The joys of bias

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Specifically, cutting out a pattern on the bias. The fit and drape is instantly better with no real work. It is a very fabric-intensive technique so next I want to see if it works just as well with pieced fabric.

Pattern drafting for an imaginary machine operator

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People who operate sewing machines in factories are paid small amounts of money for each seam they sew. More seams=more money. This means that anything that slows down sewing a seam is money lost. For instance, pinning a seam into place, sewing a gathering line (or two!), unpinning, finicking with where a seam should start. All of those are things that mean that the operator is not just sewing a seam together and getting on to the next piece. If they have to do one of those things, someone else has messed up.

This means, that it is likely that you, the home sewer with a few thousand inches of machine operating under your belt, also do not need to have pinned seams and gathering stitches–if you prep your patterns and do your cutting correctly.

Sewing a princess seam together or 5/8″ seams suck

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There are a number of excellent tutorials out there on sewing together princess seams. However, I’ve noticed they’re aimed at people who are either working with unforgiving fabric or people who just aren’t that comfortable with their sewing machines. So here’s the trick for those experienced seamstresses who are working with nice pliant wovens.

  1. Walk your seams. Especially if you bought from the Big Four. Make sure that the stitching lines of the two pieces are the same length, the seam allowances will NOT be the same length, but the stitching lines MUST be.
  2. Match your pattern up at the first notch then work back to the start of the seam. If necessary trim the seam allowance so that the start of your seam is a neatly matched corner. That way you can start your seam with the seam allowances matching.
  3. Now you’re ready to sew. Well, almost, do yourself a favor and trim your allowances to 3/8″ or 1/4″ if they aren’t already.*
  4. Line up the start of your seam. Drop your presser foot on the seam and lower the needle. Control your the lower layer of fabric with one hand and the upper layer with the other hand.
  5. As you come to curves, put a bit of tension on the fabric as needed to match the seam allowances only on the part of the seam that is just about to go under the presser foot. The fabric will stretch a bit for this to happen. It will not be stretching at the stitching line, so there will not be puckers.
  6. Grade your curves (thank you Coletterie), press.

*The regular straight stitching position gives a 1/4″ seam on a standard presser foot. Then there’s an offset needle position for straight stitching that creates a 3/8″ seam. Obviously, this also creates a 1/8″ seam with the other edge of your presser foot. It is amazing how much better life is when you can just use the edge of the presser foot to line things up.

 

 

 

Sleeve fitting and bodice notes

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http://www.ikatbag.com/2010/08/drafting-part-vi-fitting-sleeve-block.html has fantastic information on bicep ease and how it relates to the fitting of the armscye.

I highly recommend Lorraine’s pattern drafting tutorials. She’s the reason I finally figured out that a princess seam bodice would work best.

I’ve had a good-fitting princess-seamed dress for a long time now. It was originally my wedding dress and then I turned it inside out, put it back to front, removed the sleeves, reshaped the neck, dyed it (and $500 dollars later you will end up with a gown that is quite obviously a bridesmaid dress altered to be worn as a cocktail dress), and added front lacing. It’s a comfy medieval-esque dress that creates the right silhouette while being completely incorrect for the period it’s imitating.

Image (Do I look about 6 months pregnant? That’s the only historically accurate part of that dress!)

But it made an excellent base for a princess-seam pattern. I traced the pieces using Glad Press ‘n Seal plastic wrap again. The front in the picture became the pattern for the back, back became the front. I did a sample muslin of one side to just below the bust. Then did an FBA and tried it again. Did another FBA and got a bodice that fits over my modern bra.The back fit perfectly the first time.

(Side-note: if I convert all the fullness to a single dart, it’s almost a right angle. The “basic bodice” about half-way down this page is hilariously different from what I get.)

Full-arms adjustment

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I dearly love Susan Partlan. http://www.stylemadebyhand.com/2013/02/16/correction-my-rotated-sleeve-cap-does-not-need-ease/ has the next piece to the sleeve puzzle. Namely, getting the sleeve to fit the biceps comfortably without messing up all the other fitting.

I’m also interested in her mathematical sleeve cap creation. I’m going to try a similar thing, but with 5 points.

1. The curve at the top of the armscye.

2. The point where the front of the armscye starts curving back under the arm.

3. The point where the back of the armscye starts curving forward under the arm.

4-5. The place where front and back meet to become the side seam.

(Side note, I’m starting from a bodice that fits as a sleeveless bodice.)

Armscye shape

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I’m trying out a pear-shaped armscye. A typical armscye, regardless of tilt*, is shaped more or less like O. If the bottom of the armscye is drafted higher with the same shape, the whole hole tends to become tighter and the movement gained up and down is lost side to side.

Now if the bottom is moved up and the size is kept the same the shape becomes a flat-bottomed pear. Which fits with what will be found with plastic draping on an actual person. http://www.stylemadebyhand.com/2013/02/03/progress-and-magic-marker-fun/ for a fantastic look at this.

 

*Stand sideways to a mirror. Notice that connection between your arm and body is an up and down oval, shoulder point above under arm seam. Move your arms forward like you’re doing pretty much any task ever. See how your arm is attached to your body now, with the same oval titled back, shoulder point behind the under arm? Patterns from ~1910 are drafted like that.

Now, put your hand on your hip like a fashion drawing. Shoulder point goes in forward. Some (most?) patterns after 1950 are drafted for that arm position. The people who did that did that should be forced to wear only their designs exactly as they drafted them for the rest of their lives.

Draping with plastic

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I made gothic fitted sleeves about a year ago and draped the pattern using Gladwrap Press n’ Seal. They are designed to have the seam at the back of the arm, and are baggy at the elbow when the arm is straight.

The second picture is of the full sleeve. I wore the dress the sleeve was going into and drew the arm line right along the dress’s armscye.  I also drew a line at the elbow, marked the back of the arm, and the wrist. The end result did not lay flat (as expected) and the paper indicates my first, incorrect, cuts to make it lay flat. You’ll notice that this resembles the elbow darts in a modern sleeve pattern (wouldn’t this be a great place to give you a link to a picture? http://kschimmel.hubpages.com/hub/Wedding-Gowns-with-Sleeves-Hooray, you’re welcome)

I rechecked my medieval sleeve information (http://cottesimple.com/articles/tailoring-grande-assiette/) and taped together the first cuts. Then I cut the the sleeve in a straight line right above the elbow. The first picture above shows the how the upper half of the sleeve looks almost exactly like a modern short sleeve pattern. The lower half of the sleeve (in the top of the first picture) then fell open in the U shape found in extant garments. Huzzah!

I added a bit of ease, sewed a muslin, added a bit more ease and had a sleeve. It sewed exactly into the armscye without any easing, and had fantastic range of motion. The sleeves were skintight and I could raise my arms and hug my child without anything pulling or tugging elsewhere on the dress.

So, I know my goal is possible. What I don’t get is why I haven’t met it already.

I should track this

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After finding, and losing, yet another fascinating forum post on armscye shaping, I’ve decided that I need to have a better tracking method of my attempts to perfect a sleeve for me than random Pinterest pins.