Tuesday 21 May 2013

How to Position Horizontal Buttonholes Correctly




If your buttons and buttonholes are not positioned correctly, your garment will either be too tight or will gape and the collar will not meet at the CF (I know).

Most sewing and pattern-making books tell you that your buttonholes overlap the CF by 3mm (1/8") but, unless you have a very wide shank or very distant stitches on your button, that will be far too much. As it turns out, there is a simple trick for centring your button and positioning the overlap so that your garment will not gape.

Positioning your Horizontal Buttonhole

Centre the button over the centre front, put a fabric pen (or a needle with a knotted thread) down the hole that is nearest the fold of the fabric, with the needle nearest the middle of the button (as if the button were looking away from the fold). This mark will be the start of your buttonhole.

The Length of the Buttonhole

The length of buttonhole will be the length of the button + 3mm OR you can wrap a ribbon round the button's diameter and pin it tight, remove the ribbon, and the folded length + 3mm (1/8"). Measure this distance from the start of the buttonhole (the point you have marked) away from the fold. This is your marked buttonhole.

Marking the rest of the buttonholes

The rest of the buttonholes will start the same distance from the CF and be the same length. One will be at a button's length from the top, one will be on the bust-line, one at the waist. The rest are distributed evenly in between. It is easiest to lay the buttons on the pattern or garment and arrange them as well as possible. Then space them as evenly as possible.

If you want a set number of buttons you can find the space between the buttonholes like this: length from top buttonhole to bottom buttonhole) divided by (number of buttons - 1).

E.g. if you have 36cm from the top buttonhole to the bottom one, and you want 10 buttons, divide 36cm by (10-1 = 9) = 4cm between buttonholes. 

This is a lot of buttonholes for such a length, but it works as an example because of the simple maths.

The distance from the edge

The distance the garment edge should be from the CF line is the width of the button, or 3/4 of that depending on which you prefer. So if your button is 16mm wide, the edge should be 12-16mm from the CF line. This leaves a nice small amount of fabric between the button and the edge.

I working this out from instructions in the chapter about facings in Patternmaking for Fashion Design by Helen Joseph Armstrong.

Sabrina

Sunday 5 May 2013

Bernina 380 Review



[Image from www.berninausa.com]

It was a bumpy ride getting used to my new machine. Apparently Berninas take a bit of getting used to. The top-stitching is generally superb and there are so many lovely decorative stitches! I love the Bernina feet and the shop (on-line, ordered by phone) was good enough to throw in the Manual Buttonhole foot 3 for free and the compensation plates for half-price!

The trouble was with the buttonholes. I somehow (perhaps unreasonably) expected the machine to make perfect buttonholes while I sat back and watched, not even holding the fabric or taking care sewing. Of course this does not work and left me wanting to return the machine.

The other issue, which I soon resolved, was a buzzing noise that started as soon as I switched the machine on. It turned out that the person who checked the machine, either at the shop or at the factory, had left the bobbin winder on. When I turned that off, the buzzing stopped and it's fine now, even when I wind a bobbin. (The bobbin winder is really great by the way: it's easy to use and stops itself when the bobbin is full!)

So I emailed the shop about it and she helped me. I think there must be a universal law that the minute one complains about something officially, the problem corrects itself. That is what happened here. I sewed with care and attention and perfectly fine buttonholes appeared. 8-|

So now I am quite delighted with my machine. It does such lovely scallop-stitching.

The Machine

It is bigger than I thought it would be, but somehow looks smaller in its cover. I thought I would have preferred it in silver, but the black actually doesn't bother me. 

On of the first things that struck me was has small the stitch plate is. Here it is next to a spool of Gutermann thread for comparison:


See, it's tiny! 

Feet

Waking Foot

And the feet are smaller than they look in videos. Here's the walking foot, which I thought would be big:


[Here you can see how well the walking foot kept the plaid matched up,
even without my forked pins, as long as I kept it matched up as I guided the fabric. 
Note: this is not a welt seam, I just had a tiny seam allowance on one side.]


The feet of the walking foot are not toothy like the feed dogs; their sort of rubbery. I wonder how one could keep them fluff-free?

It comes with three soles: one for general sewing (already attached), one for quilting, and one for blind-hemming. It also comes with two stitching guides (a left one and right one) for parallel quilted lines. They attach with a little doohickey that's in the box.

Jeans foot #8


[Bernina Jeans Foot #8. Image from berninausa.com]

This is good for any straight stitching. The outer edge gives you a seam guide of 7mm from the centre needle position, but you can move the needle over 1 notch for a slightly bigger or smaller seam allowance. The notch on front of the foot gives a 1/8" seam guide which is good for tiny seams, and the inside of the toe gives you a tiny-width guide (probably 1/16" but I haven't measured) for tiny, tiny pin tucks and edge-stitching.

I think it's sold as being good for going over thick seams, but I prefer foot #1 for that, which is the same width, but less (and I use the word hesitantly) bulky than foot #8 and has a wide needle hole for wider stitches.

Blind-hem foot #5


[Bernina Blind-hem foot #5. Photo from berninausa.com]

The blind hem on my new Bernina B380 is the best I have ever done on a machine! It only take a tiny amount of the outer fabric, and would probably be nearly invisible if I used the right colour thread (instead of just what was handy) and loosened the upper tension a notch.

This foot is also excellent for top-stitching and edge-stitching. You can even use it over humps. It is different to edge-stitching foot #10 (not included) in that #10 doesn't have the metal bit in the needle area and so is probably better of stitching-in-the-ditch, but Sandra Betzina uses the blind-hem foot #5 for that in POWER SEWING (you can see it in the photos in the book).

Zipper foot #4

[Bernina Zipper foot #4. Image from berninausa.com]

This foot is about 7.5mm wide, which is about nearly 5/16" wide.



Though the manual tells you to have your needle the farthest left or right position, you can have it on notch closer to the centre if you wish. I'm not sure whether this foot could be used to insert invisible zips because there is a small distance between the needle and the edge of the foot, even with the needle in the extreme left/right position. That's why I got...

Manual Buttonhole Foot #3

[Bernina Manual Buttonhole Foot #3. Image from berninausa.com]

Ha! Did you think I was going to say "invisible zipper foot"? In POWER SEWING by Sandra Betzina, she says, and shows in a photo, that you can insert invisible zips with the manual buttonhole foot #3. I have also seen this foot used for heirloom sewing techniques, and it can be used for sewing cording too. Well, you know how I like versatility, so I asked for this foot and they kindly included it for free. (It isn't included as standard.)

Open Embroidery Foot #20

[Bernina Open Embroidery Foot #20. Image from berninausa.com]

This foot helps a lot when you sew satin stitches because it has a wide groove underneath to allow the dense stitches to pass through. If you tried satin stitching with foot #1 you'd find the patterns kept getting shorter-looking and shorter-looking because the dense stitches build up at the presser foot and stop the fabric from feeding through easily, like a traffic jam. I'm not much good at doing any other effects with this foot yet, but that might be due to a lack of stabiliser.

Overlock foot #2

[Bernina Overlock Foot #2. Image from berninausa.com]

A sewing machine's "overlock" feature is not to be confused with an overlocker/serger. It does not cut off the fabric for you. It simply sews over the cut edge of the fabric to hold the fabric's threads together and prevent fraying.

Using this foot with vari-lock stitch #3 (which looks like a shorter, mirrored blind-stitch) you can sew and neaten narrow seams in one go (as long as you have cut them already of course). It is good for jersey and can be used at necklines and such things on t-shirts. If you are going to use a zigzag stitch with this foot, move the needle a notch to the right, and widen the stitch so that the needle doesn't hit the little metal bar on the foot.

The bar is what keeps the raw edge down to stop it from curling up. It also means that there is extra thread in the stitch, which Bernina says allows some stretch to remain (presumably helping to prevent broken stitches and seams).

Also included are the reverse pattern foot #1 and the automatic buttonhole foot #3A (the A means automatic). Foot #1 is the standard foot, and it's fairly obvious what foot #3A does, so I won't go into those.

Features

I'm glad I got this model because the mirror function really does come in handy. The pattern end function is great too. These functions stay activated for all stitches even as long as you have them switched on. So if you mirror and pattern-end one stitch and then change stitches, it will mirror and pattern-end the next stitch. Easy enough to deactivate though; you just press the button again or press [clr].

Automatic Buttonholes

There are four automatic buttonholes on the Bernina 380: a standard buttonhole, a stretch buttonhole, a keyhole buttonhole, and a bound-buttonhole/leather buttonhole. Each is adjustable in stitch width and length.

[Buttonholes on a remnant of stretch denim]

[Standard buttonholes. I think I made them narrower than standard. Here you can also see two of my favourite decorative stitches: a flower and a tracery scallop.]

[Bound buttonhole stitch on the left, Keyhole buttonhole on the right.]

[More Keyhole buttonholes (centre) and standard buttonholes (outer)  --Yes, I missed the B out of my name on the alphabet stitches.]

I think there are several uses for the bound buttonhole stitch:
  • bound buttonholes (obviously)
  • buttonholes on non-woven fabrics
  • sewing on labels
  • bound/welt pockets
  • embroidered letterbox slots
  • staying hand-stitched buttonholes should you wish to make some
Any other ideas?

Knee-lift

While this is necessary for attaching the buttonhole compensation plates, I don't know that I will use it all that often, at least not while my sewing table is also the dining room table. I consider it quite unladylike to sit without one's legs together, don't you? I wouldn't want it to become a habit. Still, it's nice to have it should I want to use it.

Sewing table/extension table

This is very nice to have. It takes a bit of strength to put it on and get it off, but it makes free-motion embroidery so much easier. Plus, it came with an accessory that I didn't know what included: the sliding seam guide! I haven't had a use for it yet, but I've only been playing with my new B380 so far.


It has marking on it for measurements in both directions, taking centre needle position as point 0. There is also a bias marking for sewing corners. I imagine this is for quilters, but I haven't done much quilting so I can only assume it's for piecing triangles and such things.

Foot pedal with self-storing cord

The self-storing cord is one of my favourite features, and will be appreciated by anyone who hates having loose wires in their drawers.

Cover with pockets

I can keep all my accessories with my Bernina 380 because they all fit in the pockets that are on three sides of the cover. I keep my walking foot, buttonhole compensation plates, and knee lift in the left one; my foot pedal and power cord in the right one; and the extension table, manual, accessory catalogue, and accessory box in the large one at the back, which has a flap.

The cover, when it's new, has that horrible smell of plastic. If you fell prey to the dance-mat craze of the early noughties, you will know the smell. But it's beginning to wear off now, after four or five days.

Accessory Box


This is a zip-up case with a sort of velourish divided section for the feet and othe accessories. Most of the space is for the feet. In the bottom right hand corner is where you keep the buttonhole foot #3A, right next to the bobbins (5 are included; one is is the machine). They also include some Mettler thread, which I think is rubbish because it's so fluffy and leaves lint on top of your machine when you wind a bobbin, so I'll stick to Gutermann. Anyway, I've left the Mettler thread in the large section of the box along with the spool guards, needles, quick-unpick (which I think is the sharpest one I've ever had) and those foam things that go on the horizontal spool pin before the spool to stop it from rattling or unwinding too fast (I think).

I also keep the stitch card in there. Some people find these annoying, but they're just as good as having the stitch on-screen to me, if not more convenient.

What made me choose the Bernina 380

As you may know, my Brother XR6600 spat a needle end at my eye because the needle bar had moved (thankfully, it didn't go in my eye, but very nearly) so I would not use it anymore. I still had a Toyota 21-DES but that is a very simple sewing machine and wouldn't do much of what was in the book Fine Machine Stitching that I got for my birthday. So I wanted a more advanced sewing machine. I also wanted one that was built to last, and you can see photographs of inside the Bernina 380 on the internet so I knew it was sturdy (if somewhat heavier).

I was considering the Bernina 530 because of the extra stitches, wider sewing space and adjustable foot pressure, but it's bigger, heavier and more expensive. Plus, people who actually own the B380 (and the 1008 which doesn't have adjustable foot pressure either) have said that their machines sew through chiffon just as easily as through heavy wools. Plus the B380 comes with a walking foot, which makes all the difference with stretchy fabrics that are prone to going wavy. I'm glad I chose the B380 because it's quite heavy enough and big enough for me. I don't think I could have lifted the B530 without straining myself.

Conclusion

I don't think I could include in one post all that you can do with the Bernina 380. I do mostly dressmaking, and I am getting interested in practical heirloom sewing and will be doing only a little quilting (only extremely basic for making a laptop cover), so techniques I learn will come up on this blog, even if only mentioned. I now have a machine that can do beautiful decorative sewing (including alphabets!) and exquisite top-stitching, and a myriad of other effects once I learn them and have a go. I think as I go along, I may be rewriting the manual for the Bernina 380 on this blog, because the manual leaves something to be desired (more content).

Do you have the Bernina 380? If you do and you have blogged about it, please leave links in the comments below!

Sabrina

P.S. I got Bernina 380 from over the phone. It came two days after I ordered it and the extra accessories (buttonhole foot #3 and compensation plates) came the day after that.

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Saturday 20 April 2013

How to Draft A Custom-fit A-line Skirt Pattern

When I started to sew I wanted to be able to make my own designs. As I found out later, that means being able to draft sewing patterns. Skirts are easy to draft so this is good place for a beginner to start.

This will be a series of tutorials that will show you how to:-
  • Draft your skirt pattern
  • Cut your fabric
  • Sew the skirt
  • Sew a professional back centred-zip
  • Line the skirt
You will need a basic sewing machine (at least a straight stitch and a zigzag stitch) and a sewing kit. For the pattern drafting you will need:
  • A long, straight ruler or yard/metre stick
  • A square (a piece of card will do). Funnily enough, "set squares" are actually triangular rulers.
  • A French Curve or Hip Curve
    (Note: the above three items can be replace with a Shoben Fashion Curve or a Dressmaker's French Curve)
  • A calculator
  • Large sheets of paper (you can use newspaper or greaseproof paper)
  • Pens and pencils
I will be working in metric. You can work with imperial (inches) if you wish, but metric easier to use on a calculator. In case you are using imperial measurements, here are some decimals and their fractional equivalents:

1/2  =  0.5
1/4  =  0.25
1/8  =  0.125
1/16 = 0.0625
1/3  =  0.33333...
1/6  =  0.16666...7

The measurements you will need are:
  • Waist plus ease
  • Hips plus ease
  • Waist to hip length
  • Skirt length
  • Dart = ((Hips+ease)-(Waist+ease))/14
If you fill copy this in now, it will save mistakes later. I've put my measurements in for examples. It's quite wide, so you'll probably need to click on it or zoom in.



You will also need to work out your dart measurement. This is where a calculator is very handy. Here is the formula:

(Hips + Ease) - (Waist + Ease)
14

If you have some silly long decimal number (more than 1 number after the decimal point), you can round up or down to the nearest 0.5cm. This is your dart measurement.


We will draft the front and back pattern separately because it is quicker later.

We'll start with the front.

  • At the top of sheet of paper, about 10cm (4") down and 2cm (3/4") in, mark A. Square down the skirt length and mark D.
  • Square across your "Front Hips" measurement (the eighth column) and mark B.
  • Square down the skirt length and mark C. Square back to D.
  • Measure down from B your waist-hip side-back measurement and mark E. Square across to the A-D line and mark F.
  • Up from F, measure your front waist-hip measurement and mark I.
  • From A measure across on the A-B line 1/4 (waist + ease) + 1 dart width. For me, this is 15.25cm + 2cm = 17.25cm. Mark this point G.
  • Square up 1.2cm (1/2") from G and mark H. Connect I and H straight. Divide this line in three. Square down from the third-mark nearest H by about 1/2 of your waist-hip side/back measurement (here, 10cm).
  • On this line, make a dart. For me I measure out 1cm each side of the line giving a 2cm dart. Draw the dart. In the illustration I have curved this dart. It's best NOT to do this because you need the fabric to allow room for your tummy.
  • UPDATE: I'm not sure if I've included this step (I can't find it). Connect H to E, curving out 0.5cm at the mid-point to give tummy-room. Even if you don't have much of a tummy, this room is good for the high hip area (the pelvis). If you don't curve out, your skirt will ride up.
  • Now we will give the skirt a bit of flair. This gives an A-line, and saves your putting a vent in the back. From C on the D-C line, measure out 1/4 D-C. Mark X (I haven't). Measure E-C and make a line from E to X the length of E-C Mark X2. Connect X2 to C with a smooth curve, making X2 a right angle so that it will be a smooth line with the side seam on the back skirt.
  • Add seam allowances down the side seam. 1.5cm is usual, 1cm may be preferred if you are sure of the fit, or you can use 2-2.5cm seam allowances for your toile.
  • Add 3-5cm for a hem allowance along the bottom of the skirt. When you sew, you will have to ease the bottom edge in a bit because it is bigger than the inside of the skirt.
  • Cut a generous seam allowance along the waistline edge because we are going to blend the line and make sure that it is a smooth curve.
  • Cut out your pattern. Fold the dart. Draw the waistline as a smooth curve. Now unfold the dart and add 1-1.5cm seam allowance along the waistline seam. Draw a notch at point E on the side seam for the zip and for matching when sewing.

Now we'll do the back. It's a lot like the front, but with more ease and an extra dart.
  • Start at the right-hand edge of the paper this time, 10cm down and 3cm in. Mark A.
  • Draw across, the length of your "Back Hips" measurement and mark B.
  • Square down from A your side/back waist-hips measurement and mark C.
  • Square across from C, the length of AB. Mark D. Square up to B.
  • Down from B mark your side/back waist-hips measurement and mark E. Square across to the AC line and mark F.
  • On line AB measure from A your Quarter-waist + 2 darts measurement. Mark G.
  • Square up 1.2cm from G and mark H. Connect A-H straight.
  • Divide AH into three. Each of the marks along the line will be a dart so square down from each of them.
  • The one nearest the CB will be 3/4 your side/back waist-hips measurement.
  • The other one will be 2cm shorter and L.
  • Make each dart your dart width as you did for your front dart, and draw the dart shapes. I like mine to curve out from their centre-lines so that they fit the shape of the back better.
  • Connect H to E, curving out 0.5cm at the mid-point of the line. This adds ease for the tummy area. If you don't add this your skirt will ride up.
  • A-line the hem as for the front.
  • Add seam and hem allowances, and notches at the line E-F for matching and for zip placement. Leave a extra paper at the waistline because you have to fold out the paper darts and smooth out the waistline curve. Otherwise you may have a pointy waistline. (Same as for front.) Then add seam allowances, and mark the darts clearly as in the illustration or as you best see fit.
This is your basic A-line skirt pattern. If you have not made your own pattern (and even if you have, really) it is a good idea to make a toile out of light-coloured fabric. You must mark the vertical and horizontal grainlines so that you can see if the skirt is balanced when you wear it. Add or take fabric away where necessary to get it to balance. This can sometimes mean that you need a full pattern (i.e. not mirrored or "cut-two") if you are asymmetrical. But don't be too picky. It does no good to get paranoid about slight wrinkles and things on your clothes. No one but you (and other very picky seamstresses) will notice. : )


You may like to have a waistband for fitting. Just cut a rectangle of fabric to your waist measurement + 2.5cm (for overlap), and 5cm deep (it will be folded over). Then add seam allowances all the way around. It is a good idea to interface this even on your toile to eliminate non-fitting-related folds and wrinkles.

There shouldn't be much to change if the instructions were clear enough to you, and if your measurements and maths are correct. That's why it's such a good idea to work out your maths (carefully) first. And it saves a lot of paper. (Oh the rolls of grease-proof paper I have got through because of sloppy maths!)

Once you have got the hang of drafting and have your numbers handy, you can draft a skirt pattern very quickly. I drafted mine like this in about an hour.

Extremely Brief Sewing Instructions for Skirt Toile/Muslin
  1. Sew the darts.
  2. Sew the CB seam from the bottom and stop at the notch.
  3. Using a longer stitch (3-5mm), baste the rest of the way up (this is much easier by machine).
  4. Insert zip be centred or lapped method.
  5. Sew side seams.
  6. Make waist-band and attach to waist-line. Add a buttonhole to one end and a button to the underlap.
  7. Hem.
(I told you they were brief. Don't worry, more detailed explanations will follow in the styled skirt make up.)


Once you have made and fitted your toile and transferred any changes to your pattern, you can adapt it to almost any style you can imagine. But I'll end this post because it's getting a bit long and will take ages to load.

Sabrina

P.S. If you make your skirt to these instructions and blog about it, please send me a link or put one below because I'd love to see it! : )

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Monday 25 March 2013

Bagging Jacket Linings at the Front Facing

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself today. Not only have I made (albeit with the help of Kathleen's post and the one at PatternScissorsCloth) samples of bagged jacket linings and facings, but I got an A+ on my last English essay at college.

But onto the bagging. I've got three different samples: one like Kathleen's, one like it but with a pleat in the hem, and one like the hem of my Trinny & Suzannah coat. All-in-all, I think Kathleen's was the easiest to sew. I expect all my samples would have turned out better had I sewn them from fabric instead of tissues, and used an iron. Still, no hand-sewing required and the patterns are simple and straight-forward to make.

We'll start with the one like on my coat because that's the one I did first (worked it out by reverse engineering) and it has the neatest instructions. They're brief, but I hope you can get the idea. If someone asks, I can do a more in-depth tutorial for any of these corners.


Okay so it's not very neat, but you try marking and sewing tissue (and I mean like Kleenex, not tissue paper). It has a pleat and the lining is level with the hem. Here are my instructions:-


You should be able to get a bigger image by clicking on the one above.

Now for Kathleen's. This one took a bit of working out, but when I finally got it this morning - oh! it was so easy!


The instructions I've written on it for my future reference are:
  1. Sew lining to hem allowance.
  2. Sew seam A (the corner or facing seam). Clip inward corner.
  3. Bring hem/lining unit up so that the hem is level and sew seam C (the facing-lining seam) from hem upwards.

Easy peasy!

Last one: the hem with pleat.


You can see this one has a sort of rounded corner (not very good, I'll admit, but I didn't draw the stitching line or cut the edge until after sewing). The pattern is the same as for Kathleen's except the lining and shell are 2cm longer for a pleat, and the lining is 1cm lower because my mental maths went a little wrong.

The instructions are:
  1. Lining--Hem
  2. Seam A and clip (as for previous sample)
  3. Tack pleat at start (and in real life, blind-stitch to shell)
  4. Bring lining-hem unit up with pleat in finished position and sew seam C (the facing-lining seam) from bottom to top.
You don't need a pleat at the hem (see here) but it does look luxe, doesn't it?


I'm keeping these samples and writing out instructions for my own future reference. I may need to reverse engineer my own work if/when I forget how to do these corners. That's one advantage of keeping a sewing blog: it's like a notebook that doesn't clutter up your house! : )

Monday 18 March 2013

How to draft a French Dart Shift Dress


The design is based on the extremely popular shift dress from BurdaStyle 10/12. I drafted my own a while ago because I wanted to figure it out. And I did, so here is how you can draft your own from your close-fitting dress block.

First, take your block and draw on it the French dart and the boat-neckline (also called the bateau-neckline because bateau is French for boat).


To draw the neckline, you can move the dart to the new position first, or you can fold out the original dart and draw the neckline while the pattern is in 3D (as here). It's up to you.
If you haven't yet, fold the original bust dart and tape it closed. Cut carefully along the French Dart and the pattern will flatten out again.


Now for the final steps to the main pattern. Trim the neckline at the shoulder by 3mm (1/8") to prevent gaping there. You may wish to take out a little more at the original bust dart if you have a fuller figure, to account for possible gaping.

Now we will shape the French dart. This gives a much more flattering silhouette, and less of a sack-dress look (who wants to look like a sack?)

Fold the pattern along the dart, matching the waistpoint as shown (this picture really give it away that I was using a scale pattern). If you can see through your paper, trace the French dart line.


Otherwise you will have to flip the larger part of the pattern over the smaller part and draw along the French Dart curve. This gives a mirrored dart to the waist.


Now unfold your pattern and trim away the excess:



Next, you shorten the bust dart by 1-2.5cm. I find a longer dart gives a nicer dart tip. There are also sewing techniques for dart tips that you can find online, but until my darts look really nice, I won't doing any tutorials on them. : )

In a proper French dart dress, it's almost impossible to get full waist-shaping so we erase the front waist-dart. Even on me the dress is a nice shape without it. So your pattern should now look something like this:


The pink section is for the pocket which was not in BurdaStyle's design, but I added because I like pockets. It's cut on the fold and you need two as with a regular inseam pocket. With being cut in one piece (left and right) it doesn't sag when you wear the dress. Word of advice though: when you sew the dividing lines along the centre of the pocket, do some about 5cm each side of the centre otherwise the pocket's contents shift towards the CF and it doesn't look very pretty when you have a tape measure there. (Guess how I know.)

This pocket sews together quite magically and I'll let you figure it out for now. Hint: there is some turning inside out involved and it reminds me of instructions for sewing and all-in-one facing.

For my dress I have a 100cm hem circumference, but I think I would like a bit more for my next one (which will probably be yellow. You just measure out from the CF and CB 1/4 of the hem circumference you would like.

Finally draft facings for the front and back neckline 5-8cm (2-3") is wide enough.

The Back
Trim the shoulder dart width off the armscye, and then draft the neckline so that the shoulder is the same length for the front and back. Trim 3mm off the shoulder-neck point to match the front.

If you already have CB shaping you can just add seam allowances and hem allowances and use the pattern as is. If you don't, it's best to shape the CB because it gives a nicer silhouette, and a smoother fit.

The Sleeve
For my dress I made cap sleeves with a seam, and a scallop edge.

Walk your sleeve pattern to find out how much ease there is, and divide it along the top notch. Draw the new seam on the sleeve pattern. Draw the hem line (the curve). The blue lines going to be slashed up to the capline and the sleeve will be spread to make it flare a bit (or a lot, as your taste dictates).



Here you can see the patterns separated and slashed and spread:




To make the sleeves look more like the original design, take them it at the seam. Make right-angles at the hem as shown so that the hemline will be smooth when sewn. You can pin the sleeve pattern together and put it on to see how you like the look of if and then edit it as you wish.


Now draft facings for the hemline unless you are going to use scallop stitching or bias to neaten the edge.

When you have added any seam and hem allowances, and a notch where the CB zip will end, you have your finished pattern and can get sewing.

Never will you know style and comfort more than in a shift dress. And the pattern is extremely versatile. It can be a top, or a dressmaker jacket. By choosing your fabrics carefully, you can make dresses for casual wear (sportswear if you're American), evening wear, workwear. Adding a belt makes it more stylish and modern. With trimmings and decorative stitching, you can vary the look even more!

Sunday 24 February 2013

I Think I Finally Understand Kimono Sleeves

They have been a bit of a puzzle to me insofar as getting a really close fit (like Gertie's wiggle dress). What confused me was the kimono block in Metric Pattern Cutting for Womenswear - see how low that curve (black line) is at the underarm? It starts at most a few inches above the waistline. That is definitely not the silhouette I have seen elsewhere!




But look a couple of pages later, at the styles with panel gussets. They fit more as I want, more like a regular dress. I saw in Natalie Bray's book (I think it was More Dress Pattern Designing from the library) a design that had a large gusset that was cut from the bodice pattern and arranged so that it had enough fabric to function ss a gusset, like the designs below where I have drawn in blue (water disolving pen).




And yesterday morning I thought, what if the segments were cut very narrow, maybe an eigth of an inch wide? (The blue lines on number 45 give a better illustration of what I mean.) That would give the same fit but with a much more traditional/discreet gusset. This way I can have a high-cut underarm for a kimono sleeve pattern. And there I was thinking that the instuctions on page 63 were the only way to get a comfortable fit! Thank goodness for the Internet, sewing bloggers and Google Images!

I've thought about it again, and I wonder if Aldrich only considers is to be a true "kimono" sleeve if it has the curve at the underarm, and without it, she calls it a cap sleeve (even if it's long)?

Update: I thought I was forgeting something!

For a closer-fitting sleeve, I wonder if it would be alright to use the "close-fitting sleeve" adaption (number 5 on page 51).



I'm wondering about the bias-cut. I think Gertie's dress was cut from a stretch fabric so that wouldn't be an issue. But what about wovens? Vintage dresses were cut from wovens and they often had quite close-fitting kimono sleeves, if the pattern illustrations and fabric recommendations are anything to go by (and I hope they are!).

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Thursday 21 February 2013

My Sewing Pattern and Rulers

One of these drafts is my old (uncomfortable) one and the other is the one I made after adapting the method in Winifred Aldrich's Metric Pattern Cutting for Women's Wear (5th Ed.). The one on top is the old one (it has an orange outline) and the one underneath is my new one with seam allowances.



It's quite bizarre how different they are, especially the back pattern. What happened there? The bust dart is the right size though (not standard; I had adapted that far).

Now for the sleeve:


There is a profound difference in the size. The old one is on top. I'm not sure if I used this pattern (it's likely though). No wonder my old sleeves were so uncomfortable. But still, you can see that the neither sleeves is  symmetrical, which is good. I agree with Kathleen on that matter.

The benefit to having such a full back sleeve (even if there may be no ease) is that the fabric acts as a sort of gusset that lets you bring your arms forward. With that and the correctly drawn armscye, I can stretch my arms right out in front of me. (Of course the bodice comes up a little, but I have had much worse sleeves on a jacket from a book called Make Your Own Clothes from PatternMaker software. That jacket never worked for me...)

On another note, I've been designing and drafting a new blouse and I have two options. Option one:


And option 2:


At first view, the designs might not look that different. They're not. The only differnce is the opening. The first option is a standard button-up. The second one has a "closing under a box pleat" with instructions similar to those in A Nu-way Course in Fashionable Clothes-making from (I think) 1926. It was on Vintage-sewing.info when it was up and I copied and pasted to and edited on Word (that took a very long time, but it was worth it). You can find it on Google's Wayback machine now.

I think I'll go with option 1 because I drafted it before I figured out how to draft option two, and it uses less fabric anyway.

On a third note, have you ever had something for ages and only then realised how incredibly useful? I have, and this is that thing:


The Pocket Shoben fashioncurve. (6" ruler in there for comparison of size). I got it for my 19th birthday in set when I got my full-size Shoben Fashion Curve. It should come in handy when I go to college in September. Anyway, is useful for smoothing out small curves (like a French curve is) and it's also great for adding seam allowances to small places. It's much more convenient than using my full-size fashion curve on something like a neck-line. This is the full set:


The rectangular thing is mainly for adding button placements to patterns. The corner thing is a scale ruler in 1/4 and 1/5 scales and is very good for that. Also included are 1/5 scales master patterns on card, but I didn't take a photograph of them.

That's all for today.

Toodloo! : )

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Tuesday 12 February 2013

"Redrafting my Sloper" or "Updating Aldrich"

For some reason when I tried on my old sloper (the one whose shoulders I found out needed squaring, after making my French Dart Dress and having the neckline gape) it didn't fit at all. That put me in a dreadful mood for the rest of the day. Today I drafted two new ones using a modified version of Aldrich's close fitting block. I drafted one to have 6cm bust ease but it ended up with none (or as good as)! It had been taken out in the shaping of the seams and darts. So I drafted new one with"10cm" ease. It fit much better so I checked the measurement along the bust line. There was only about 7.6cm ease (not what it said on the tin but fine with me and actually a "close fit"). What effect will this have on the lingerie block adaptions and the strapless bodice? The latter will have negative on the bust. That can't be right, can it?


To understand what on earth I am talking about in this post you will have to get your copy of Metric Pattern Cutting out and turn to pages 16 and 17.
Anyway, the adaptions I made to the method are these:


 

Centre Back Length:
0 -- 5: Full back length
5 --1 = centre back length ( gives much better fit at the back neck).







Back Shoulder Slope/Pitch/Squareness:
To get the shoulders the right amount of slope, use your ruler as a giant drafting compass from 5 to draft an arch for the shoulder pitch. To get the shoulder point do  similar thing from 9 using the shoulder length plus 1cm for a dart.

Armscye Depth:
0 -- 2 = Armscye Depth + 2cm (I used the standard measurement).

Centre Front Length:
For front length go down from 4 the full front length measurement and mark "x". Measure up from x the centre front length. This gives a more comfortable neckline. 20-27 = DART WIDTH. 20-26 is bust depth marked along the dotted line.

Front Shoulder Slope/Pitch/Squareness:
The shoulder is drawn much like the back shoulder was, but using 27 as the neck point. For the pitch, go up from x to the bust point and then use the bust point as the pivot point. Arch from 27 the shoulder length. Where the arches cross is the shoulder point. On my new sloper it is level with the back shoulder point even though my front pitch is 2cm longer than my back pitch.

Armscye:
Divide 29-22 in half and mark. Connect the point and 32 straight. Slide your square along this line until its arm hits 22. Connect straight, divide into 3 and mark the point nearest 22. Curve from 30 to half-point to third-point to 32.

Repeat for the back armscye except that you use the third-point further from 14. You will probably have to draw these curves by hand (i.e. without a french curve).

Waist-shaping:
12cm shaping is not going to work for everybody. The amount you need to take the waist in will of course depend on how small it is compared with your bust, i.e. 

(bust + ease of 10cm) - (waist + ease of 6cm)
(79+10cm)-(60+6cm) = 23cm, divided by 2 (for a half-a-person pattern) =11.5cm

Then divided that by 3 (=3.8). We'll call this w.

For the front waist dart you add 0.5cm to this. 3.8 + 0.5 = 4.3cm

For the front side shaping (i.e. how much you take the side seam in at the front) you divide w by 2 and add 0.5. 3.8 / 2 = 1.9cm, + 0.5 = 2.4cm

The back side-seam shaping is w/2 - 0.5cm: 3.8cm/2 -0.5cm = 0.9cm.

The back dart is ((w - 0.5cm)/3) x 2 : ((3.8cm-0.5cm)/3) x 2 = (3.3/3 = 1.1) x 2 = 2.2cm

The centre back waist shaping is (- 0.5cm)/3: 3.3/3 = 1.1cm


I think the CB shaping helps avoid swayback misdiagnosis. This is like a dart that is in a seam so you must still leave the original drawn CB line for when you add extend down to the hip line. Once you have tried this CB shaping I think you will be very pleased with the difference it makes to your dresses and tops.

(12th July 3013) UPDATE: 
The standard proportion of waist shaping show above doesn't work for everybody (me) because some people have more shaping at the back than at the front. Therefore a better, more personalised way is needed, and this is how I do it:

Subtract a quarter of the waist+ease measurement (Here 66 divided by 4 = 16.5cm) from the front bust-line meausurement (3--32 on the above drawing) and call this F. Divide F by three and call this f. The front dart is 2f (so you can just measure out f from the front waist dart line), and the front side waist shaping is f. That's the front waist done.

The back shaping is done like this:
Subtract a quarter of the waist+ease measurement (16.5cm) from the back bustline measurement (here line 2--22). Call this B. The back waist dart is 0.5B. The CB shaping is 0.2B. The side seam shaping is 0.3B. If you like you can probably equalize the side seam shaping.

Hip-darts:
The darts are extended 3/4 waist to hip (on me 3/4 20cm = 15cm).

Hip measurments:
The back hips should also be bigger than the front hips. This makes a real difference to the hang of the garment when it's unbuttoned (like a dressmaker summer jacket). It you have the pattern's back hips too narrow and the front hips too wide, you will find the garment swings open when unbuttoned and when it's closed, the front will have flare and the back will bubble up above the hem; it won't be smooth. 

So you see, the garment swinging open is not always because of the shoulders or bust. They might be fitted perfectly but the garment still swings. To find out how much bigger your back hips should be compared with your front hips, have the tape measure around your hips with the start at where you feel your side seam should be and the lower numbers to your front. Put your finger nail on the other imaginary side seam and, taking care to keep the measurement "marked", remove the tape measure. Now you have your front hip measurement and your full hip measurement. Take your front hips from your full hips and you have your back hip measurement. (It's worth noting these down by the way).

Divide this measurement in two.
Suppose the full hip measurement were 88cm and the front hips were 43cm. That means the back hips are 45cm. The pattern will use half-measurements so we have:
Full hips: 44cm
Front hips: 21.5cm
Back hips: 22.5cm.

This means that for the pattern's sake we have a difference of 22.5cm-21.5cm=1cm difference between the front and back hips (2cm in real life). So even after ease has been added the hip measurement, and that number divided in four for the front and back patterns, we add 0.5cm to the back hips and take 0.5cm from the front hips for a difference of 1cm on the pattern.
88cm + 6cm ease = 94cm
94cm / 4 = 23.5cm
Front: 23.5cm - 0.5cm = 23cm
Back: 23.5cm + 0.5cm = 24cm
Difference = 1cm on the half-a-person pattern, total 2cm difference in real life.


My Toile/Muslin




[My hat is off to those blogger who can take a good photograph of themselves (especially a backview). Do they have lightweight cameras or tripods or something?]

I think these adaptions should avoid many fitting problems, but I would love to know what you think. If you have blogged about it, please add a link in a comment below and (as long as it's not spam) I'll enable the comment (comments with links seem to go straight to spam).

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