Problems with Bias

I just now received a comment on an old post regarding bias cut. I thought it was worth re-visiting the subject and posting my response here.

Anonymous said:
A wonderfully informative article, Dawn!! I had a bias cut dress sewn recently, but while the drape in front was very good, the back has one large fold of fabric, almost like a pleat, right across from seam to seam just above the butt. Why is this happening?

First, Thanks!

There could be a couple of things going on.

It could be that the dress is too snug across your butt and hips to slide down past them. However, were that the case, you would probably have horizontal ripples, or waves, across the fullest part of your hip or butt (see below.)

Given the absence of obvious stretching across your hips, it sounds like there may either be too much width-wise fullness over the small of your back, or the waist is too long for you. In the latter case, the long waist does not show up in your front b/c you're relatively flat there and it just slides down. There is nothing for it to get "hung up on."

If there is too much width across the small of your back you could take in the back side seams only. But you have to be careful.....pulling width wise on the bias will cause it to draw up lengthwise in the back. I have tried to place princess darts in the lower back of bias garments with moderate success. You have to be very careful to get them placed right and avoid wavering while you sew.

If the waist is too long you could add a seam, perhaps an empire seam. Again, great care will have to be taken to sew it neatly in the bias and after the seam is added you may need a closure of some kind. Obviously the dress is going to get shorter, at least in the front, unless you add some kind of trim to the bottom.

In cases where a bias dress is too tight over the butt/hips (i.e. there is rippling across the fullest parts), here is how it could happen, even when using a perfectly fitting pattern (and I learned this the hard way):

Bias will stretch so much that the width of the garment pieces becomes significantly narrower. To make matters worse, the waist shaping at the sides seams drops lower as the pieces stretch. So, you can end up with waist shaping quite a bit below the waist and a much too small hip area.

So you have to cut *huge*, maybe 2" seam allowances on the sides. that way, after hanging and stretching, you can let out the side seams at the hips.

Alternatively, you could cut huge bias rectangles and try to stretch the fabric before cutting the garment pieces out. But I'd still leave huge seam allowances.

If anyone would like a custom bias dress my going rate is half a mill per hour.

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!

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.

Let 'er Rip

I often find that part of what I end up teaching beginning garment sewers in class is how to rip out stitches. (And, I usually tell them, you might as well resign yourself to ripping lots of seams if you want to get good at sewing - I buy seam rippers by the dozen!)

I've never really read anything on how to rip seams but I've learned a few ways over the years and via countless hours of practice. Here are a couple of my favorite methods:

• Probably the fastest, safest, and least stressful on the hands is this: Use the ripper to rip about every 5th or 6th stitch on one side of the seam. Then rip out a few consecutive stitches on the other side of the seam to loosen a thread end. Grasp that thread end and pull. Usually the entire length of the thread will come out. The downside is that you are left with short lengths of thread on the first side of the seam, but a good shake or a once-over with some tape will take them out.
• My mentor taught me this method that is fast, relieves stress, and is neat. Pick a few stitches out on one side of the seam, enough so you can grasp the thread. Pull the loose end of the thread, down towards the fabric and laterally along the seamline at the same time, quickly and forcefully. An inch or two of stitches will come out before the thread breaks. when the thread breaks, flip the seam over and grasp the now loose end of thread on that side and pull it in the same way. When it in turn breaks, repeat the process on the first time. This works well but I do find all the tight grasping and pulling of threads to be stressful on my right hand, the index finger in particular. Also, be careful with very delicate fabrics.
  
• Of course there is always the "pull the fabric apart at the end of the seam and rip the exposed stitches in between the layers" method. This works well in some seams and is very tedious in others. But what you do not want to do is to "run" the seam ripper along the seamline, in b/w layers, like an open scissors slicing through wrapping paper. If you do, you're bound to cut the fabric eventually. OK, sometimes I do this....but only if the fabric is sturdy, the seam ripper is fresh, and I'm feeling lucky.

Traditionally tailors rip seams with a razor blade. I don't know how they do this but I suspect it involves clamping the razor blade and holding the fabric layers apart (as the 3rd method above), and running it along the blade. Someday I'll have to experiment with this.

One final note....often I see people get very attached to the same seam ripper. They have a sewing machine that is 40 years old and are using the seam ripper that came with it! Seam rippers are actually little blades and they get dull. As mentioned, I buy a dozen now and then from Atlanta Thread Supply. And when I start a new one I can really feel a difference in ease of use.

Hemming Tapered Pants

Many people are frustrated when they try to hem tapered pants. They get a lot of puckers along the stitching line, no matter how careful they try to be. That is because hems for tapered pants are cut in a certain way. Once you cut off the factory-cut hem allowance, you've lost the added hem width required to smoothly stitch the hem.

Imagine this is a tapered pant leg. I drew in the hem stitching with pencil.Now, if I open up the hem and lay it flat, it looks like this.Can you see how the shape of the hem flares out at the bottom? That's because it must match the width of the leg not at the opening, but 1 1/2" or so up, where it will be sewn.

Now, in the course of shortening the pants, I cut the original hem off:And fold it up again (I have outlined the edges of the hem allowance in pencil b/c I couldn't get a good photo):There is not enough hem width to span the width of the larger pant leg anymore.

The solution?That's it. Just open and spread the inseam enough to accommodate the width of where the hem is to be sewn. That's how tailors do it and that's how dressmakers do it. Nothing magical at all!

In extremely tapered pants, you may need to open the outseam as well. But my best advice is...don't wear extremely tapered pants!

Sewing Crossword Puzzle

I love crosswords and am working on one all the time. They are a lot harder to create than one might think...but here is a sort of pitiful one for sewing enthusiasts:

SEWING CROSSWORD FILE

SEWING CROSSWORD CLUES FILE

eta:

Crossword answers file

Thanks, Sigrid, for the link to Box!

Buy This (almost) Book

Well, usually I *read* a book before I recommend it. But in this case I'm not only going to recommend a book that I've not read yet...but a book that's not yet published!

Joyce Murphy is known among members of the ASDP (Association of Sewing and Design Professionals) as a pant guru. She sells a pant fitting system (to be used for self or clients) and teaches workshops on the subject. And now rumor has it, she's writing a book. It's frankly been awhile since I've bought a new sewing book but I'm ready for this one!

Joyce is always generous with her knowledge and expertise on the subject of pant fitting and she recently helped me with a challenging fit of lined wool trousers for a client of mine. Part of the solution I used is outlined in her Threads article, Adjusting Pants from Waist to Seat in Volume 122. If you have that issue, take a look. Or, you can always buy a back issue.

And by all means, buy the book when it comes out...hurry up, Joyce!

Tips for Steaming

Eventually, if you're a serious garment sewer, you will want to purchase a steamer. I use mine for steaming gowns, jackets, and other dry-cleanables. I also use it to pre-shrink yardage before cutting.

There are a few things to keep in mind when steaming:

• Always steam with a soft towel in one hand. Preferably this should be a towel with a very smooth "velour" finish on one side. As I steam, I wipe off the head every few seconds to catch any drips before they fall.
• If your steamer is dripping a lot, it may need a good cleaning - check the manual for how to do this.
• If you do drip on something (and I almost always do) then take the towel immediately and, holding the velour side of it towards the fabric, blot the drip spot from both sides of the fabric with your hand. That helps to suck up the water as fast as possible.
  
• Some fabrics are very, and I mean *very* susceptible to water spotting. If you are using something new you might want to purposely drip on some spots and experiment to see what the effect will be. Acetate is the worst. I hate acetate. Some formal silks and synthetics are also bad. But nothing in my experience is as bad as acetate. Really, acetate sucks.
  
• For fabrics that I am afraid of spotting, I steam them vertically. That way drops, as much as possible, go down on the floor and not on the fabric (usually)
• For fabrics that I'm not worried about spotting, or that I'd rather steam flat b/c they are susceptible to stretching, i.e. suiting wool, I steam them flat.

Musings on Creativity

I've been thinking a lot about creativity (an artist friend would say the thinking is just my problem) lately. In fact, I'll be taking a class designed to explore and expand creative possibilities in the coming weeks. (stay tuned...)

When I was at the last ASDP (Association of Sewing and Design Professionals, (formally PACC) national conference, I got to talking to a well known art to wear artist over a generous glass of chardonnay. I confessed to her my tendency to be technically oriented, an engineer (stop laughing Beth) rather than an artist. What she said has stuck with me. I can't remember her exact words, but the essence of it was use whatever you are to find your art. The way I understood it is, well, if you're an uptight person (not me of course, just a hypothetical uptight person), use that in your art. If you are a thoughtful person, make thoughtful art. Seems like a duh thing, right? But it's a tool, a place to start.

So beautiful creative ideas don't just come to me over coffee and toast in the morning...it doesn't mean I'm not able to create. I need to create from my own perspective. Take the word "uptight." What would uptight art be?

Well, how about the work of MC Escher? Especially the "tesselations" pieces. Isn't there something about those that speaks to completeness, having all the loose ends wrapped up, everything fitting together just so, math and precision?

What could "uptight" mean in fiber art? Interesting angles coming together precisely. Complicated shapes, closures, details. Or even sparseness and simplicity....the absence of "uptightness." (new word)

For me, uptightness may have led to this design, an LBD that was quite the engineering feat. The very construction complications of it appealed to me. Originally the idea was to have twice as many strips, but, hey, I'm not a sadist! It didn't win anything, but it did, and still does, speak to me. (It says, "lose 10 pounds so you can wear me!")

Uptightness may have also had something to do with my stubborn determination to come up with a unique closure for a reversible challenge several years ago. OK, the dress in general is fairly puke-y, but the concept, and the closure, are pretty cool.
See how it works?
The left side of the dress can completely release from the right side, and they can one or the other or both be flipped inside out. the closure is a double band of inseam buttonholes on one side, and buttons mounted on tabs on the other.

BTW, another possible version of this dress would've had 3 completely reversible pieces:
Waaaayyyy too many buttons....

Anyway, the point is, can you see how my sort of "uptight" nature may have led to these designs? I was drawing on what I had, as advised by my colleague at the conference, without even realizing it. So think about it....what aspects of your basic nature might lead to design?

How do *You* Fuse?

A reader emailed me yesterday and noted that there was a recent article in Stitches magazine saying that to use steam in the process of applying interfacing was exactly what causes bubbling later on. I have never read this before and have often read that steam is desired. So I decided to ask you all....how do you do it?

In the course of looking for references to how to apply interfacing (with or without steam) I found this interesting journal entry where Kathryn describes how she has used interfacing as an underlining to stabilize the crosswise stretch of a jacket fabric. It's an excellent example of just what interfacing is for, and how to best use it to your advantage. (First section, 4th paragraph)

Fusing Interfacing

I've long since dispensed with those plastic sheets of instructions you get with your interfacing. They are almost always the same and results vary depending on how hot your iron is, how much pressure you use, and your fabric anyway.

When fusing anything but cotton I do a test fuse first, just to make sure the interfacing is really going to stick. Sometimes with fabrics that are not washed (they are instead pre-steamed), I just can't get the interfacing to fuse permanently. That is not necessarily bad....the fusing will hold it in place at least long enough for it to get sewn in place and then it can act as a sew in.

Here's my usual procedure. I photographed two trials, one with so-sheer and one with pellon b/c each showed different aspects better.

• Press fabric flat.
  
• Place interfacing on the fabric...here is the best hint I can give you....don't smooth it out. Let is sit loose and wavy like on the fabric. And if it doesn't sit loosely on the fabric like this, use your fingers to loosen it up a bit...the idea is to give the interfacing a bit of ease in comparison with the fabric. I have a theory that this helps avoid bubbling later on when the garment is washed.
  
• 
• Now, hold your iron just over the interfacing and steam the bejeebers out of it. See the edge curling? It's shrinking up a bit.
• 
  
• Next, lay a press cloth (I like silk organza), misted with water (careful on dry cleanables of course) over the interfacing
• Press and hold for about 10-15 seconds. Really put some pressure on it.
• Pick up and move the iron to another spot and repeat.
• You will have to go over everything twice, with the iron in a different position, to get rid of the "holes" from the steam holes on the soleplate.
• When it's done, remove the press cloth and don't touch it until completely dry. Yeah, it's hard, I cheat sometimes too.
• If this process doesn't work, well, then, I use a sew in!

Pre-shrink Interfacing (and everything else in sight)

Susie asked yesterday why I pre-shrink interfacing and if I pre-shrink even fusibles.

Anything that goes into the construction of the garment must be pre-shrunk in the same way as the face fabric. This includes interfacing, underlining, lining, and stay tapes. If these support materials aren't pre-shrunk, and they shrink later, they will cause pulling, puckering, or bubbling in the face fabric. In fact, I bet many of us have a blouse or dress, probably rayon, in the closet, that has a bubbled inside button facing. We've washed the dress, and the interfacing has shrunk more than the face fabric. So the face fabric is pulled into bubbles.

Often I prefer to use a sew-in on a nice garment that will be machine washed, especially in the collar and/or stand. That way I don't have to worry about bubbling of fusible interfacing. However, in the case of our class nightshirt, the interfacing is used in the facing only and won't be visible on the outside of the garment. Also, I want to teach students how to work with fusibles.

Any interfacing that can be immersed in water I pre-shrink in the sink. I fill the sink with the hottest tap water and immerse the material. I leave it until the sink water cools down to room temp. Then I drain the sink, roll the interfacing in a towel to remove excess water, and hang the piece over the shower rod. (My kids and their friends are used to this phenomenon in our bathroom.)

I have a friend (Beth) who has pre-shrunk fusible interfacing in the washer and dryer with good results, but I haven't been that adventurous yet (the danger is that the heat of the dryer could melt the glue of the interfacing, or the tumbling could cause some of the glue to come off.)

For sew-ins, tapes, linings and underlinings, I use the same procedure. If I have a special interfacing for tailoring (like hair canvas) then I may steam shrink instead. But I have immersed Arco canvas interfacing and weft insertion interfacings with no problems.

For silk organza (used most often as underlining) I usually just throw a bunch in with my wash right through both machines.

Some people even pre-shrink zippers but I never have and haven't noticed any ill effects.

When I need to pre-shrink interfacings and linings that cannot be immersed I usually spread them out on a flat surface (my bed) and use the steamer on them. If you don't have a steamer you can use an iron (careful of drips) or have the yardage dry cleaned and steam pressed.

Sometimes I really don't think something is going to shrink at all...like polyester lining. But I pre-shrink it anyway just for the sake of my mental health.

Class Supplies

For the upcoming Basic Garment Sewing classes, here are the supplies you will need:

• McCall's 2476 - select size according to your bust, waist, or hip measurement - whichever of the three gives a larger pattern size according to the back of the pattern envelope. If you cannot find this pattern locally, it can be ordered online.
• Quilting weight cotton or cotton flannel ("calico" weight or muslin weight) - 3 1/2 yards. It should be 100% cotton and not have directional printing, stripes, or plaid. Before the first class, please wash and dry and press the fabric. You can throw it in with your regular laundry.
• Fusible interfacing, light or featherweight. This should also be pre-shrunk. Fill a sink with hottest tap water. Immerse interfacing. Leave until water cools. Drain and dry interfacing over shower rod or hanger.
• Sewing machine in good working order. Please also bring attachments and manual. Note: You will not need machine for first class.
• Basic sewing tools such as measuring tape, chalk, pins, shears, paper scissors, seam ripper.
• Thread to match your fabric
• You will receive a folder and many handouts during class

**Please do not hesitate to email with any questions.

Dart Tip

Many sewing teachers make a big fat hairy deal out of sewing darts, but darts have honestly never been something that gave me trouble. And yes, I even backstitch at the end (feel free to gasp here.)

My best tip for sewing darts is this:

Before you even start sewing the dart, there should be a straight line from the needle, to the dart tip, to your nose.

In other words, though we tend to place the folded fabric under the needle with the folded edge on a straight guideline,that will result in having to maneuver the fabric into place during stitching, causing wobbling and probably a last moment scramble to make the needle meet the dart point on the edge of the.

So, when you start to stitch a dart, plan ahead. Place the fabric under the foot like this:
Note the pin placed perpendicularly to the dart point makes it very easy for me to see precisely where the dart should end.

The last few stitches of a dart should be right along the fold of the fabric.You can backstitch right from the tip in fabric with some umph. In more delicate fabrics, stop at the tip, raise the needle, move it back 1/8" to 1/4" and back stitch there.

Out Damn Spot!

Here is something I learned the hard way...never try to remove a stain with a paper product! You are likely to succeed only in creating a lightened bullseye, with the dark spot smack dab in the middle. Like a spotlight...."look here, I'm a spot!"

The reason, I read somewhere, is that paper products have been bleached somewhere in the manufacturing process. So rubbing that napkin or paper towel on your garment is probably not a good idea.

Instead, use two clean washcloths or towels, a dry one under the spot, and a damp one to work the stain with. Also, rather than using a rubbing or circular motion, use a dabbing motion. Wrap the cloth on your index finger and repeatedly "poke" the stain.

For stubborn stains, incidentally, I like the Carbona series of removers. You can get these, in small yellow plastic bottles, at your fabric store, drug store, grocery or mega-mart. Note: Consult the back of the bottles, under the label, to see which specific stains can be removed with which number bottle.

I have even used these, very cautiously, on dry cleanable garments. Test first (yada, yada, yada), then use a wooden toothpick to apply tiny amounts to the stain. Be sure to have an absorbent cloth under the stain to suck the liquid right through.

I Am A Seamstress

So shoot me.

Many sewers avoid the term seamstress like the plague. It has negative connotations they say. Of domestic drudgery, even prostitution (yes, "seamstress" was once used as a euphemism for prostitution.) Or, they say, it denigrates their skill because the term is associated with factory workers, unprofessionals, maybe those that are "taking in sewing" for "pin money."
Personally, though, I take no offense when someone calls me a seamstress. I make seams. I don't need some kind of fancy word attesting to how well I do it. My work will, hopefully, do that for me.

Besides, I'm not running away from a word! A few micro grams of ink, transient pixels even. I mean, really, get over it! If the term seamstress has negative connotations than they end with me. I won't be defined by a word...I'll define the word, thank you.

Re-thinking Blog Content

Lately most of my creative time has been devoted to knitting and spinning. (I do tend to go through these shifts in focus a couple times a year... my friend Beth once astutely said, "you can do anything, but only one thing at a time.") In fact I am even considering adding a new retail aspect to my business, selling knitting patterns and dyed fiber on etsy.com.

I've been thinking about expanding the content of my blog, but I'm also concerned. The single focus on sewing makes for a nicely concentrated body of information. On the other hand, expanding allows me much more material to draw upon in terms of posting. I am, as Tim Gunn might say, flummoxed.

So, I ask your help. Please vote.... and, as always... thank you!

Vote on Blog Content

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Narrow Hemming Foot

If I could keep only one specialty presser foot it would be my narrow hemming foot. I have many actually...they are quite easy to find amongst the paraphernalia you find with vintage sewing machines and we have well over a dozen of those.

Traditionally, to make a narrow hem, you would:

1. Fold up 1/4" of the raw edge
2. Stitch very close to the fold
3. Trim off the raw edge, very close to the stitching (a duck-billed appliqué scissors is superb for this)
4. Fold up again and stitch this time close to the inner fold, right over the previous stitching.
   

There is nothing wrong with this method and sometimes it is preferable. It can produce a hem narrower than you can get with a 1/8" hemming foot, and it is also sometimes easier to do with difficult fabrics such as bias, springy, stretchy, or textured fabrics.

However, for most applications, the narrow hemming foot is like a little miracle of efficiency...once you get the hang of it. In other words...it does take a bit of practice and patience at first. Rip strips of muslin or calico and go for it.

The two I use most of course fit my modern Pfaff. One makes an 1/8th inch hem and the other 1/4 inch. I've been trying for weeks to take some photos while using them but it seems everything I hem lately is black. So today, given a slight break in the action, and since we are "sewing with our feet" at our ASG meeting this week, I thought I'd hem some muslin strips to photograph. However, I found that plenty of good tutorials already exist online so I am instead going to point you to those then offer my own tips for success and suggest some fun variations.

Here are some good tutorials:
Threads Magazine
Jan Andrea at home
Sew News

Basically, I became good friends with my hemmer foot when I used to make dog bandannas by the dozen. When you are getting paid $2 for a thing, and you have 60 of those things to make, you learn to do it efficiently. The bandannas were triangular so I got practice using the hemmer on both cross grain, lengthwise grain, and bias. And, because I was in "production mode," I also taught myself how to start the edges without pins. (I'm not even sure I can do that anymore!)

Here are some of my tips:

• When you must hem past a seam, it is always easier to hem with the seam laying in the direction of the hemming. In other words, so the seam is folded towards you. It feeds into the hemmer much more easily this way. I almost always fold the seams this way at the hem, even if they are pressed in the other direction above.
• Trim diagonal corners off seams before sending them through the hemmer. Less bulk makes it easier to pass through
• Use an awl to help "push" the bulk of a seam through the hemmer. It also helps to give it a bit of a pull from behind the foot. (Note I'm putting the point of the awl right into the top groove of the foot's curl.)

(Let's ignore the imbalanced serger stitch for now, shall we?)

• When hemming bias edges the edges will likely curl. Some of this can be steam pressed out. But if you want to avoid it as much as possible try stabilizing the edge with starch (press two or three light mists of starch at a time into the fabric) or other stabilizer.
  
• You can also somewhat stabilize an edge by first running a straight stitch around.

For fun and interesting ways to use a hemmer try these:

• Use a decorative stitch instead of a straight stitch over the hem.
• Purposefully stretch a bias edge to get a floaty, curly edge.
• Use a narrow hem to seam two lightweight fabrics together in lieu of a French seam
• Insert lace or other trim into the roll of a narrow hem for a one-pass application and finish.

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!