The Sewing Place
The Emporia => In the wardrobe => Topic started by: Syrinx on June 05, 2017, 21:05:41 PM
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I'll attempt to stop spamming the Japanese sewalong with my terror and keep it all contained here!
I'm doing two patterns from a Japanese pattern book I have. They all have handy pictures to follow and they all seem fairly easy fit wise (not really fitted) so I thought I'd have a go. My initial plan was one, but there are two patterns I liked, and there was indecision that turned into "why not do both?". So I decided to go crazy and do both. I have never sewn a dress before, nor have I sewn any clothing for yonks. I did knit a cable knit jumper for a 2 year old cousin 5 years ago though - that's helpful right?!
I have now traced and cut out both sets of pattern pieces. One has terrifying sleevies, and one has something called a yoke. It didn't look hard until I looked at the "instructions" and pictures.
I picked some nice Liberty cotton (on offer at sub £6 p/m - craft cotton so if it all goes wrong I'll quilt with it!) for the sleevies dress, and it has two patch pockets on - I'm uncertain about whether to try to pattern match as the fabric has a small repeated pattern, or whether to use a different fabric. It's got pleats in front, but these are super nicely marked out on the pattern and there are exact measurements on the little pictures. I'm rather worried about the sleeves...
The second pattern has shoulder strap things that looked simple until I looked at the little pictures. It also requires two fabrics. I initially wanted to go with cottons, though the pattern said to use rayon, but then I saw some nice "silky chiffon" and felt obliged to buy it. I've never bought chiffon, or sewn it, or cut it and the more I research it the more terrifying it seems to be and the more insane I feel! It also requires an invisible zip, however I've done loads of those on cushion covers, but it seems sewing one into chiffon might be problematic... I bought a cotton for the top bit with the shoulder straps and what I have now discovered (after reading the pattern pieces) is a yoke. I have been recommended French seams for the chiffon, which I feel confident about - it feels very P&Q-y.
So now I have my pattern pieces cut out I am waiting on my fabric, and I need to get my machine serviced asap (tomorrow I hope). I had a slight issue with adding a couple of seam allowances, and they all feel huge to this poor P&Q sewer.
I'm not sure whether to tack the pattern pieces together as a mock toile to see how the length and fit are? I haven't measured any of the pattern pieces - should I do that? What am I measuring? I have no idea how this all works, beyond being able to visualise the connections in my head.
If anyone can help with the whole crazy debacle please step forward! I have a feeling I may have bitten off far more than I can sew ;)
But at least I can always chop the fabric up and use it in a quilt if it all goes horribly wrong!
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Chiffon is not the easiest fabric to work with, but once you get the hang of it, it's not that hard, either.
Sara Alm has a class on [u=https://www.craftsy.com/sewing/classes/the-essential-guide-to-sewing-with-sheers/35475]Sewing with Sheers [/u] that has some very helpful tips on cutting and sewing. If you want, I could make a short guide from her videos, but I really think it is helpful to watch what she's doing.
I suggest using a straight stitch plate as the zig-zag one kinda tends to eat up your fabric.
Also useful: starch spray. Just give everything a good spray, should be easier to handle after.
If you have a walking foot, use it, it will make things easier.
Other than that...don't get frustrated :D
This will be a bit challenging, but at the end you'll have learned a heap of new things :)
Good luck!
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A straight stitch plate :S
This clothing making thing is a whole new world of sewing jargon!
I have a WF (of course! haha) so happy to use that.
I'm not entirely certain where all of my sewing things are though as they were "tidied" by someone other than myself. So finding all the required things may be tricky.
Am I good to go with pins? Or should I use needle, thread and tack it? The chiffon that is...
I don't have a craftsy membership unfortunately :(
Sudden thought - do I need pinking scissors? I only have my Janome standard machine so I know to zig zag near the edge of the fabric to help stop fraying...
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A straight stitch plate is a stitch that has only a tiny hole for the needle to go through, as opposed to the zigzag plate that has a much wider hole to accomodate the zig zag :D Don't worry if you don't have one. You can just cover the zigzag stitch with some tape that won't get the needle sticky and you're good to go.
On Craftsy you can buy individual classes. They usually have offers quite often - $14.99 or $19.99 for the class of your choice. I only buy when there's an offer :D
You can use pins, but be sure to use silk pins (they are thinner) and only pin in the seam allowance to avoid any holes.
Not sure you can zigzag near the edge, it really depends on the chiffon you have. Sometimes it frays really bad! But if you're going to make french seams, you could just use some fray check.
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Ok, I'll see if the sewing machine guy has a straight stitch plate when I take the machine tomorrow.
I was going to french seam the chiffon and maybe have a go with the cotton - french seams look nice from my googling :)
I don't think I have silk pins :s just quilting pins and some ancient mini pins that aren't very sharp anymore...haha there I was thinking how good my sewing collection was and how I had all the things I need to make a quilt, and now I am finding out I am missing vital pieces of equipment!
What about needles? I have my quilting needles, and my bog standards for sewing cotton...assuming I need are sharpy sharp one?
And how essential is seam binding or interfacing for chiffon for the bit of the zip that goes through it? Would a French seam on each hem be enough? This is stretching my love of invisible zips.
I think the fabric is arriving tomorrow or the day after so I'll know how bad it is then and probably come crying back about it all!
Oh, on the pockets and pleats dress there is a bust dart - I assume if I make that wider then it will make it more fitted around the bust? Or would it do something else entirely?
How do you nip things in at the waist/underbust? It's a little straight out from the shoulder, which I don't mind, but I'd like to try and make it a bit more fitted in that area so I'm not sompletely swamped. More curve in the seam so I lose fabric? Argh it's far too late and my sick bug is making my head very sluggish.
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Don't forget for chiffon you will need to line it :)
Just test your usual pins and see if they leave a hole, they might be ok.
As for needles, universal 70/11 or Microtex 70/10 are both ok.
I have never sewn a zipper in chiffon, so I'm not sure what to tell you here. I would probably use some nylon stay tape, but I'm not sure it's the best choice.
The bust dart does make the garment more fitted around the bust. But if you increase the dart without actually increasing it on the pattern, your front and back side seams will no longer match :) But before you do increase it, make sure you actually need that (most patterns are drafted with a B cup, I assume this is valid for japanese patterns as well). If you do have a larger cup you could do a full bust adjustment, but that's a different can of worms :)
To make it a bit more fitted at the waist, just take in the side seam (not too much tho).
It's 12:20 here, imma go sleep because I feel like I'm not making any sense anymore :D
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If you are buying new pins make sure they are a good brand. I bought some cheapies from China (only to make up the postage so nothing much lost) but they were so rough as to be unusable on any fabric! I gave then to GD for a pins stick into foam art project.
Pins have (or should have) two sizes on the pack. The first number will be somewhere between about 20-40. That's the length in mm. The second number will be somewhere between 0.45 = 0.75. That's the diameter in mm. Silk pins/wedding pins are likely to be 0.50. For ordinary weight fabrics (quilting cotton etc) 0.60 is OK.
These (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clover-Q2501-Silk-Pins-x/dp/B00168241S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496698095&sr=8-1&keywords=dressmaking+silk+pins) would be good for fine fabrics. These (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Korbond-25-Professional-Dressmaker-Pins/dp/B007TKDP5G/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1496698751&sr=8-9&keywords=dressmaking+pins) or these (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Prym-Glass-Headed-Pins-Multi-Colour/dp/B0025X1D7O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1496698820&sr=8-2&keywords=dressmaking+pins) for general purpose.
:pin: :pin: :pin: :pin:
Personally I prefer the berry head pins, so much easier to pick up, but that's personal preference.
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Don't overthink this. Don't worry about French seams unless your chiffon is a single layer. If it's backed or lined, no need. Pink raw edges for tidiness if you have pinking shears.
Generally, any seams enclosed in lining or facings don't get finished, so study your pattern for a bit to see what the instructions indicate. They don't always/usually tell you when or if to finish seams, expecting you to see if they will be exposed or not!
I'm a fan of switching to hand sewing on any bits that cause grief on the machine, and have opted to sew chiffon entirely by hand on several occasions. SOme are worse than others, the only way to know is to do some tests on scraps. Fine needles, fine pins, use hairspray if you have no starch [saved my life on DDs chiffon bridesmaid dresses] and honestly, hand stitching zips is a ten minute job, no fuss.
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You'll be fine. Yes to what everyone else has said, and yes to tacking the bits together first to see how the fits works on you ( you could pin it all if you have a masochistic streak!) Another vote for hairspray or starch to tame the chiffon. Press the chiffon under a cloth to avoid melting it! Loving the yoked dress!
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:S I wasn't going to line the chiffon which was going to be the bottom of the yoked dress (see I'm sounding like a pro garment sewer now! Yesterday I didn't even know what a yoke was!). And the plan was to wear it over jeans or leggings or something, depending on how see through it is. I wouldn't know where to start with a lining :S and aren't lining fabrics basically silk which is slippy too?! And then zip through lining and chiffon? P&Q is sooo much easier haha
I don't have hairspray or starch eek. I do have rotary cutter and big mat though for the P&Q fun stuff, so that should hold it firm?
That craftsy course is sadly not on sale at the moment and is many ££s :(
Here's hoping that the pockets and pleates dress is easy peasy, but I somehow doubt it!
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If you're not bothered by the sheerness and plan to wear it with pants anyway, lining is not a must. But depending on how sheer it is your bra will probably be visible (not saying it's a problem, it really depends on your prefference).
Lining doesn't have to be silk (although silk is nicer), it can also be polyester.
I'll try to post some tips from Sara's class (I got it on sale for 10$, no way I would have paid 60$ for it):
Make sure you pre-wash your fabric before using it. If you pre wash, stay stitch the cut edges (just a normal straight stitch, about 10-12mm from the edge), it will prevent them from unraveling too much while washing. Make sure you dry it in a way that doesn't distort the grainline too much (eg: don't put it on a wire diagonally).
Cut single fold, because it's very hard to align the grainline when you put it on the fold.
More to come later, as I have to watch more of the videos :D
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Thank you, hadn't thought of staystitching for washing! That could have been a big problem.
Hmm I'll just have to wear a nice bra (hah!) and hope no one notices. That's if it's wearable, and wearable outside the house! And hope it's not completely see through :ninja:
60 does seem a lot, nice to know craftsy do heavily discount at times though.
There's a Suzy Furrer bodice sloper thing in the sale at £28 and I'm wondering if it's worth it...it's cheaper than full price but still expensive!
Maybe it will end up as quilt scraps and I can try again in boring cotton haha. If only it was as easy as making a quilt!
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Suzy Furrer's class (all her classes actually) is SO worth it, I have learned so much. But if you can wait another week or so, I'm sure there will be an offer with 19.99 :D
You can sign-up for their newsletter and they will let you know when there's an offer.
Unravelling is not the biggest problem when it comes to chiffon. Is that the threads that unravel sometimes bunch into a knot and pull threads from the fabric. Now that's a problem.
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Soooo the chiffon arrived...
I think I'll need a hand with this! Do I wash it first? And I'd need to straight stitch round it first? Big stitches? Does chiffon bleed?
And on a scale of chiffon see through ness, where am I standing?!
On a more fun note, I dutifully cofied aln the bits of the pattern including 'grain', now is grain the direction it stretches or doesn't stretch. And in regards to chiffon... ? I'm to used to bias and not bias!
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Grainline for cutting out purposes is parallel to selvages. Stretch is no indicator as sometimes it goes one way, and sometimes t'other.
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You don't have to stitch around it, just the cut edges. The selvedge edges will not unravel.
Straight grain is always parallel to the selvedge edge. Cross grain is perpendicular. Most fabrics have a bit more give on the cross grain.
In regards to sheerness...it's a matter of prefference. If it's too sheer for you, line it. If it's not, don't.
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Ta muchly with the grain info.
Does one have to wash the fabric first? I never do it for quilting fabrics and two are cottons I'd use for making quilts ;)
I will if I'm supposed to, but I'm a bit lazy and it's raining out so drying will take forever!
I was planning on cutting the fabric pieces for the pockets and pleats dress but I'm not sure if I can get the fabric washed and dried in time to cut out today. I'd like to get everything cut out so that I can forge ahead when my machine has finished having its service.
How essential is washing chiffon? As I'm without a machine at the minute and so can't sew the cut edges prior to washing unless I do it by hand!
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I only prewash stuff that is dirty, smelly, or will shrink/bleed. I think you're safe
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Excellent. Cutting out day today then!
Now, I ordered a pinking blade for my rotary cutter but it won't arrive until Saturday. I know all you garmet pros use pinking shears on your edges, but I don't think the cottons will fray horribly so zigzagging the edge should do, but the chiffon? Should I wait to cut that until the pinking blade for my olfa arrives? Not that I'm cutting that out yet! It's still terrifying me so I put it in a bag :ninja:
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I only use pinking shears if I'm to lazy to finish the inside seams in other ways (serge, french seams etc). If it will be finished, I cut with the rotary cutter.
Depens on how bad the fabric frays tho.
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I was going to french seam everything as good practice :)
I think the chiffon may be a fraying monster, but I'm not sure. It freaked me out a bit so it went into the bag! I'll cut the cotton with my normal blade and maybe baste it together and see how the pockets and pleats dress fits...
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Don't cut it out until you intend to start sewing. If seams are enclosed, no need to worry, just try for minimal handling. Leave it pinned to the tissue paper until ready to stitch
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Sounds like a plan. I'll use the pinking blade on the rotary cutter when it gets here just in case and I'll leave it pinned to the pattern pieces until I baste and sew and hopefully have a finished dress thing.
I'll have a chop of the Liberty cotton today and baste it together roughly to test fit (I assume that's what you do) and have a worry about sleevies. I'm looking forward to the pockets though!
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I am pleased to say I have chopped up my Liberty fabric and I have plenty left to use in a P&Q project :D
I am pleased with my cutting out skills (although rotary cutters do make life a lot easier) but boy does making clothes eat fabric! I tried to waste as little as possible but it was tricksy...
Picture below. All I didn't cut out was the facings in interlining, because I don't have any.
I hope it looks ok and please shout if I look to have made a massive error!
I don't know whether to stitch the front, bodice, and skirt together loosely by hand to see what the fit is like or if there's no point in that and just hope for the best (no idea how to fit, hence the non tight fitting pattern choice!) I guess I'd have to baste the pleats as well? And the dart thing?
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Don't forget to transfer the marking on the pattern to the fabric (darts, pleats, notches etc.).
Depending on fabric type (as in not very sensitive to pin marks or stitch marks), I would baste to see how it fits. First you'd have to sew the darts and pleats tho.
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I have started the sewing!
The pockets and pleats dress is underway. I have done my two bust darts - hope they are right! And I have done my pleats and pressed everything.
I am now putting my pockets on (pattern said to do that first but I wasn't too sure where to put them. After pleats and darts were done I held it up and pinned them where I liked them) but thought I'd update with a picture of my front piece with pleats and darts!
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That's a great fabric pattern for not showing the stitching lines of the pleats. You're doing a good job so far.
Btw, it's usual to press bust darts downwards, they sit better that way.
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Thanks, Ploshkin.
The pattern said to press up which I thought was a bit weird (but then I thought you chopped the excess dart fabric off before I started looking at them!). It's all finished now, though I don't know if my hem is level and I forgot to do my facing with seams out and just topstitched over the lot of it! Oops! :|
I had a bit of difficulty getting the sleevies in as I had more sleeve than armhole. I tried to shove the excess in the underarm and the top so it looked 'featurey' and it was so hard to sew everything with a 1cm SA!
I really struggled with gathering the backf the skirt into the bodice back and I think it's a bit uneven and I'm not 100% sure I gathered and stitched the gathers right.
I haven't tried pulling it in along the ribcage to gnt a better fit as I'm not sure I know how!
I even pattern matched my pockets and felt all pro. Not that anything else is matched!
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Found a hanger for pictures.
Will nip to friend tomorrow for fitting help as I've got no clue!
Also noticed hemline is significantly shorter on the back :|
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The hem looking shorter at the back could well be because it's on a hanger. By the time you've got a bit of frontage filling up the bodice it should bring the front hem up a bit.
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So, I fitted the pleats dress around the bust. Not really the right style for my shape or a colour I like but it's well made and I finished it.
I made my second habit jacket toile this am and felt so accomplished (even with the collar failure) that I decided to tackle the chiffon dress.
I dug out a brand new pinking blade for my rotary cutter and swept it through thn royal blue cotton and it was fine. Sometimes they are a bit blunt and useless, but this one is sharp! Then I laid out my chiffon and floffed the pattern on it and rotary bladed away. All reasonably accurate.
Started sewing the shoulders and adding interfacing to the yokes. Took me a while to work out which bits to sew together on each set.
Then time to sew the chiffon! I had a nice lot of thin Swedish tracing paper offcuts that I treated as tearaway to sit between fabric and feed dogs. French seams thought I as I sewed. Then realised I'd started the wrong way round. Didn't bother unpicking but did a french seam on top so it was a sort of double french seam on that side! Attached part one of the yoke. Inserted invisible zip (I thought I had bought a YKK but turned out to be some random zip which wasn't as good and couldn't sew ar close, possibly because chiffon but also the zip was quite fat on the RS. Anyway zip went in no problems.
I read somewhere about french seaming up to an invesible zip but was going from memory so made a bit of a mess at the zip tail. Will attempt to fix later in the week when I can find the guide.
Then came attaching the shoulder straps to the yoke and then the facing. Went well, like the shoulders, the bit around the zip needs cutting and hand sewing to finish. And the facing and yoke both need turning up at the 'waist' seam and hand stitching to finish. I did the hem, very very badly it seems as the chiffon refuses to stay in place and it keeps flopping under (double fold hem) any fixes appreciated. Also I forgot the paper to act as tearaway and it sewed beautifully without snagging on the feed dogs at all. So not finished yet, but almost. Hopefully it will be by the end of the week.
Tried it on and I don't really need a zip, whilst the pockets and pleats dress would definitely be better with one!
Also it seems that the chiffon is even more see through than I thought possible. I've taken a poor photo of it on a bed as I can't get it to stay up on a hanger. I did take some with me wearing it but it ir very very see through - I think I'll need a slip or chemise! I have cropped a photo so that I look half decent and you can't see my pants!
I do like the yoke and shoulder design, but I don't think it needs so much interfacing, shough it may soften after a wash...
I also have quite a lot of chiffon left over...
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That looks fabulous! :D
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I concur! It looks great, you did a fabulous job!