Neat and Tidy Facing

Here is an easy, beautiful way to finish a shaped facing.

De-constructing this from the outside in:Above is the finished facing on the center front princess piece of McCall's 5426.

Opening it out, you see I have used self-fabric for the interfacing. Now, ideal would have been some cream colored batiste or lawn, but I don't have that at the moment. So I have oriented the self fabric so that the wrong side (which is lighter) will face the outside of the garment when folded in. Why a sew-in interfacing for a blouse? Well, why not? Especially with this method, where you are going to sew the interfacing in anyway to finish the edge of the facing. Sew in interfacing is less risky...it won't bubble in the wash! But, yes, you could do this technique with a fusible as well if you like. Orient the fusible so you sew it right side of fusible to right side of facing, then understitch, turn the fusible side in under the facing and fuse.

Opening the facing/interfacing out one more time, you see the seam between the two. I have used a 1/4" seam allowance b/c to use 5/8" would have made the facing a bit too thin. I have also understitched the interfacing to encourage the interfacing/facing seam to roll to the underside and become invisible.
You could use this technique to nicely finish any kind of facing. I especially like it for a keyhole opening, waist facing, or, as in this case, a blouse center front.

One final note: I always tell my students to do the most difficult sewing tasks (i.e., cutting) when they are freshest. But, as Jedi Master Yoda would say, "Practice what I preach, I don't." So, I cut all the blouse pieces out last night. I was thrilled to have them done...until this morning when I discovered I had cut all the color, stand, and interfacing pieces doubled so that I had two right sides of everything. Nothing was mirrored! Duh!

Undercollars Part 2 - Grain

Collars fold and curl and turn, so it makes sense that they should be cut on the most supple, malleable "grain," bias. This may not be quite as crucial as the shape and size of under collars, but the two techniques together do make for a beautifully curling, smooth, faultless collar.

Just to review, here is a comparison of the two collar pieces of Vogue 7467, a suit jacket pattern.As noted yesterday, the under collar piece (here, the lower piece) is smaller in size at the edges (not the neckline.) Note now it also has a center back seam, and a bias-oriented grain arrow. Let's re-draw the grain arrow. When you're drafting the under collar piece yourself it's easier to draw that grain arrow as a 45° line from the CB seamline. Remember, the grain of the upper collar runs along the CB. We want the under collar to be exactly bias to the upper, or 45° off. I've drawn in a new grain line with green marker. My grain line is perpendicular to the pattern's given grain line...that's OK, because we'll be cutting two under collar pieces and they'll be perpendicular to each other anyway.

Early on in my sewing life I must've read that bias under collars were a good thing....but hadn't read yet about creating smaller under collar patterns. So, in making the little fleece and corduroy jacket I'm about to show you, I diligently cut a bias under collar. But I cut it with the upper collar pattern piece, and on a fold. In other words, I cut it on a bias fold (thinking myself Oh So Clever), like this:Well, here are the less than ideal results. Firstly, can you see all the bunching of the corduroy under collar? There is too much fabric b/c I used the upper collar pattern to cut it. Second, and this is what's most important today...look at the grain of the corduroy and keeping in mind that the wales of corduroy represent the lengthwise grain....can you see that the lengthwise grain runs into one collar tip, and across the other collar tip? In other words, both collar tips are cut on bias, but one tip is "dominated" by the lengthwise grain, and the other is "dominated" by the crosswise grain. And b/c lengthwise and crosswise grains are so different, the collar tips will behave quite differently. (In this case one tip will curl up in a more pronounced way than the other since the under collar is too big in the first place.)This is why anytime you cut something with a bias orientation the bias must be balanced. And *that* is why we've added the CB seam.

In order to mirror the under collar pieces you must cut them on a single layer of fabric, flipping the pattern perpendicular for the second piece. Like this:
first piece:second piece:or, alternatively if you create two under collar pattern pieces the layout it will look like this:When sewn, this mirroring effect will create a nifty chevron effect on plaids or stripes at the CB under collar, like this:There are umpteen ways to construct collars and I'm not prepared to go into those now. But one thing is constant for me....understitching the under collar. It may be done with invisible hand-stitches, prick stitches, machine straight stitching, or even, in the case of heavy spongy wools, zigzagging, but it is the icing of the cake of collars!

p.s. I finally noticed that "upper collar" and "under collar" are not compound words! I hope you'll forgive me if I don't go back over the past 6 months of posts and correct them all...

With Nap Layout

I almost always use a with nap layout, no matter the fabric. Sometimes a fabric may have a very subtle nap, or direction, and you do not want to find this out after the garment is made, the first time you wear it outside and the sun hits you just so.

Nap, or direction, refers to a fabrics one-way qualities.

Nap usually refers to a one-way texture. These are fabrics like velvet or corduroy, on which your fingers leave a "trail" when run along the lengthwise grain. These fabrics also tend to look darker or lighter, matte or shiny, depending on your lengthwise perspective. If you cut a gored skirt on one of these fabrics without regard to nap, then some of the gores will look darker than others.

Note: Satins and other "flat" fabrics might also have nap/direction. Be careful!

Directional fabrics may also have a pattern or print that is not symmetrical lengthwise. Fabric with printed trees is a good example. Most will want all the trunks pointing to the feet and leaves towards the head. (But, hey, you're the designer!)

Because I often have a hard time determining whether a fabric has nap or direction, I have gotten into the habit of always using what the pattern companies call a "with nap" layout. Simply put, I lay out my pattern pieces so that the "head ends" are at one end and the "feet ends" at the other.

Here is my daughter's long awaited winter coat being cut, (on the floor b/c I was not sure I'd have enough fabric and wanted to make sure I could get all pieces on before cutting)...

There is a subtle nap to this wool. It is difficult to see, but lightly running one's fingertips along it lengthwise reveals that it has a slight pile that feels smoother in one direction. I am cutting so the nap "runs downward," or so that it feels smoothest from neck to hem. That is traditional. However, as I said, you are the designer. I have also cut things the other way, in order to get a deeper looking color.

Notes: See the collar pieces that extend past the fabric fold? One, the piece on the left, is smaller. That is the under collar piece. The piece to the right is the upper collar piece and it is bigger. Experienced sewers know that whenever you are turning a collar, at least one that does not have a separate stand, the upper piece must be relatively bigger or the under collar will peek out from underneath, wrinkle, bunch up, and cause the points to turn up, looking very unprofessional. When a pattern gives you one collar piece only and instructs you to "cut two," one for upper and one for under collars, that is a bad pattern. You must either re-draft the piece to make an under collar pattern that is smaller around the outer edge and point, or trim the under collar after cutting (do not trim the neck edge.) This is due to turn of cloth and I hope to get out a detailed post on the subject after the holidays.

Additionally, I hope to post about making under collars bias. I have not yet pinned these collars to the layout because I haven't decided if I will make a bias under collar. Bias under collars curl around the neck more easily and gracefully. Again, I would like to post on this in more detail when I have a bit more time to give it the attention it deserves. But if you are cutting an under collar now, feel free to write for more info.