A Monumental Achievement

I know, it's not a big deal, it's a blouse. McCall's 5426.

But it's the first thing I made myself since the Vogue jacket of October of 2-double-ought-7. I managed to do most of it on 3 nights when my family was on a trip.

Sewing at night is a mistake. I've told my students this. But...it was my chance and I took it. As a consequence I had to re-cut all the interfacing and half the facings. Also, I incorrectly sewed on the stand about 3 times. I had it in my head that it had to be lined up with the center front, not the edge (there's an overlap) and I stared and stared at the picture and it just didn't click... Well, finally it did, but I'm embarrassed to tell you how long it took. Suffice it to say that the sun set and rose at least once in the interim.
So anyway, I'm knee deep in costumes, but here's the blouse. Oh, and these Made-for-You patterns are great. I saved quite a bit of time by just cutting out the right cup size. (I still used my high bust to select the pattern size.) I made my other usual alterations - narrowing the shoulders, shortening the waist, lowering the bust (ahem) and adding upteen inches to the hips. It fits perfect, better on me than on Gerlinde here. But my daughter, Her Highness, can not be bothered to photograph me at this time. She is doing homework, don't you know, not to be disturbed ;)

Made-For-You Patterns

(yeah, that's me, I lost weight and got a perm!)

Well, I just started to cut a blouse pattern out for myself. I've had this one, McCall's 5426, since last spring. But I'm determined to make some decent things for myself. I'm tired of buying blouses at the mall that shrink up to useless wrinkly rags after a couple washes.

I didn't even notice that this pattern is labeled MADE-FOR-YOU. Apparently, this means that there are different bodice fronts for different bust cup sizes. Eureka!!! It's about damn time.

But then I was left with a quandary...should I use my high bust measurement to chose my pattern size, as I usually do, or my full bust size?

So, I compared both front pieces for the C-D cup with the front pieces for the smaller cups. It appears that the neck and shoulders are identical. So, I will chose the same pattern size that I would had I expected to have to do a FBA, according to the high bust measurement. We'll see how this works.

Let's hope I do better with this blouse than I did with my daughter's winter coat (still in a pile of tissue/fabric pinned pieces.) If I do, then I need about 3 more blouses. Not to mention pants that fit. I used to make almost all my clothes. What happened to that??

In any case, if you're bigger than a B-cup and need to regularly make an FBA, why not search for this MADE-FOR-YOU line? I haven't seen it promoted much, but it's there....and maybe if they sell a lot of them, other pattern companies will follow suit.

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...

Undercollars Part One - Cut

Undercollars may not, and should not, show in a finished garment, but they often are the factor that makes or breaks it.

Basically, there are two essential considerations regarding undercollars - Cut and Grain.

Today I'll do my best to explain how to best cut an undercollar to take advantage of the principle of turn-of-cloth. Turn-of-cloth is what they ("they", all-knowing magnificent wise ones of sewing I guess, or maybe just "they" who've done it wrong before and learned the hard way) call the simple geometric fact that when two equal length anythings are curled one around the other, the outer anything will not reach the same point as the inner anything b/c it travels around the longer arc circumference. How's that for clear as mud? It's intuitive, but hard to put into words. So...pics...

Here are two magazines. They are the same size and shape. But when one is curled around the other, the edges don't meet up. That is because the outer magazine is traveling around a longer arc. It has further to go b/c it's on the outside of the arc (which is part of a bigger circle)...but it's the same size, so it stops sooner. Here are two pieces of paper. They are the same size and shape though different colors for illustration. When they are curved around one another the outer layer, again, does not meet the inner b/c it has a longer route to travel. The paper is thinner though, so their arcs are closer together and the difference in where they end is less pronounced. (See the bit of yellow paper underneath peeking out?)The same goes for fabric. Thick pieces of fabric, cut to the same size but curled over eachother, will end up farther apart than thin pieces of fabric treated the same way.

Here are two collar pieces I've cut from a coat's uppercollar pattern. The brown is melton wool (heavy coating wool) and the bottom is black wide wale corduroy. I've pinned them together at the neck edge, where they'll be sewn into the neckline. Here they are flat. Flat is fine if you intend to forever wear your collar turned up like The Fonz.But here are the same pinned together collar pieces shaped into an actual 3-D collar. Yikes! See all that excess black undercollar fabric? That will do several really icky things. It'll bunch up underneath the collar. It'll peek out to the front of the garment. And it'll cause the collar tips to flip up and outward mimicking the Flying Nun's hat.This is why many quality patterns will include a separate undercollar pattern. Here are the collar patterns from Vogue 7467, under collar placed on top of upper collar, necklines exactly lined up. Note the undercollar is smaller on the outer edges. (You will also note that the undercollar has a CB seam allowance whereas the upper collar is cut on the fold, and that has to do with Part Two's topic - Grain of undercollars.)
This is an appropriate cut for suiting wools. However, had I decided to use this pattern for coating wool, I would increase the difference b/w the two collar pieces by either adding more to the upper or trimming the undercollar pattern piece. How much? Well, doing a test like that I've shown you with the brown coating and corduroy, but using the actual garment fabrics, will tell you just how much smaller the undercollar needs to be. Simply measure the distance it peeks out after you've pinned it in place and curved it into collar shape.

Similarly, if you are working with a pattern that provides only one collar piece with instructions to "cut two on fold" (one for upper and one for lower collars) then you can easily create a better undercollar pattern.

Simply stated, you must trace the collar pattern, trim the outer edges as much as determined in your test, trimming a bit more around the back than at the front edges.

Then, if you really want a professional looking collar, you will also add a seam allowance to the undercollar's CB and change its grainline to bias. I'll talk more on the benefit of bias undercollars and how to cut them tomorrow. If I don't get some work done here I'm going to be sorry tomorrow when clients come knocking!

Raising Armholes

One reason many sewists like European patterns like Burda is that the armholes are higher. Contrary to what may be one's first intuition, the lower the armhole, the less movement one has in the arm.

I like to think of it this way - imagine if the armhole was down by your wrist. Ridiculous, yes, but anyway....if the armhole is at the wrist, your sleeve is attached to your jacket at the wrist. As soon as you raise your arm, your jacket hem comes with it.

OK, so if your armhole is down at your elbow, then in effect your sleeve is attached to your jacket at about waist level. You will be able to move your arm out a bit, maybe 30° from your side, but that's about it.

If the armhole is at bust level, you might get another 10° of movement. But you're not really going to be able to move that arm up very much until the armhole/jacket attachment is right up under the arm.

If you take a look at your RTW clothing you'll see how this works. Things that are fitted in the torso and sleeves allow for a lot of freedom of movement of the arm. Athletic wear, fitted sweaters, and fitted tees are good examples. Check out those armholes...they are very high on the shoulder and high under the arm.

I think that people get confused b/c they associate loosely fitted garments with freedom of movement and the more loosely fitted a garment is, the lower the armhole is. In the case of a boxy cardigan style jacket for example...The armhole is big and low, but the side of the jacket stands out about half a mile from your actual torso. So when you move your arm up, all that flappy stuff underneath moves around too, and you don't really notice it b/c it's all over at the neighbor's house anyway.

OK, so back to the point of the post...many American pattern company's jacket armholes may have to be raised for more freedom of movement. I recently raised a Vogue jacket armhole by 1 1/4" (after that post, I added even more to the underarm!) It's easy to raise an armhole...just remember that what you do on the sleeve, you must do on the torso, and visa versa.

I raised the jacket torso armhole in the underarm piece here: (I'm not a neat pattern-alterer!)
So I had to raise the sleeve underarm here:
(The purple "design" is where I matched the plaid to the armhole...I couldn't see my pencil marks.)

What if it had been a one piece sleeve and traditional front/back bodice with no underarm piece? I would have raised the torso underarm like this:And I'd have to raise the sleeve underarm like this:
So what if you forget to raise a low armhole before cutting your fashion fabric? Well, then you make a gusset. Laura did this for her Chanel jacket recently.

Can you see that when you put the front and back torso together the raised armhole parts make a kind of half football shape?Ditto for the sleeve parts:And of course two half football shapes make a whole football shape: (imagine this as a person with their arm up in the air)You can draft and cut a football shaped gusset and add it into your garment even after you've cut the fashion fabric. This dress has a gusset though you won't see it unless she reaches for the sky.

Tissue-fittting my daughter's Vogue #7979 coat yesterday I determined that the armhole is pretty good. It' s about 6 1/2" deep. I think that for an outerwear coat, that is probably sufficient. But considering my recent experience with my own jacket armhole, and b/c I didn't make a muslin, I'll probably raise it a bit for cutting and the first fitting. The thing about raising the armhole is that you can always scoop it out later. But if it's too short, you have to go through the much more tedious job of creating a gusset.

OK, enough underarm stuff, huh? Perhaps I should get on to doing some hem$.

Tissue Fitting

It's not always necessary to make a muslin, or a mock-up, of your garment to be. Sometimes a process called tissue fitting will suffice. The trick, naturally, is to know when. I rely on tissue fitting when most of the following conditions apply:

• The garment is for me or mine
• I'm reasonably sure of the fitting changes that will need to be made
• The person, if not me, is relatively easy to fit
• The garment is fairly loosely fitted
• The fabric is not terribly precious (i.e., I can afford to replace it)
• I'm feeling lucky

I will also often use a tissue fitting before making a muslin to get an instant, visual idea of what pattern alterations will need to be made.

To assemble a pattern for tissue fitting, pin the pieces together just as you would sew the pieces together were they fabric. keep in mind the 5/8" seam allowances (on American patterns) and be sure you are pinning pieces together along the unmarked, imaginary, seam lines. In other words, pins will be 5/8" in from the cut edges of the pieces. Just as your stitched seams will be 5/8" in from the cut edges of your fabric later.

There are some exceptions to assembling the entire piece in tissue. For example, I have not pinned the sleeve into this coat. The pins around the set in sleeve will be too awkward. When my daughter tries on the tissue, I will slide the sleeve up her arm and secure it with just a couple pins at the shoulder and near the notches.

Note that you will only have half a tissue garment since you are only given one side of the entire garment in tissue.

This is crucial:

When you try on the half garment, make sure that the center front and center back line up with your center front and center back. Do not mistake the cut edge of the tissue pattern piece with the center front and center back. Unless the piece is cut on the fold, the center front and back will be at least 5/8" inside the cut edge of the piece. Note the marked centers....they are what must line up with your sternum/navel and spine. If the tissue garment's CF and CB do not reach from your CF around to your CB then the pattern must be widened. Be extra careful that the half garment is wide enough from the bust, all the way down past the hips. Often, it may be plenty wide enough around the top, but not nearly wide enough around the hips, or visa versa.

In the photo above, the center front line is the long vertical line. It's a good 1 1/2" in from the cut edge of the pattern piece. It is this marked CF line, not the edge, that must line up with the center of the body (the sternum and navel.)
In the photo below, there is 5/8" between the actual center back and the cut edge of the pattern, so I've extended the piece 5/8" past the form's center:
For best results, have someone actually pin the center backs and fronts to your clothing. Once you are in the tissue half garment, then, and have by necessity evaluated the width at bust, waist and hips, proceed to evaluate the following:

• Are the shoulders wide enough or too wide?
• Is the armhole high enough? (When in doubt, raise the base of the armhole and sleeve, you can remove it later, but to raise it you would have to add a gusset.)
  
• Is the length appropriate?
• Is the waist in the right place?
• Are darts in the right places?
  
• Are the details in the right places? For example, is the pocket in an attractive, accessible place for me?

Again, remember, whenever evaluating an edge, that 5/8" will not be there in the final garment. (Beginners find this a difficult concept, which is why I stress it.) So if the edge of the tissue's shoulder just makes it to your shoulder joint, then the shoulders need to be widened. The cut edge of the tissue should extend at least 5/8" past your shoulder crest. (By shoulder crest, I mean the the end of the clavicle bone...the uppermost tip of the shoulder....not the lateral most part of the deltoid.)

When you have evaluated the main body of the garment, slip the sleeve on over your arm and secure it up at the shoulder, overlapping the seam line of the cap with the seam line of the armhole. Now look at the sleeve and evaluate:

• Sleeve length
• Sleeve width

When I evaluate a tissue fitting, if I find that I am going to need to make any involved pattern alterations, then I will probably go on to make a muslin. For example, if I find, during tissue fitting, that the shoulder, bust, or armscye areas need attention, I will make pattern corrections, then make a muslin. ***In other words, I will not rely on a tissue fitting for anything more complicated than the most basic width (add or take away in the side seams) or length (move waist or hems up or down). Yet, it can be a valuable tool either alone, or preceding a muslin.

Finally! Vogue Jacket Done!

I've been busy, as evidenced by my lack of posts lately. One thing I've been doing is finishing up the Claire Shaeffer couture jacket, Vogue 7467. Here's a few shots taken by the future fashion photographer, my daughter.

This is how I'll probably wear it ~
I'm stylin' huh?

Here's a close up of the sleeve vents and pocket ~
And some inside finishing ~
Something I really liked about Claire Shaeffer's construction method is that when you're done, you're really done. Lining and finishing steps like hemming and topstitching are done throughout the process . Once the sleeves were set all that was left was to hand sew the lining armscyes and sew on the buttons.

Now that it's done I'm sure I'll wear it a lot. I think I need another though. Don't you?

Altering the Jacket Pattern

Still working with Vogue 7467, the Claire Shaeffer jacket, I've completed the initial pattern alterations.

If you do length alterations after width alterations, the latter may disturb the former and lines will have to be re-drawn. So generally it's best to complete length alterations first.
I found this FBA (full bust alteration) was tricky as I didn't want to disturb the placement of the upper welt pocket. I considered cutting the welt box out on 3 sides (2 long and one short) and folding it back out of the way, making my FBA as I usually do (by cutting to the armhole), than plopping the welt back down. But I decided to do the alteration this way which also has the advantage of not adding any fullness in the upper chest. I also moved the upper dart apex down an inch. Redrawing the dart, I debated whether I should make it deeper since I've added more at the waist. It's slightly deeper but I did not want to go too far. I can take more out at the muslin fitting if necessary.
I wish I were a neater pattern alterer, but I'm not. Things always seem to look a mess when I'm done with them. But, usually, they work well. Yes, I'm knocking on wood. (Had to knock on a pencil, that's the only wood I've got in reach at the moment...think that counts?)

In the front and back I took 1/2" off the shoulder.
I may end up taking more out of the center back, but again, I will decide that when I get the muslin on - I don't want to have to undo pattern alterations later.

Evaluating a Pattern for Alterations

When my sewing mentor guided me through my first real quality garment, she taught me to evaluate the pattern tissue by making a chart comparing my measurements with the pattern's and calculating the difference between them. Over the years I have come to use less measurements than the 19 she originally used with me. As I've developed my own sewing style I've come to prefer to make less initial adjustments, as they can get confusing and there are always more changes to be made at the time of muslin anyway. I've also learned which adjustments are most important to my fitting issues. You will learn to optimize your own list in the same way. Perhaps you have larger biceps but waist length is not an issue for you. In your chart you would include the former and exclude the latter.

I am using a Claire Shaeffer Vogue pattern. I have rough cut the pattern pieces, and because there are so many, I separated them into two piles...

1. Pieces needed for the muslin
2. Pieces not needed for the muslin - interfacings and linings - no need to alter those until I've perfected the fit of the muslin

I ironed the tissue pieces with a warm, dry, iron because they were hopelessly smooshed.

Now I've made my chart, which looks like this :Explanations:

• I have used my high bust measurement to determine my upper torso size b/c I am larger than a B-cup and all patterns are, of course, a B-cup. If I were to cut the upper torso corresponding to my full bust size, the garment would be too big around the neck and shoulders. I will have to make a full bust adjustment, or FBA.
• I have made notations as to what size I must cut where, taking advantage of the nested sizing of the pattern pieces. I will cut a 12 around the neck and shoulders (and sleeve), a 14 at the waist, and a 16 towards the hips. Yes, my hips correspond to a size 18+, but that is a full hip measurement and the jacket barely reaches full hips.
  
• In some instances I have used the pattern standard measurement (what they have stated on their sizing chart - first column on my chart) and where they do not state a standard measurement I have physically measured the pattern (2nd column on my chart.) There is an important distinction. The pattern standard measurement indicates the actual body measurement of the woman for whom the pattern was drafted. (Usually they only give you bust, waist and hips.) Now, the actual pattern measurements includes design and wearing ease. You obtain these values by measuring the tissue pieces. (Or, in some cases, the bust, waist, and hip actual pattern measurements are printed on the pattern tissue in the appropriate places.)
  

**** Either and/or both types of measurements can be used to determine which changes to make to your pattern as long as you understand that in order to maintain the line of the original design, you must maintain the original amount of ease in the pattern. How do you know how much ease was designed into the original pattern? Well, if the pattern standard waist measurement is 30" and the pattern measures 32" around the waist, then there is 2" of ease around the waist. Unfortunately that only works when you know the pattern standard measurements, and the bust, waist and hips is all they're likely to reveal. (Why, oh why?????) In other areas, shoulders or biceps for example, you will have to consult a reference to determine how much ease is recommended in those areas. Alternatively, you can purchase a pattern company's "fitting shell" which will represent body measurements plus wearing ease only...no design ease. You can compare the fitting shell bodice to the fashion garment bodice to get an idea of how much design ease is incorporated into the style. ****

• Be sure, when you measure a pattern, to leave out the seam allowances, fold out darts, and to double appropriate measurements. For example, when measuring the back shoulder width, I measure like this...

Then I double that measurement b/c the pattern only covers half of the jacket back, and get 8.5" + 8.5' = 17". If there had been a back shoulder dart, I'd have folded it out before measuring.

So, the pattern's back shoulder width is 17" and I've recorded that on my chart under the "pattern measures" column. My references tell me that there should be about an inch of ease across the upper back and that the shoulder point can extend up to 3/4" beyond the natural shoulder joint. So I will take 1" out of the shoulders leaving 16" or my body's 15" plus 1" of ease.

• Here I have measured the back waist length, always an issue for me -
  

The pattern's back waist length is 16 1/4". My measurement is 15 1/2". There is no ease in back waist length. So I will move the waistline up 3/4".

• Whoever has arms that long??? I am only going to remove 1" of length for the muslin however, since I like the sleeves longer than standard and it'll be easier to take more out of the pattern than to put it back in.
  

Next Steps:
Once I have made my chart I will sit down with my favorite fitting book/s and make a plan for altering the pattern pieces. Then I'll be ready to alter the patterns and make an initial muslin.

Circular Ruffles

A.K.A. the "flounce."

Still on sewing geometry in general and circles in particular, we come to my favorite thing about circles...the way they ruffle. Nothing is more feminine, more graceful, than a circular ruffle.

Circular ruffles, or flounces, are made of circular rings, just like circular skirts. However, in most cases, you will want more than one complete circle to make up your ruffle. The reason is that a single circle, applied in a one-to-one ratio to a circular opening, say a neckline, will just lie flat, like a facing. In order for a circular ruffle to ruffle it's attachment edge must be somewhat straightened out.

You can experiment with this easily enough. Cut a rough muslin circle, with a circular hole in the middle large enough to go around a neckline (about 19 or 20"). This one is 19" around the interior and 2.5" deep.
It just lays around Suzie's neck like a collar or facing. Not very exciting.

Here is the same circle, cut in one place and laid so the interior circle is straight:

Pretty, right? Of course, it can't be straightened out and go around her neck at the same time. But if we use several smaller circles, like this one -
- it will have to open out to be sewn to the neckline:
The magic happens again. However, this circular will only make it around about 1/3 of the way so we'd need three of these smaller circles to surround the entire neckline.

**The more circles you use for your flounce, the rufflier it'll be.** (There is probably some kind of mathematical explanation for this. I have a brother-in-law who wrote a whole book on the number zero and I will have to ask him when he's back from sabbatical.)

To determine how many circles you want to use, experiment with muslin, just as I did here.

**In some cases one circle may be sufficient for a very gentle ruffle. Sewn to the straight hemline of a skirt, for example, a circle must be opened out and will ruffle when hanging down. But in many other cases you will want more fullness. 2, 3, or more circles.

How do you calculate the exact size of the rings?

Remember:

Circumference = 2 X pi X radius
C = 6.3 X radius

Say you are making a triple circle ruffle around a neckline that is 20" around its seamline.

20"is the finished circumference of the neckline ruffle, the seamline, not the cutting line.

But there are 3 circles, so each is 20"/3 = 6.7" in circumference.

But, wait...you will need seam allowances to attach the circles to each other.

6.7" + 2 seam allowances =
6.7" + 5/8" + 5/8" = 7.95"

The inner circle you will draw will have a circumference of 7.95" (Go ahead and call it 8"...take a walk on the wild side!)

In order to draw a circle with a circumference of 8, what is the radius?

C= 2 pi r
C=6.3r
8=6.3r
r = 1.27"
Yeah, make it 1 1/4"

If you want a 2" ruffle, draw another circle around the first, 2" away (or from the same center with a radius of 3 1/4")

Now you have a donut with enough dough for 2 seam allowances when you slash it through the line:You must also provide for seam allowances at the neck and hem. Draw those in:Note, I've only drawn them partially, b/c it's hard to do in Paint. (By the way, circles and other geometric shapes are very easy to draft in a CAD program such as comes with Wild Ginger's pattern drafting software Pattern Master Boutique. - I just can't figure out how to get the drawings from there to here...)

Now you are ready to cut three circles, assemble them and attach to the neckline.

You can hem circular ruffles just as you'd hem a straight ruffle. By narrow hemming, serger rolling, or lining with more circles.

Had enough math yet? I have!

Circle Skirt Variations

Once you understand how to draft a circle skirt, why not experiment with some variations?

You can draft a handkerchief hem like this. You simply draft a circle skirt and square off the outer circle.




A full circle (or square) skirt has all grains in it. Lengthwise, Crosswise, and Bias. That can make it tricky to hem.

Perhaps you'd like a straight grain skirt, and you're not a Spanish dancer so you'd prefer the fullness of just a half circle (and a half circle skirt is still very full.) How would you do that?

Gores!

Draft a half circle skirt by doubling your waist measurement. Divide half the resulting half circle into 6 equal sections. I would add seam allowances to the gore piece afterwards to avoid confusion.

Note how the grain lines are straight down the center of each pattern piece.

For a drapier skirt you could cut gores on the bias. However, to balance the bias, you would need an even number of gores with center front and back seams, and an 8 gore skirt would be preferable.


Note: If bias is unbalanced, it will stretch more in one direction than the other b/c lengthwise and crosswise grains differ. That is why, when you have a skirt that is bias, but the entire front is cut in one piece, over time it gets longer on one side. Were there a center front seam, and the sides balanced, it would stretch evenly.

When you cut bias pieces, corresponding left and rights must mirror each other in the layout, like left and right hands.

If these are the right and left center front pieces, this is the wrong way to lay them out. There is no point in the seam between them, they may as well be cut as one. This will be unbalanced.
This, rather, is the correct way - the pieces are mirror images. These bias pieces will balance each other.
Note: Mirroring of pattern pieces is also necessary for other bias pieces, such as undercollars. That is why there is a center back seam in an undercollar.

Of course whole books could be written on bias. Unfortunately, no one has. If only Madame Vionnet had put her expertise to paper.... Maybe bias is so fluid that it just can't be captured in that way.

More on bias, and gores, here.

Next geometric post - circular ruffles.

The Magic of a Circle

I love geometrics. Garments with geometric shapes, prints with geometrics, geometrics in nature. Circles are among the most fascinating of creatures.

Circular skirts are the quintessential feminine garment. And you needn't have a pattern to create one. All you need is a bit of junior high math, an improvised compass, and some wide paper.

I learned about the magic of circular skirts (and ruffles...more on those later in the week) in one of my all-time favorite sewing books, Couture - The Art of Fine Sewing by Roberta Carr. I love this book so much I've considered buying a second in case anything happens to this one. If you can only buy one sewing book for the rest of your life, buy this one.

The magic formula for circles is this:
Circumference = 2 X pi X radius
or, C=2πr

π, if you remember your geometry (remember when you thought geometry would be useless in "real life?") = 3.14, so -

C=2(3.14)r or C=6.3r

Now lets say your waist is 30" around.

A circular skirt is really a ring, made up of an interior circle at the waist and exterior circle at the hem. The length of the skirt is the distance b/w the two. Both circles are drawn from the same center point. But the radius of the outer circle = the radius of the first + length of the skirt.

If the seamline of the waist opening is 30" then the inner circle circumference must be 30". You must also add at least one set of seam allowances to the circle's circumference so that you have an opening. Let's say we'll use SA's of 5/8" for a center back seam.

C = 30" + 5/8" + 5/8"
31.25" = 6.3r
r = 4.96"

Round that to a 5" radius and the world won't come to an end.

So you will draw the inner circle with a radius of 5"

The length of your skirt of course determines the distance of the outer circle from the inner. Perhaps you want a knee length skirt of 22" with a narrow hem allowance of 5/8". You will draw the outer circle with a radius of 5" + 22 5/8" = 27 3/8" from the center.

Note: When you have to draw a circle larger than the largest width of your compass you can improvise a compass by tying a long string to a pencil. Then measure the length of the string from the pencil and mark the radius you want, in our case 27 3/8", right on the string. Stab a pin through that mark and through the center of the pattern paper and swing the pencil around to draw the circle.

****Don't forget that the inner circle represents the waist seamline. You must also add a seam allowance above the inner circle for attachment to the waistband. (Yes, you can figure this into your calculations by subtracting the seam allowance from the radius of the inner circle, but since it's a small circle, I think it makes things simpler to just add it later.)

Once you have created your pattern and cut your fabric circle, you can cut a center back seam, preferably on an area of straight grain.

If you make a longer skirt, though, you may not be able to cut the entire skirt in one piece. You will have to cut two half circles or 4 quarter circles. You must take seam allowances into account when you are drafting. If, for example, you are going to cut the skirt in four pieces, you must add the width of 8 seam allowances to your original waist measurement. Like this:

W = 30"
SAs = 5/8" X 8
Circumference of inner circle = 30 + 5 = 35"
35" = 6.3r
r = 5.5"

Now you can draw your circles and divide them into four pattern pieces knowing that you've added in enough room for the 4 seams.

Perhaps you don't want your skirt quite as full as a whole circle. You can draft a half circle skirt. You will still need to circle your 30" waist, but with half as much volume in the skirt. You need to draft the inner circle twice as big as your waist so you can use only half of it. (For this skirt, I will add SAs after drafting b/c I simply can't get my mind around whether or not I should double those as well!)

C = 60
C=6.3r
60=6.3r
r=9.5"

Now you can draft a half circle with a radius of 9.5". Draft a second half circle for the hem plus hem allowance as above. Cut your pattern piece, and add seam allowance above the waist seamline and at center back.

Perhaps a full circle isn't full enough for you. You are tall and thin, like a human gazelle, like Heidi Klum. You can make a gathered circle skirt.

2X fullness would be about standard. But you want a fairly tale skirt in pink chiffon to wear under a silk corset bodice. So you're going to go for 3X fullness!

Simply triple the circumference of the inner circle. Obviously you will need to cut this skirt in several pieces, let's say 6 pieces.

W=30 X 3 = 90"
SAs for 6 gores = 12 X 5/8" = 7.5"
C inner circle = 97.5"
phew!
C=6.3r
97.5=6.3r
r=15.5"

Don't forget to add that waistline seam allowance now.

You're going to have to draft this one on the floor. Maybe in the front yard. But when it's done...WOW!

Next time...more circle skirt variations. Then...circular ruffles.

p.s. My brain hurts at this point. If you find a mistake in my calculations, by all means speak up!

3 Couture Jacket Patterns

This weekend I bought 3 of Claire Shaeffer's Couture jacket patterns for Vogue. I've been eying them and could never decide which to purchase. On sale at $3.99 though, I figured I might as well get them all, take them home, and evaluate in more detail.

I purchased Vogue 8333, which I adore for it's unusual side pocket and extra princess seams, Vogue 7908, about which I love the ultra feminine shape and front pocket detailing, and Vogue 7467 which I admire for it's casual, weekend, one button, top-stitched look. It's going to be a difficult decision.

I have some aqua and chocolate plaid wool I got in San Francisco last year. It's here, extreme right, I cut a bit for a scarf for my SIL last Christmas -I learned how to do these scarves in the fun book ~

Last Minute Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen with eye candy photos by Karen Philippi

Some day I'd like to use the brown wool for a jacket as well. Someone gave me almost 5 yards of that and it appears to be a nice quality.

I am not a very experienced tailor though I made a couple nice burda WOF tailored vest/skirt combos for my sister-in-law (sorry, this was over 10 years ago and I have no pics) and, last fall, the pink herringbone suit shown in my profile and here.

A feature of the Claire Shaeffer patterns is that they take you step by step through the couture tailoring process for the specific garment....securing interfacings, fell stitching the roll line tape, padstitching collar and lapel, hand-sewing pocket welts. I have read through one set of instructions so far and I can see that working through the jacket will be almost like having a personal lesson with Claire. I also have her book Couture Sewing Techniques which has even more detail on the techniques and will be a great supplement to the pattern instructions.

Following the couture instructions is a complete second set of instructions detailing fine RTW tailoring methods. So it is very possible to combine the two to meet your personal time and expense sensibilities.

I'd like to do this jacket completely with the couture hand-tailoring methods...but hair canvas can run around $30/yard and at least one of the jackets recommends it for interfacing the entire piece. So I may use a combination of fusibles or sewn-in cotton underlining for the major jacket pieces, and save the expensive hair canvas for collar, lapel, and shoulders only. (Did I mention I have a son going off to college? And the bill arrived this weekend?)

For last year's herringbone suit, I used a silk organza underlining and hair canvas only at the neckline and shoulders. That seemed to work out fine. But for this jacket I am wondering if something a tad beefier, like batiste or lawn, might be better. Maybe even a quality quilting cotton? Maybe two layers of silk organza??? One layer of silk and one of batiste? Maybe, if I hang from my toes off the Chrysler building at midnight while fusing knit interfacing using a wool press cloth and Perrier steam.... Obviously I have some thinking to do on this issue. I'd appreciate any thoughts...

Lining is another consideration. I've used rayon "Ambiance" in the past. It worked out fine in last year's herringbone jacket. (I have to remember to tell you the story of how baggage inspectors spilled some mystery fluid all over the front of it.) It is light for a jacket lining, but I'm not interested in adding warmth to a jacket I'll be wearing primarily as part of an indoor ensemble. (I can' t believe I just used "ensemble")

Silk is, of course, a consideration and the cost is not really so dear. But I'd be concerned with static and warmth. Still...a lightweight charmeuse would look and feel wonderful, wouldn't it?

So, my next steps are to make these important decisions, and while I gather the supplies up I can be altering the pattern and working on the muslin. Wanna come along for the ride?

Addendum: Since drafting this post yesterday I've come to the conclusion that the one-button jacket, Vogue 7467, is probably most appropriate for my plaid fabric. To be honest, working with the plaid is a little scary even though both the vests for my SIL were plaid...they didnt' have sleeves! But I think I'll give it a go. That's one decision down...on to lining and support fabrics.

Addendum 2: Big thanks to Els of the venerable Sewing Divas. She has been emailing me today, helping me understand hair canvas. I've ordered some samples and will keep you all updated!

Trust Yourself!

Why do we, women especially, distrust ourselves so easily? Why do we think that some anonymous drafter in NYC is faultless and we must, somehow, not be "getting it?" Hey, even the pros make mistakes, and, more often than you think, they end up in print.

I'm talking about patterns in particular. A friend came to me with a frustrating problem she was having with a sewing pattern. I'd say frustrating was an understatement in this case. She was at the end of her rope with this dress for her daughter, prom fast approaching, and willing to pay me to finish the dress for her.

Not necessary...we soon found the problem and she took it home to finish it herself. The pattern was very confusing. Here's why -

A pretty, simply cut, bias dress, with contrast diagonal bands is pictured like this on the front:

And this on the back:

Now, if you think about this for a bit (and this is the kind of mental gymnastics that make my brain hurt), you realize that this makes the side of the dress look like this:

The cutting layout, however, indicates that the contrast bands be cut one right side up, and the other right side down on a single layer of fabric, making them mirror opposites. Right? So the side of the dress will look, better, like this:

So, it seems, there is a disconnect in the pattern instruction sheet. Perhaps different people did different parts it, or one person got confused (and you can't blame them too much with something like this) and mixed up the orientation of the drawing. Either way, it slipped through and created confusion.

Moral...there comes a point when you have to just trust yourself above and beyond what the pattern (book, blog, or whatever) says is "right." You know more than you think you do.

Mom's Summer Skirt

Between weeding and parade-watching this weekend I did manage to do some fun sewing. This is Mom in her new summery cotton skirt:

The fabric is a lightweight, printed eyelet from Gorgeous Things. I was thrilled when it arrived because it's much drapier than other eyelets I've seen. I lined it with white cotton batiste from my LFS.

The pattern is from burda WOF March 2007, #122B.

As you can see in the scan, the skirt is made of a yoke and 3 diagonal pieces. It drapes very nicely. So nicely in fact, that we didnt' think the angled hem was necessary.

The pieced seams are topstitched and are more visible in person than the photos, but here they are:



The pattern came with a piece for a partial lining but I wanted to line it completely. To do that, without repeating all the piecing, I made a 3" facing out of the upper yoke, then taped the lower yoke and other 3 pieces together for a "solid" skirt lining.

The hems, skirt and lining, are done, as usual, with a 1/8" narrow hemming foot.

Mom said that next time I pose for a picture on the blog I have to stand more naturally (less like a deer in the headlights I think is what she meant) and a bit angled to the side. She's right, as I see now. Mom's a good model, don't you think? Thanks, Mom!

Measurements

What measurements should I take?

There are certain universal measurements that everyone should take before choosing a pattern.

You will want to keep an updated (every 6 months to a year) file of these measurements:
~full bust
~high bust
~high shoulder to bust point (i.e., how far down are those puppies?)
~center back length
~shoulder width across the back
~arm length
~natural waist
~full hip
~distance from natural waist to high and/or full hip
~waist to knee
~waist to floor

Then, there are some you-specific measurements that you should take in order to alter patterns for your unique body characteristics.

Think about what your usual fitting challenges are...
~bodice length? take extra care with center front and center back lengths
~large upper arms? take a bicep measurement
~large thighs? take a full thigh measurement
~large tummy? take a tummy measurement and (and distance of tummy from waist)
~narrow or broad back? take measurements across the back at mid-armscyes

Lastly, there are some pattern-specific measurements that you may or may not need depending on the style of the garment you are planning.

Here are some examples:
~for a blouse with cuff - wrist measurement
~for an ankle length skirt - waist to ankle
~for a period Edwardian gown - neck circumference
~for hipster pants, low waist/high hip measurement
~for pants - crotch length and depth
~for formal gowns - take more bust measurements, i.e., bust apex to bust apex width

After you've altered patterns for your self a few times you will get to know what has to be done automatically. If you have to increase the shoulder width for a Butterick, you will also have to do it for a McCall's. And if you raise the waist of a dress, you will also have to raise the waist of a jacket. Also, you will note over the years that while many measurements change, such as waist and bust, others will not, such as shoulder width and back length.