stitches, baste through all layers from upper edge, down center front line and stopping at lower dot.
2) Machine stitch the fronts together from lower dot to notch in curve (not all the way to the inseam). Stitch again at 3/8” as this is a high-stress area and the extra stitching will prevent seam stress. You ‘can’ clip the curve to the stitching line - or you can plan on trimming the seam and zig-zagging edge later to finish seam - I do not clip, but prefer to trim and zig-zag later.
3) Press flys open lightly - with fingers or a light touch of the iron.
4) Lay the zipper face down with the zipper base (metal stop) even with the lower dot and the outer edge of the zipper tape along the center front seamline. Note: These instructions are for ladies’ pants - for men’s pants, lay the zipper to the right of the seam and do all instructions in reverse.
5) Pin the zipper to the fly extension only. Machine stitch the zipper tape to the fly extension about half-way between zipper teeth and edge of zipper tape.
6) Fold the zipper back, smooth out the fly extension and top-stitch through all layers close to folded edge - making sure to keep far enough away from zipper teeth so they don’t catch. Now for the tricky part . . .
7) With the wrong side of the pants up (towards you), grasp the zipper tape in your right hand and gently pull toward the right until the fly extension is smooth.
8) Baste the zipper (yes, by hand!) through all layers. Make sure your basting thread is just below the base of the zipper (this will tell you where the base is when you look at the front). I always baste ‘very’ close to the edge of the zipper tape - this tells me exactly where the edge is when I turn the zipper over to top-stitch.
9) Turn the Pants over - with the right side up. Using a straight edge (I use a clear ruler) and a removable marker, draw a line just inside your basting (on the vertical section) and just below the basting that marked the zipper base - curve over toward center seam - making sure your line clears the base of the zipper.
10) Machine stitch along your guideline. Remove basting.
Note: You can also stitch-in-the-ditch a few stitches along the center front seamline - up the opening of the zipper to add extra reinforcement during wear.
Another note: If you want the additional flap under the zipper (like men’s wear), remove the center front machine basting before Step 6, place a prepared flap under the zipper teeth and top-stitch all layers together. Then pin the zipper back together and proceed with garment assembly.