Greetings, #sewing and #tailoring friends! When last we left this waistcoat I was stitching the darts. I'm finally back at it and just completed the scariest step of welt pocket construction: slashing open the pocket.
Slashing the pocket is the scariest step, but attaching the welt is far and away the most annoying. It took - let's just call it several tries to get the first one right. The second one was easier, because (you guessed it) I ironed it again to get the seam aligned right.
The inside edges of the welts are hand-stitched to keep the stitches from showing on the outside. And I try to be mindful that no one will see them anyway because they'll be inside my pockets.
That's it for today. Next time I'll have a couple of techniques to demonstrate: lining the buttonholes, and converting the exterior shoulder dart to ease.
After all that work on the pockets yesterday, I looked at them again today and decided I want them to be a little wider. So I'll have to rip a bunch of stitches.
But the good news is it's always possible to make s *bigger* hole.
Well it's been a minute, but I'm back at the sewing table. Tacking the buttonhole lining in place makes it easy to machine-stitch the buttonhole box without anything shifting around.
And rather than redo the pockets, I opened up the pocket bag on the left side and added a half sized patch pocket inside. This will hold my keys without them falling down to the bottom of the larger pocket, where they'll be hard to fish out.
"Aren't inner fob pockets usually on the right?"
Yes, but people's dominant hands are usually on the right, too. This one's being made by and for a southpaw, and I know where I put my keys.
Buttonholes realigned. And that's where I've gotta call it for now cause I have to get ready to go to a party (at which I assume there will be no bowls of cigarettes).
The holes for buttons, stitched. It doesn't look like much with this dark fabric, but each has a rectangle stitched around the cut lines, to form the edge of the opening.
Then, with the aid of a hole punch, each hole is carefully clipped open along the line, and up to each corner of the stitching.
1. Pushed the rectangular linings through to the back, 2. Pressed, with lots of steam. 3. Turned the piece right side up and pressed again. 4. A detail shot of some of the pressed button holes.
And that's it for tonight. Next time, I'll fold the linings back over the button holes to create welts and tack them in place.
Then I'll attach the fronts to the back (I'll try to document converting the shoulder darts to ease) and attach the exterior to the lining around all the edges before I stitch the lining to the exterior at each button hole, securing the welts.
Had a few extra minutes this morning to fire up the iron. Here's what I mean by folding the button hole linings to create welts: I press each side completely over the button hole opening, then fold it back and press again.
From the front, you can see how this creates welts, closing the rectangular opening and providing a back stop for buttons.
Right now they still look a little sloppy because they're just pressed in place. I will tack each one closed with a few hand stitches, and then press it again to neaten them up.
But not right now because I gotta get ready for work.
(the next time I make this waistcoat I will cut the button hole linings about half an inch wider to make welting a little easier, along with starting with wider pockets. I'm keeping a running list of adjustments).
The buttonholes have been tacked, and are approaching their final form. I added an interfacing panel that's currently just tucked behind the button hole linings, to give the center front a little extra stability.
The promised converting darts to ease is still to come, but according to my handy list of steps, it's finally up next.
This thing is still in pieces, but believe it or not it's getting close to done. Most of the work here was "prep," as in, prepping pieces to be joined (darts, pockets, button holes). What remains is actually sewing pieces together.
I'm going to nerd out about this. Welcome to my TED talk.
Ease is the term for the difference between the dimensions of a garment and the body dimensions of the person the garment is meant to fit. Ease is different from size: consider a pair of skinny jeans vs a pair of straight-cut slacks. The same person could own both garments in the same size and both would fit them, but the skinny jeans have a lot less ease, because they're more form-fitting.
Ease serves multiple purposes in a garment. To start with, unless a garment is stretchy, you need a bit of ease in order to move in it. This minimal amount of necessary ease is called "wearing ease" or "fit ease."
Ease is also a design component--consider the skinny jeans vs slacks again. The tightness of the skinny jeans and the straight vertical lines of the slacks are part of their design. Ease included for design purposes is called "fashion" or "style" ease.
The different types of ease don't actually matter here but now you know some garment construction trivia.
Darts are stitched tucks of fabric that shape a garment. When a tailor converts a dart to ease, they're creating a little extra space in the garment by not stitching down that tuck.
When we do this, we have to get rid of the extra fullness at the seam line where the dart would have been, or the garment won't line up right.
This is the lining of the waistcoat (it is self-lined, meaning the lining and fashion fabric are cut from the same cloth).
See that little dart at the shoulder? Shoulders are generally more rounded in the back than the front. Darts help shape the shoulder of a garment around that curve.
But in tailored suits, shoulder darts are typically converted to ease to avoid breaking up the smooth line of the shoulder.
Here's the inside of the same dart. You can see that it's pretty small--about 3/4" wide. So we don't have a whole lot of fullness to manage, which is good.
Larger darts, such as bust darts, are not typically converted in this way because there's too much extra fullness to manage.
For the lining, I just stitched the dart, cause it's not going to show anyway. But for the outside I'm being posh and converting to ease.
This process involves a bunch of steam and ironing, so I thread-traced the dart lines so I wouldn't lose the markings halfway through. Technically I didn't need to trace the whole line; since we're not stitching the dart we don't care where the tip is. But I wanted to keep it visible for illustration of this process (or: the tea hadn't kicked in yet).
Conversion time. First, I pin the back shoulder to the front shoulder, right sides together. I leave the area around the dart (about 3x as wide as the dart) open.
You can see how the extra fullness creates a gap. If I just ran it through the sewing machine like this I'd end up with tucks in the seam (and I'd break a needle. Don't put pins through your machine).
I'm trying to get rid of that gap to create a smooth shoulder seam. I have a few things going for me here:
1. The dart is small, so there's not much fullness to manage.
2. We don't actually care whether the *edges* of the pieces line up. We care whether they line up at the seam line, which is 5/8" from the edge, where the dart is even smaller.
3. Shoulders are sloped, so the shoulder lines are cut diagonally to the weave of the fabric, giving them a little stretch.
Lastly, while it's still warm from the iron, I drape the piece on the dress form so it cools in its final shape. This is not strictly necessary but I did it anyway.
And that's the dart converted to ease 🙂. Claire Shaeffer's books on couture sewing techniques have a great explanation of this process, with accompanying video.
Happy to answer questions, but I'm about to hop on a call so it might be a bit.
And that's probably it for sewing today, but I am SO CLOSE to done with this waistcoat. All that's left is stitching the lining to the fashion (outer fabric), then turning the whole thing right-side-out, stitching the sides together, and adding the buttons.
I'm very excited to be about ready to stitch this whole mess together. But first, I have a whole lot more basting to do: the lapels, neck, and armholes, and the front seam along the button holes to make sure they stay aligned.
Many commercial patterns will tell folks to baste certain seams, but they rarely explain WHY, so a lot of folks skip this step and go right to stitching the final seam lines.
Basting provides stability to diagonal and curved seams.
Woven fabrics are stable alone the grain lines- parallel and perpendicular to the edge. On the diagonal, they tend to have some stretch (how much will depend on the weave).
Yesterday, I used the stretch to convert a dart, easing 3/4" of fabric into a smooth seam.
When I stitch the lapels and armholes, however, the pieces are the same length, and I want them to stay the same length. I do not want the layers moving around because one side is stretching more than the other (and the way machine stitching works, one side is very likely to stretch more than the other).
So I baste to keep everything stable and aligned. #Sewing #Tailoring
So I had to step away to run some errands (there were girl scout cookies at the farmer's market, which I'm sure you all understand was a situation requiring my prompt attention). Back at the table now. Here's the waistcoat, basted and ironed.
I tacked the button holes to their counterparts with the button hole linings folded out of the way, so they won't get caught in the stitching.
Turning it is hard to photograph, but basically I stuck my arm through the open side seam and up through the shoulder, grabbed the front, and pulled it back through. Repeat for the other side, then pull both fronts through an open side to get the whole thing right side out.
Two side seams, stitched and pressed. These couldn't be finished until the piece had been turned, so I have to close them by hand (the gaps are on the lining side). But I at least got the outside seams through the machine.
The angle of the lighting is making a bunch of seams look puckered but in reality they're all fine :).
(I just want you all to know that autocorrect tried to turn that into "the power of meth." And yes, this expert fit was indeed brought to you in part by the makers of Adderall, but Adderall didn't make me good at this; my mamma did. Adderall just made it easier to be good at it in the correct order).
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •And then I stitch the pocket bags together.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •But the good news is it's always possible to make s *bigger* hole.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •"Aren't inner fob pockets usually on the right?"
Yes, but people's dominant hands are usually on the right, too. This one's being made by and for a southpaw, and I know where I put my keys.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •And this is why we check our measurements before doing final stitching.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Then, with the aid of a hole punch, each hole is carefully clipped open along the line, and up to each corner of the stitching.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •1. Pushed the rectangular linings through to the back,
2. Pressed, with lots of steam.
3. Turned the piece right side up and pressed again.
4. A detail shot of some of the pressed button holes.
#Sewing #Tailoring #LinedButtonHoles
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Then I'll attach the fronts to the back (I'll try to document converting the shoulder darts to ease) and attach the exterior to the lining around all the edges before I stitch the lining to the exterior at each button hole, securing the welts.
Getting pretty close!
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •From the front, you can see how this creates welts, closing the rectangular opening and providing a back stop for buttons.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •But not right now because I gotta get ready for work.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •This thing is still in pieces, but believe it or not it's getting close to done. Most of the work here was "prep," as in, prepping pieces to be joined (darts, pockets, button holes). What remains is actually sewing pieces together.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •And I pinked the bottom seam allowances while I was at it.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Ease is the term for the difference between the dimensions of a garment and the body dimensions of the person the garment is meant to fit. Ease is different from size: consider a pair of skinny jeans vs a pair of straight-cut slacks. The same person could own both garments in the same size and both would fit them, but the skinny jeans have a lot less ease, because they're more form-fitting.
#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Ease is also a design component--consider the skinny jeans vs slacks again. The tightness of the skinny jeans and the straight vertical lines of the slacks are part of their design. Ease included for design purposes is called "fashion" or "style" ease.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Darts are stitched tucks of fabric that shape a garment. When a tailor converts a dart to ease, they're creating a little extra space in the garment by not stitching down that tuck.
When we do this, we have to get rid of the extra fullness at the seam line where the dart would have been, or the garment won't line up right.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •See that little dart at the shoulder? Shoulders are generally more rounded in the back than the front. Darts help shape the shoulder of a garment around that curve.
But in tailored suits, shoulder darts are typically converted to ease to avoid breaking up the smooth line of the shoulder.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Larger darts, such as bust darts, are not typically converted in this way because there's too much extra fullness to manage.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •This process involves a bunch of steam and ironing, so I thread-traced the dart lines so I wouldn't lose the markings halfway through. Technically I didn't need to trace the whole line; since we're not stitching the dart we don't care where the tip is. But I wanted to keep it visible for illustration of this process (or: the tea hadn't kicked in yet).
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •You can see how the extra fullness creates a gap. If I just ran it through the sewing machine like this I'd end up with tucks in the seam (and I'd break a needle. Don't put pins through your machine).
#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •1. The dart is small, so there's not much fullness to manage.
2. We don't actually care whether the *edges* of the pieces line up. We care whether they line up at the seam line, which is 5/8" from the edge, where the dart is even smaller.
3. Shoulders are sloped, so the shoulder lines are cut diagonally to the weave of the fabric, giving them a little stretch.
4. Steam. Lots of steam.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •I stretch the front piece a bit to equal up the length to the back, and baste them together:
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Dart? What dart? I don't know about any dart.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •And that's probably it for sewing today, but I am SO CLOSE to done with this waistcoat. All that's left is stitching the lining to the fashion (outer fabric), then turning the whole thing right-side-out, stitching the sides together, and adding the buttons.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Tailoring #Sewing
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Basting provides stability to diagonal and curved seams.
Woven fabrics are stable alone the grain lines- parallel and perpendicular to the edge. On the diagonal, they tend to have some stretch (how much will depend on the weave).
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •When I stitch the lapels and armholes, however, the pieces are the same length, and I want them to stay the same length. I do not want the layers moving around because one side is stretching more than the other (and the way machine stitching works, one side is very likely to stretch more than the other).
So I baste to keep everything stable and aligned. #Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •I tacked the button holes to their counterparts with the button hole linings folded out of the way, so they won't get caught in the stitching.
Time to sew.
#Tailoring #Sewing
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Next I'll use my seam roll to iron all these seams open - and then it's time to flip it right side out.
The side seams are still open because the fronts can only be connected to the back at the shoulders in order for me to turn it right side out.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Now it's time to turn the whole thing right side out, and (you guessed it) press again.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Then press the dickens out of it.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •The angle of the lighting is making a bunch of seams look puckered but in reality they're all fine :).
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Sewing #Tailoring
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Behold the power of math.
Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •Annalee
in reply to Annalee • • •#Tailoring #Sewing